Govt. Health Warnings. Should we take them with a pinch of salt?

[Guest]

Oops! Sorry! We're not supposed to take salt - we've been told it's bad for us. To think that wars in the Middle Ages were fought over supplies of salt!

My mother used to ignore all health warnings. She used to cut the entire crust off the top of a fresh loaf, smother it with salt butter and then eat the lot for breakfast.

I'm sure that it was this reckless behaviour that caused her death - at the age of 96

First we are told to "Go to work on an egg" then we are told that eggs are the cause of high colesterol levels.
"Red wine is good for your blood" they said. Now suddenly it's bad for our livers.

"Don't eat animal fat"
"Don't eat red meat"
"Keep off cakes and pastries"
"Stick to fish and chicken" (not even pheasant or grouse allowed? How about turkey leg or goose?

Personally, I'm not interested in observing all these dietary restrictions in order to buy a few more years. Life wouldn't be worth living without a fine roast rib of beef, Yorkshire pudding and roast potatoes done in dripping; accompanied by a fine bottle of Nuits St George or Cotes de Beaune.

What do others think about these warnings given by some overpaid think-tanks, to the detriment of our national farming industry?

HS

[amateur51]

As with all this sort of research, HS ask yourself

who funded it?

what is the size of the sample and is it truly representative?

There is no doubt that high levels of sodium in our diet can contribute to high blood pressure, for example. And this can result in kidney damage, strokes, heart attacks etc in susceptible individuals. The answer is not only to cut down on your own daily intake of added salt but also to be aware of how much hidden salt there is your diet and to avoid excess.

But in general I agree with the points that you are making about food being a joy not least in relation to our quality of life. If your regular medical overhauil shows that nothing drastic is going wrong, then you probably are doing nothing wrong. That doesn't mean however that your diet is right for everyone.

What detriment to what part of our farming industry are you thinking of?

What did Granny used to say? "A little of what you fancy does you good"?

[BBMmk2]

All these researches is done by people whonhave nothing better to do with their lives, imo. I say everything in moderation.

[Bryn]

I recall, while studying such matter as an undergrad, back in the '80s, that the then prominent 'research based' salt scare was somewhat undermined by an Edinburgh University study that showed a correlation only between high saturated fat intake with hight salt intake and heart disease. With a low fat diet a salt/heart disease correlation was not shown.

Indeed. Moderation in all things, (especially moderation).

[Anna]

Everything that comes out of my kitchen onto the table is pure, clean and wholesome. I do not do micro meals, take aways and factory produced junk.

My ingredients are eggs, red and white meat, whole milk, real butter, stoneground wholemeal bread, lots of pulses (they're beans - not baked - and lentils to the uninitiated) and lashings of vegetables, I have no sugar or salt in the house which, are the worst culprits. You want sugar? Munch a carrot or make friends with a parsnip!

Can't go wrong with that. And, always buy ethically sourced British meat not cheap imported pigmeat. Trust your local independent butcher and your local greengrocer, stay away from supermarkets.

[Richard Tarleton]

There was a good one in the Sunday Times this week - a dental lobby saying that all this fruit was damaging our tooth enamel, and that real fruit juice ought to be a weekend treat for children

As for the current assault on midle class wine drinkers "for whom one glass of wine is not enough"

[Mr Pee]

You want sugar? Munch a carrot or make friends with a parsnip!

Well, that's an interesting idea. The next time I want to put sugar on my Porridge in the morning, I'll try grating a parsnip over it instead. Methinks it would not be quite the same.

I think if one based ones diet on Government advice, there would hardly be anything that was safe to eat.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

First we are told to "Go to work on an egg" then we are told that eggs are the cause of high colesterol levels.

The latest research is that the cholestoral levels are much lower than previously thought, and, besides, don't cause significant rises in human blood cholestoral levels. (There was a programme on TV a couple of weeks ago where, to demonstrate this, the presenter went on an "all-egg" diet. No change to her blood cholestoral level, but after ten days, she never wanted to see another egg for as long as she lived!)

Personally, I'm not interested in observing all these dietary restrictions in order to buy a few more years. Life wouldn't be worth living without a fine roast rib of beef, Yorkshire pudding and roast potatoes done in dripping; accompanied by a fine bottle of Nuits St George or Cotes de Beaune.

Absolutely! (With the odd replacement of dripping with goose fat for the roast spuds.) As others have said, don't overdo it, and as Anna says, buy fresh local produce ... and ENJOY life!

Best Wishes.

[french frank]

As for the current assault on midle class wine drinkers "for whom one glass of wine is not enough"

I've just (a couple of days ago) stuck a piece of blue masking tape round my wine glass to mark 125ml. Coop's Côte du Rhône, at 13.5%, is 1.7 units for each 125ml. That means one unit is ... a small mouthful. I'm keeping the masking tape on (until it comes off in the washing-up bowl) just so that I know, as a matter of interest, how many units I've had when I've consumed half the bottle. (It's 5.1 units ). The doctor said I could have seven which cheered me up until I discovered he meant per week.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The doctor said I could have seven which cheered me up until I discovered he meant per week.

[Mr Pee]

I've just (a couple of days ago) stuck a piece of blue masking tape round my wine glass to mark 125ml. Coop's Côte du Rhône, at 13.5%, is 1.7 units for each 125ml. That means one unit is ... a small mouthful. I'm keeping the masking tape on (until it comes off in the washing-up bowl) just so that I know, as a matter of interest, how many units I've had when I've consumed half the bottle. (It's 5.1 units ). The doctor said I could have seven which cheered me up until I discovered he meant per week.

These alcohol limits are so arbitrary, and alcohol tolerance varies so much from person to person, that I think one should really take them with a pinch of salt, if a pinch is within recommended limits. But seven units per week? That sounds extremely low, even by the standards of the nanny state. I thought it was 21 units a week for men, and 14 for ladies.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/8656565/Safe-drinking-limits-to-be-reviewed.html

[Serial_Apologist]

These alcohol limits are so arbitrary, and alcohol tolerance varies so much from person to person, that I think one should really take them with a pinch of salt, if a pinch is within recommended limits. But seven units per week? That sounds extremely low, even by the standards of the nanny state. I thought it was 21 units a week for men, and 14 for ladies.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/he...-reviewed.html

Ladies??

[Mr Pee]

Ladies??

Females. Women. You know, those people with lumpy jumpers.

[John Skelton]

The recommended units vary from country to country, and to make matters worse the size of a unit varies (I'm sure that's right. One Canadian unit, say, is two British units). Fortunately I don't drink, only take illegal drugs so that's OK.

Only joking. The research into red meat and processed meat, cancer and heart disease. They crunch data from a group of lifestyle records over time, but ... how do they isolate red / processed meat consumption from other factors, variables - other lifestyle factors, genetic elements? The answer I suspect is that they can't. Fortunately I gave up eating food in 1985, so that's OK.

[Anna]

Ladies??

Yes, Ladies. Generally most people, these days, refer to them as The Monstrous Regiment of Wimmin