Why do “we” eat so much fatty red meat?

Peter

Great link! Long but well worth the read.

Thanks for sharing

Hugs

Bud

we will beat this crap

Interestingly enough to me, there appeared to be some curiosity about what my diet consisted of.   In all honesty, I had never been infatuated or curious enough with what I ate to the extent that I would actually monitor it—never been on Weight Watchers or any other diet—I just followed a high-level “objective” to eat healthy by significantly reducing fatty red-meat consumption, eating more fish and other proteins, eating more colorful vegetables, etc.   I cannot usually even remember what I ate two days ago, and rarely have my meals planned more than a day in advance.   I typically make several stops a week at an excellent grocery store on my way home from work.   So, as an exercise, sometime this past weekend I thought it would be a good exercise for me to write down what I ate for dinner for a week and see how I did.   1.     I started with last Tuesday (which was also as far back as I could remember as of this past weekend) when I went out to dinner with Tony at Le Colonial restaurant on Rush Street in Chicago.   I had an awesome Sup do Bien (a Vietnamese seafood soup; a bouillabaisse).   We did also have spring rolls as an appetizer which included, I believe, pork along with shrimp and mushrooms.   2.     On Wednesday, I worked late and picked up barbeque to-go on my way home.   I ate about 2/3 of the half rack of ribs that I bought for myself.   Pork ribs.   (I’m having the other 1/3 of the half rack with my lunch today along with homemade chicken soup…so I did consume the entire half rack in the week). 3.     Salmon on my grill on Thursday, along with my own recipe of spinach with pine nuts, shallots, and golden raisins on whole grain rice…one of my favorites. 4.     Friday, my daughter requested shrimp tacos with mango slaw…one of my Food Network app recipes. 5.     Saturday I hosted a few friends for a big bonfire on a cool night in my back yard and served ground turkey chili with mixed grilled vegetables blended in. 6.     Sunday, sushi in a restaurant with a friend. 7.     Monday, chicken & broccoli stir fry , another of my favorite Food Network app recipes.   So, without really trying, and without really giving it much thought, I guess I’m pretty much ok with the main courses in my dinners…even counting the three restaurant meals (one take-out) I had this week.   My lunches, which I didn’t try to track, are typically leftovers from a prior night’s dinner, and/or a salad from my work cafeteria sometimes with grilled chicken added if I want to add a protein.   I usually eat 3 +/- 1 fruits per day. Although I had never tried this before, I’ve convinced myself it can be a no-brainer to eat delicious and mostly healthy meals…which can help “stack the odds in my favor” for longevity and quality of life…   This has been a pretty good exercise.  It might be worthwhile for others to write down what they eat.  When the USDA studied what people ate, it found (in general) that what people thought they ate was not consistent with what they actually ate when tracked...

I've been tracking my food and exercise with a "high tech" pedometer and web site. Fitbit.com My main objective is to control some of the side effects of this ADT. More exercise. Less food. As for beef... I enjoy the occasional steak on the bbq. but could do without if I had to. I'm in the camp of anything in moderation.
The tracking food takes a little bit of work but at least I feel like I'm staying ahead of the curve. Hey, been on HT for 3 weeks and no sides yet!

The evidence for diet and cancer connections is fairly strong, and most scientists would agree with this. How it works out practically is another matter. In general, most of the reliable research between diet and health has shown connections between diet and heart health; prostate cancer not so much. The most evidence for a healthy diet in this regard is for the Mediterranean diet, which consists of plentiful fruits and vegetables, lean meats in small amounts and limited saturated fats. The longitudinal studies showing this have been huge with Framingham Study, Nurses' Health Study and others involving thousands of subjects.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/opinion/sunday/the-optimal-diet.html

There are, of course, outliers like Bill Clinton with his bad heart and Mike Milken with advanced prostate cancer, who needed to take extreme dietary measures, but for most of us it is not necessary to go spartan. When the hyped diets, the diets-du-jour, and unscientific diets are eliminated, the evidence-based Mediterranean diet trumps the rest. See the following link from UCSF on nutrition and prostate cancer.

http://www.ucsfhealth.org/education/nutrition_and_prostate_cancer/index.html

For anyone interested in tracking what you eat, the USDA has a good tool at the following website

http://www.choosemyplate.gov/supertracker 

Post Edited (Tim G) : 10/24/2012 8:42:32 AM (GMT-6)

Here is my last week, as I recall.

Wednedsay

B at desk from work cafeteria: 3 Egg omlette w/ ham, turkey, bacon, peppers, onions, black olives, spinach, and feta, cheddar and jack cheeses. (Ate half, refrigerated half)

L at Thai restaurant: Tom Yung soup. Thai Basil Chicken.

D at home (I cooked): Rainbow trout crusted w/ almond meal and fried. Broccoli w/ lemon butter. Low carb chocolate ice cream.

Thurdsay

B at home (I cooked): Low carb tortilla w/ scrambled eggs and cheddar cheese inside.

L at desk from work cafeteria: Green salad with olive oil and blue cheese dressing. Baked salmon.

D at "Sweet Tomatoes": Buffet Caesar salad (no cruitons). Salad of cold peas, feta cheese, chopped eggs, ranch dressing. Bowl of chili with cheddar cheese and sour cream on top.

Friday

B at home (I cooked): 2 fried eggs. Sausage patty.

L at desk from work cafeteria: Green salad with olive oil and ranch dressing w/ 1/2 leftover omlette on top.

D at NC State Fair: Foot long chili dog (no bun) 1/2 Smoked turkey leg. Mount Olive (tm) large kosher dill pickle. 1 oz peanuts.

Saturday

B at home (I cooked): Do it yourself sausage McGriddle Burrito (low carb tortillia, 2 eggs scrambled, 1 sausage patty broken up, 2oz cheddar, 1 T fat free pancake syrup) Handfull of grapes.

L at different Thai Restaurant: Thai Basil Chicken (no rice)

D at chinese buffet: Hibachi beef, onions and peppers (no sauce). 3 fried chicken wings. Bok Choy. Green Beans. Hot & sour soup. Lots of other stuff I don't remember -- three big plates. (No rice. No noodles. No sweet brown sauches.)

Sunday

B: None

L in break room at wife's job: 6 inch roast beef sub (no bread). 4 buffalo wings. Tangerine.

D at home (I cooked): Bacon-wrapped salmon and shrimp kabobs. 1/4 Baked acorn squash w/ butter and parmesean. Baby Bok Choy. Low-carb ice cream drizzled w/ pomegranite balsamic vinegar.

Monday:

B at home (I cooked): scrambled eggs and cheese wrapped in low carb burrito wrapper.

L at desk from work cafeteria: green salad w/ olive oil and bleu cheese dressing, cold left-over eastern NC pork BBQ on top of salad.

D at home (I cooked): Smoked pork tenderloin. Green beans sauteed in butter w/ onions. Cubed honeydew mellon. Low carb ice cream bar.

Tuesday:

B at desk from work cafeteria: scrambled eggs w/ 2 T sausage gravy. Sausage patty.

L at work cafeteria: Burger patty w/ pepper-jack cheese and peppers and onions. Sauteed sugar snap peas.

D at home (wife cooked): Skinless chicken breast baked w/ onions. 1/4 baked acorn squash w/ butter & parmesean. Spinach w/ dilled lemon butter sauce. Sugar free butter pecan ice cream.

Today:

B at desk from work cafeteria: same omlette as last week. Saved half for lunch.

L at desk: left over chicken, spinach, squash and rest of omlette.

D at home (I will cook): Dunno. I'll see what's in the fridge.

The above represents at attempt at a "maintenance" version of my low carb diet. It probably has 40-50 grams of carbohydrates a day (not counting fiber and sugar alcohols). That is about twice the number of carbs I allowed myself while actively losing weight (60 lbs since the new year). I'm being timid on adding foods back for maintenance, since weight gained while on HT is probably hard to shed.

I have not the slightest idea about calories or fat content. I pay no attention to calories what so ever. For fats, I try to add mono-saturates (olive oil) and omega 3 (fatty fish) but don't worry about the amount of fat I eat. I don't avoid red meat but the fish does crowd some of it out, I guess.

I've been quietly following this thread.  As a cancer survivor and a diabetic, I try to be careful about what and how much I eat, but, really, chronicling what I've eaten during the last week would be obsessive for me.

I guess food just isn't that important to me.  I've met folks who can say what they ate at an event five years ago.  I usually can't remember what we had for supper last night.  In terms of diet, I just can't get more complicated than thinking moderation, go easy on the red meat, include lots of fruit and vegetables, not too much bread, reasonably sized portions.  Anything beyond that is way beyond my level of caring. 

So, for me, it would be obsessive, butI also realize that we all have different interests and different areas of emphasis in our lives.

 

DavidG: I am unconvinced by most of the dietary theories that show eggs as a problem. Eggs contain cholesterol but dietary cholesterol has a very minimal impact on serum cholesterol (for most people). On my low carb diet I need to eat a relatively high levels of protein and, especially, of fat (as a percentage of total calories) and eggs are a good source of both. Also, I have a history of gout and eggs have among the lowest levels of purines of any animal protein source. I lean pretty hard on eggs to keep the protein in my diet from making me gouty. It seems to be working so far.

I eat eggs often too. It is the easiest thing to quickly whip up while still making a good tasting meal. But I try to limit it to 4-6 eggs a week max myself.

When looking for protein I go for beans, hummus etc. It helps that I think the taste is fantastic. Whole Foods has these huge grande pickled white beans which I swear are meaty. It's like eating a steak. I think they're called Garande Beans or something like that. Really good stuff.

You can eat a bear!!!!!!??????? What on earth does that taste like?

Bear tastes a lot better than tofu and hummus.

Hummus is delicious. Middle Eastern food in general is not only healthy but really tasty.

Yeah, you couldn't pay me enough to eat deer or bear. But i'm "city folk".

When I took the family to Singapore on an eating tour my son had a mission of eating as much "funky" food as possible as it's in his nature to try everything. He had chicken hearts, BBQ sting ray and frog porridge.

Another great thread! We got back from some time in Italy and Greece and a cruise thereabouts a couple weeks ago. Food was incredible. The Italian hams (proscuitto...sp), pastas, the Greek dishes. Wonderful, all.

Being a normal tourist, I overindulged in everything. Especially the cruise food and extras. ;)

When I got back, I had my bloodwork done, including PSA, liver functions, CBC, cholesterol. The cholesterol was up a bit (not surprised).

I'm a bit above 5' 10" and my weight today at my yearly physical was...173 pounds. All other bloodwork was fine and good. Down from 185 pounds a year ago...and this is just after my vacation?

I took my RV out for the last time last weekend and we had one meal at an "Outback" franchise. Dee and I split an 8 oz sirloin with all the fixings. It seems we just do smaller servings and still enjoy. I won't give up red meat. But, we do it at far smaller servings than before.

I looked over DavidG's meals over the last bit of time (send me the recipes or restaraunt names)...are you still in Italy?

Plain and simple for me...We do like red meat. It just tastes good if prepared right. But, then we do a lot of fish and chicken, too. It's just the meat portions are smaller and veggie portions are higher.

That's just us. :)

Mike