Fruit And Veg Are Pretty Useless Nutritionally?

Kasper

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Orange juice contains a lot of B-vitamins, magnesium and potassium ...
 

Barry Obummer

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I had a lot of health problems so I started eating a lot of vegetables about 7 years ago. It didn't really help most of my health issues (besides IBS symptoms, it definitely helped that) but I noticed I almost never get the colds, flus, and other infectious bugs going around. I attribute it to the vegetables. Even with having low body temps and all here in the cold winters, I still don't catch stuff.
 

xiaohua

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From the article:

"If people try to add five portions of fruit and veg — let alone eight — a day to their diet, it can be counterproductive. Fruit contains high levels of fructose, or fruit sugar.

Among dieticians, fructose is known as ‘the fattening carbohydrate’. It is not metabolised by the body in the same way as glucose, which enters the bloodstream and has a chance to be used for energy before it heads to the liver."​

So it tries to debunk one myth, but ends up perpetuating another...
 
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Braveheart

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From the article:

"If people try to add five portions of fruit and veg — let alone eight — a day to their diet, it can be counterproductive. Fruit contains high levels of fructose, or fruit sugar.

Among dieticians, fructose is known as ‘the fattening carbohydrate’. It is not metabolised by the body in the same way as glucose, which enters the bloodstream and has a chance to be used for energy before it heads to the liver."​

So it tries to debunk one myth, but ends up perpetuating another...


exactly
 

DaveFoster

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If we limited carbohydrate, then fruit would be nutritionally bankrupt by comparison, but 3000 calories of OJ will get you most of your vitamins.
 

tara

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The key argument in the article seems to be that because the evidence for the 5 servings a day of fruit and veges advice is not very strong (correlation not causation, doesn't control for other factors), it must be incorrect that 5 servings a day is helpful. This is flawed logic. Just because something isn't proven true doesn't mean it is therefore proven false.

Using what dieticians general believe as though it were real evidence is also unsound.
 
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Richiebogie

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Ray Peat and many Fruitarians tell us that fruit provides the best energy source for humans. Peat says fructose is stored to provide longer term energy than starch, but not as long term as fat.

Ray would agree with the author that liver and cocoa are good, but might disagree about oats, sunflower seeds and sardines due to their antinutrients, such as phytic acid and PUFA.
 
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Studies don't show any real increase in lifespan or reduction in morbidity from fruits and vegetables. It's a myth. They may be good for us but studies don't show any particular advantage to eating them.
 

Peater Piper

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Ray would agree with the author that liver and cocoa are good, but might disagree about oats, sunflower seeds and sardines due to their antinutrients, such as phytic acid and PUFA.
I thought Peat was sorta okay with, but not crazy about oats? I'm still not sure what to make of anti-nutrients. Both coffee and chocolate are loaded with them (oxalates, phytic acid, tannins) that can interfere with mineral and b-vitamin absorption.
 
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Fruit and vegetable consumption and mortality from all causes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer: systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies | The BMJ

“Fruit consumption was examined in six studies with 677,674 participants and 9744 cardiovascular deaths, and vegetable consumption was examined in…with of 677,674 participants and 9744 cardiovascular deaths.”

THE AVERAGE REDUCTION IN THE RISK OF CARDIOVASCULAR DISEASE MORTALITY WAS 4%

And that is a relative risk. 4% means that out of 1 million people, if 100,000 die over a decade, then 4,000 fewer would die who consumed a lot of fruits and vegetables. Over 10 years, given the fact that in that 10 years, 500,000 would have died from auto accidents.

It's meaningless. I'm not saying fruits and veggies are bad, but they don't make you live longer.
 

Peater Piper

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Even if they don't extend lifespan, do they improve quality of life? I would have thought some of the reasons populations with low meat consumption live so long is due to low amounts of methionine, cysteine, tryptophan, etc. Regardless, we need to get our macro and micronutrients from somewhere, and excessive meat doesn't seem optimal, which basically leaves fruit, vegetables, and dairy.
 

xiaohua

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I'm starting to think that a healthy diet is defined more by what you avoid than what you actually eat...
 

Giraffe

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And that is a relative risk. 4% means that out of 1 million people, if 100,000 die over a decade, then 4,000 fewer would die who consumed a lot of fruits and vegetables. Over 10 years, given the fact that in that 10 years, 500,000 would have died from auto accidents.

It's meaningless. I'm not saying fruits and veggies are bad, but they don't make you live longer.
I agree that you should look at total figures, but I think it's wrong to look at one cause of death instead of overall mortality. If you are hypothyroid and suffer from insomnia, depression, constant pains and so, on you are more likely to die from cancer, in a car accident or commit suicide... You are more vulnerable in lots of ways.
 
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I agree that you should look at total figures, but I think it's wrong to look at one cause of death instead of overall mortality. If you are hypothyroid and suffer from insomnia, depression, constant pains and so, on you are more likely to die from cancer, in a car accident or commit suicide... You are more vulnerable in lots of ways.

yes it would be better to look at all-cause mortality. I can't find a study like that though.
 

Luann

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I'm starting to think that a healthy diet is defined more by what you avoid than what you actually eat...

When you think like this, good health gets EASIER, not hard. I guess that's why there's so many "Just don't eat this!!" diet help books. But I have a hunch that indeed, it is about what you DON'T eat, which is simple when you think that some people try to reach a given level of greens, Omega 3's, grass shots, and what have you EVERY day. No thanks! See as well: 5- 7 fruits a day! Eat the rainbow! Hahahahahaha
 

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