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Instinctual Food Selection
Continuing our discussion, to illustrate why I think most people have sound food instincts consider the following question.
Which of these meals would be the most delicious:
(a) steak on its own
(b) pizza
(c) chicken soup with toast
(d) steak and mashed potato with a small serving of green peas followed by apple pie and a small dollop of whipped cream for dessert
(e) baked beans with sausages
(f) lentils and brown rice with olive oil
(g) beef burger with iceberg lettuce and tomato served with cola and chips
Most people would select c d e and g. I would argue that these meals are the healthiest too.
Option b is a bit of a tricky one. Many would select it yet it's not particularly healthy. Dairy is a deceptive and comparatively new food to the human diet.
Soup with "toast" doesn't sound good. Bread would be much better. I would add bread also to beans with sausage. Anyway I think instinctual food selection works IF your selection is mainly whole foods not selection of 10 types of junk food and also IF you are already in good health, not under chronic stress etc.. Because person that is not under stress, is well rested etc. will make different choice than the same person who slept 7 hours in last two days and is under stress for some reason.. That's why you see so much people living off of junk.. When you are under stress you digestion is not ready for foods like beans, steaks etc..
Btw for people mainly outside of Europe this is what I call bread on first picture and the second one toast.. I wish I could eat fresh bread it is just amazing.. But I feel like I have serious issues with gluten my whole life.. I didn't have real pastry with gluten like 15 years that sucks..
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Hi @jiri,
I agree with you that if people are stressed or unwell their instinctual food selection may be dysfunctional.
With regards to whole foods that would be overriding instinctual food choices. Even hunter gatherers refine starches as best they can. Wild honey and condensed tree sap is similar nutritionally to sugar. But we've also made adaptations since the paleolithic.
What's wrong with white bread? You argue for white rice consumption frequently.
When liver dysfunction is present eating a whole foods diet will tend to worsen health conditions for various reasons.
One reason (that you are our expert on here) is that copper and manganese intake will be higher and because of the mineral dysregulation that comes with liver dysfunction that is a problem.
Zinc insufficiency is probably close to universal in those with liver dysfunction. Even when red meat is eaten daily hyperzincemia can be present causing zinc insufficiency. Chronic zinc insufficiency promotes iron, copper, manganese and heavy metal toxicity.
@tim-2 I am not saying that white rice is not a whole food. The problem with processed foods that you buy in the supermarket are low quality ingredients like refined vegetable oils etc.. If you make your own or buy "healthy and good quality" junk food and you eat foods high in protein and minerals and vitamins as well I don't see any problems with it. For example I can't eat brown rice. It gives me instant diarrhea. I can't digest it at all.. Whats wrong with white toast bread? Well in comparison with "real" bread it has no taste and it turns into mush instantly when you eat it with soup. That is kind of disgusting to me heh..
Pizza is actually not on my radar anymore, I stopped wanting that a long time ago. It never made me feel good. A traditional meal of meat, mashed potatoes and gravy, and homemade bread on the other hand.. that is some good food! I prefer southern comfort food hands down. We have this amazing restaurant here that's a buffet of southern comfort food.. pot roast, mashed potatoes, gravy, white northern beans, corn bread, barbeque ribs, dinner rolls, homemade mac n cheese, fried chicken, chicken and dumplings, turkey and stuffing, apple pie, and strawberry shortcake. My stomach is too small for all of that! Nearly everyone that goes there is very overweight. Their signal to stop eating must be so broken! I can barely stuff in one plate. Although I always take too much mashed potatoes and get full from that alone.
I definitely would never choose lentils and brown rice over all of those foods. But my tastes have changed over the yrs. I'm more satisfied with simple meals that are pretty boring. But it was a long journey of wanting to be more regulated vs super stimulated by coffee with loads of sugar, coke, chocolate, high fat and high sugar foods, etc. I hadn't had ice cream in a couple weeks and when I tasted it I was blown away by how sweet it tasted. I think we just get conditioned to those foods.
Quote from tim on July 16, 2024, 9:05 pmContinuing our discussion, to illustrate why I think most people have sound food instincts consider the following question.
Which of these meals would be the most delicious:
(a) steak on its own
(b) pizza
(c) chicken soup with toast
(d) steak and mashed potato with a small serving of green peas followed by apple pie and a small dollop of whipped cream for dessert
(e) baked beans with sausages
(f) lentils and brown rice with olive oil
(g) beef burger with iceberg lettuce and tomato served with cola and chips
Most people would select c d e and g. I would argue that these meals are the healthiest too.
Option b is a bit of a tricky one. Many would select it yet it's not particularly healthy. Dairy is a deceptive and comparatively new food to the human diet.
Yes I agree. I have a strong distaste for many unhealthy foods. But i love dairy. It’s the only one.
Yep what you are saying makes sense.
I eat modern junk food though and it doesn't appear to affect me negatively. Junk food in the USA seems to be particularly full of additives including synthetic retinyl.
I like bread that is 1/3 whole grain 2/3 refined grain.
Seed oils are in the same category too I think, they are palatable to most people.
I think if modern additives, seed oils and dairy products are minimised in the diet then instinctive eating will normally guide us well.
I guess big eaters will be drawn to buffets like bears to honey though right?
A lot of places like that tend to use awful fats though too. Worse than what large fast food chains use. The cheapest partially hydrogenated muck.
I haven't eaten one slice of pizza in 5.5 years. It's palatable to me though.
I'm with you on southern comfort food as long as it's light on cheesy dishes and moderate on deep fried dishes.
I like almond milk ice cream, coconut milk ice cream, sorbet and the lower fat soft serve sold at fast food restaurants. All low vitamin A and more delicious than ice cream in my opinion.
Yes exactly haha! Like bears to honey! lolol
Yeah we only eat out like 4 times a yr now! We used to get take out from either a pizza place or mexican place once a week, but now we eat steak, it's actually cheaper! People just need to plan ahead. I'm starting to think though we are favoring protein too much since my husband went carnivore.
I have not gotten the dairy alternative ice creams because I always felt like they had too many gums. But I don't seem to react to gums the way I used to now that I solved the IBS with fiber. So maybe I will test them out. I've gotten panic attacks from milkshakes at fast food places. I don't know why. Milk used to be a trigger for anxiety. But cheese was fine. But again that was when I think I had SIBO. So maybe soft serve would be fine now.
The only type of carrageenan that is supposed to be used in food is undegraded carrageenan. This is probably safe.
Carrageenan can be contaminated with degraded carrageenan and poligeenan though which cause pathogenesis.
I just checked a few of the almond milk ice cream brands here and none contained carrageenan. Which foods do you like that contain it?
Vegetable gums are forms of soluble fibre. They are not related to concerns about carrageenan. You would typically know if vegetable gums are a problem for you due to intestinal symptoms like flatulence they can cause.