How do you find healthy food?

[Gravity Aided]

I think I would blame a whole system that feeds us this stuff, as the baker is just some fellow following orders with pre-mix he gets from a factory, developed by a chef, who gets orders and specifications from executives, who get their marching orders from industrialists, who get their orders from shareholders, who, through benefit programs and retirements and Individual retirement accounts, once again turn out to be you and me. Some additives are there to retard spoilage, or provide health benefits. Some are there to do other things. But you can bet your paycheck that if it didn't need to be in there, it probably wouldn't be, just to save the dime. Look at soft drinks. Their sugar comes in the form of corn syrup, because that's 1/100 of a penny cheaper than sugar. But on the scale soft drinks are produced, this saves the company millions of dollars per year.

 

[ColinJ]

Just one of many websites with the same info
http://www.slimseekers.co.uk/features/snacks_feature.html

I'm not saying that lots of things don't have a lot more than 15% 'sugar' content - I eat a fair amount of chocolate which has more than that, but I know very well that it isn't healthy food. I just don't think 15% is a very healthy target. It's better than 40% but not as good as, say, <5%.

 

[paul04]

I'm not saying that lots of things don't have a lot more than 15% 'sugar' content - I eat a fair amount of chocolate which has more than that, but I know very well that it isn't healthy food. I just don't think 15% is a very healthy target. It's better than 40% but not as good as, say, <5%.

You are right 15% is high, but you have to set a limit somewhere, I am only repeating what the webpages say, so they must have checked out all the facts and figures.

Even the so called healthy options have to much sugar, like the Belvita Breakfast Biscuits, "Enjoy as part of a varied and balanced diet and healthy lifestyle"
But per 100g contain 20g of sugar!!

 

[Yorksman]

I'm not saying that lots of things don't have a lot more than 15% 'sugar' content - I eat a fair amount of chocolate which has more than that, but I know very well that it isn't healthy food. I just don't think 15% is a very healthy target. It's better than 40% but not as good as, say, <5%.

Not a lot of people realise that the glycaemic index of refined white bread is similar to that of sugar. Glycaemic index or GI is the effect a food has on your blood glucose levels. It doesn't have to taste sweet. Enzymes in the saliva in your mouth start to digest mashed potatoes and turn the starches into sugars before it even enters your stomache. Many of these things you can't really avoid of course but unnecessary amounts of added sugar can be, especially in fizzy drinks. Many supermarket sweet and sour microwaveable dishes contain as much as 10 - 12 teaspoons of sugar.

 

[swee'pea99]

I don't think there's any consensus as to what "healthy" might mean insofar as it relates to food.

I think most dieticians would agree that variety is important, so: beer & crisps one night, beer & peanuts the next. And so on.

 

[Yorksman]

Even the so called healthy options have to much sugar, like the Belvita Breakfast Biscuits, "Enjoy as part of a varied and balanced diet and healthy lifestyle"
But per 100g contain 20g of sugar!!

LOL, I love marketing. The biscuit isn't healthy so if you are going to eat it, make sure the rest of what you eat is healthy. You could replace the "Enjoy as part of a varied and balanced diet and healthy lifestyle" with "WARNING - Do not just eat these biscuits, on their own, they are unhealthy" but they don't sell very well when you write those sort of things.

 

[Arch]

In our local Morrisons, the signs over the aisles to tell you what's where, make me laugh. One Aisle has "Chocolate Biscuits" and "Healthier Biscuits".

The other one that makes me laugh is "Dog Food" paired with "Motoring Accessories", but that's just for the surrealism.

 

[ayceejay]

I was in a health food store one day and picked up a little book on food additives (those 'E' numbers)
There were three columns one with the bad one with the borderline and one with the acceptable there was no column for good.
I decided that when I got home I would chuck every thing in the cupboard with a bad E number, I think I only had potatoes left - I was shocked.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Don't you start.

What you want is cheese and aubergine.

This is my other fave aubergine worrying dish, aubs and cannellini beans, marvellous! http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipe/baked-aubergines-cannellini-beans

 

[theclaud]

This is my other fave aubergine worrying dish, aubs and cannellini beans, marvellous! http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipe/baked-aubergines-cannellini-beans

Yum. I f***ing love cannellini beans. Possibly even more than aubergines. And, co-incidentally, they both go very well with lamb.



Hungry now.

 

[Gravity Aided]

Did you know that aubergines are classified as berries? I had just heard that this morning, myself. Really big berries.

 

[Ganymede]

View attachment 57616

That is one of the most educational displays I've ever seen. I want a copy!

 

[Ganymede]

Did you know that aubergines are classified as berries? I had just heard that this morning, myself. Really big berries.

On reflection they are formed just like tomatoes or blueberries but without being juicy - thin skin, thick flesh, small seeds. Makes sense!

 

[Gravity Aided]

On reflection they are formed just like tomatoes or blueberries but without being juicy - thin skin, thick flesh, small seeds. Makes sense!

I think both aubergines and tomatoes are members of the nightshade family. Long ago, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

 

[threebikesmcginty]

Long ago, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Lots of kids (and plenty adults) still think they are!