Do we focus on whole grains and low-fat foods, or do we eat healthy fats and keep carbohydrate content better for our health? What about all these super foods? If you think today's healthy eating is confusing, it may not be gratifying that people were fighting the same struggle 50 years ago.
So what was a healthy diet like 50 years ago? I'll talk to experts and people who grew up at that time!
Low carbohydrate is one thing.
When many of us have heard of the Atkins diet developed in the early 1970s, you may not know that this is not the first time people have paid attention to the carbohydrate diet. From 65438 to 0967, Dr. Irving steelman developed the steelman Diet, also known as Dr. Fast Diet.
Although the diet is similar to Atkins, it allows lean meat, eggs and herbs. Unlike Atkins and Ketogenic Diet, which are still popular today, steelman thinks that any kind of condiment, sauce, butter and fat are invisible. I talked to Lorna Manning. She is 1967, 12 years old. She knows nothing about steelman's diet. She told me: "It also works like a sexy person.
In fact, it may have worked. All right, make it dangerous. According to The Life of Little Girl Lan: Karen Carpenter, diet may have played a role in the development of Carpenter's anorexia. Biography shows that 1967, doctors advised carpenters to try the steelman diet. It is reported that after six weeks, she lost 25 pounds. Shortly thereafter, in the 1970s, her family expressed concern about her health. From 65438 to 0983, Karen Carpenter died of complications of anorexia nervosa.
Every housewife is an expert in food.
I told Susan F. Roscher, the author of The Beauty of Deception, Seduction and Fear, that one of her treasures was Meta Given's 196 1 edition of Modern Family Cooking Book, which was her mother's and taught her to cook and grow. What she said and how she insisted on cooking were considered as the only responsibilities of the women in the family.
"From the beginning," she told me, these books said, "Madam housewife, this book is for you ... fully aware of the problems in your family, which will challenge psychologists, children's training experts, an interior decorator, a skilled seamstress and a trained nurse. According to Froetschel, the book goes on to suggest that "the functions of nutritionists and chefs are close to the top", and women in the family are experts in all these fields.
Dr. Salah Saad Schumann also told me that the food experts at that time were not the experts we think today. He said: "At that time, every housewife was a food expert.
Self-control is the right way.
Just as every housewife is a gourmet, all the healthiest foods are homemade. Jane Patnode, a registered dietitian, told me that they ate healthily since childhood, which inspired her diet and nutrition career. She said, "My mother has a big garden, so we eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables in summer and autumn. In winter/early spring, we can put more canned or frozen food at home until asparagus and rhubarb appear. " The bottom line is that we eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, and we also eat a lot of fish, game (pheasant, duck, goose, venison and moose), farm-raised beef (including meat), homemade soup, chicken and our own eggs. "
She said that everything they eat is their own, and everything comes from hunting and fishing. She added that they use real butter, and although their families like sweets, they always make their own, without any strange additives, preservatives or dyes. She said, except don and cool ai. Because soup is "astronaut's drink", it was once considered healthy.
Processed food came in.
Today, nutritionists and nutritionists often advise us to avoid highly processed foods, but this was not the case 50 years ago. In fact, when the processed food just started, it triggered the shift of the center of gravity between self-control, with the emphasis on convenience and convenience.
I talked to Deb Provin-Martin, a comprehensive nutrition and health coach, and he explained that processed food has become the lifestyle of most Americans. She said: "In the past, food from farm to table is often produced in the laboratory, which is full of food additives." "It happens (or intentionally) that the FDA is changing its advice, telling people to increase grains and avoid animal fat, which is a huge mistake.
Provincial Martin said that foods such as full-fat dairy products, animal fats and saturated fats were "demonized". Instead, people are told to use vegetable oil and avoid oils like coconut oil and olive oil. Provincial Martin said: "We now know the fact that vegetable oil is toxic and contains a lot of omega -6 (inflammatory omega). She added that people were told to increase their intake of processed foods, such as bread, pasta, biscuits and bagels. "These are considered healthier choices," she told me. "We now know that processed cereals are the cause of obesity and type 2 diabetes, and today more chronic diseases are becoming epidemics." According to Martin from other provinces, "In my opinion, fifty years ago,
Margarine is considered healthy.
What you heard is right. Maybe this is part of the beginning of the end of our collective health. Mindy Haar, director of project development and interdisciplinary health science at new york Institute of Technology and a registered dietitian, told me that although "most people attach great importance to animal-derived protein rather than plant protein", a movement to "encourage the transition to more plant-based diets" is on the rise.
Sounds like it also means that people are getting rid of fat, especially animal fat. Hal said: "margarine is considered to be healthy and a good substitute for animal butter." "At that time, people began to choose a' low-fat' diet and avoided nuts, olive oil and avocados.
Weight loss center established
Even 50 years ago, many people thought that weight was the decisive factor of health. Probably for this reason, it was in the 1960s that Jean Nidetch, the founder of Weight Watchers, began to bring her friends to her home to discuss the reasons why Weight Watchers website thought the company started to lose weight.
According to POPSUGAR, "When Weight Watchers went public at 1963, there were 400 people waiting in line to attend the meeting." Today, the company has made great progress. According to the data of Weight Watchers International, by the end of fiscal year 20 16, the company had about 165438+ million active conference users, and there were about 32,000 audience meetings around the world.
There is super food.
Hal also mentioned that despite the shift to a low-fat diet, some super foods even appeared 50 years ago. Hal said: "Wheat germ is becoming more and more popular because it is one of the raw materials for processing grains, muffins and bread." He added, "Some people think grapefruit has the ability to suppress appetite.
From this point of view, grapefruit's diet has evolved. Hal said that you need at least half a grapefruit before each meal. Enter the era of fashionable diet!
The family eats together.
Although not all foods 50 years ago are considered healthy today, Caroline Gregell, a senior health writer in The Huffington Post, points out that some trends are correct.
One of them is the whole family eating together, despite the emergence of distraction technology. A study in Archives of Family Medicine found that it is healthier for a family to eat together, especially for children. The researchers found that children who ate family dinners ate more fruits and vegetables and less fried food and soda water.
The next 50 years
All the differences and similarities between health 50 years ago and health today make you wonder where we will go in the next 50 years. Is it possible for us to see our food trend return to the local methods made 50 years ago? Or is it more likely that shifting the focus on efficiency and slowing down 50 years ago will make us further enter the field of processed food?
It's hard to predict. But as the saying goes, people who don't study history are doomed to repeat the same mistakes. Now, who wants guacamole?