Food stuff

[chef]

I thought it'd be obnoxious to start another food question thread. I was just going to wait to see if anyone had a question they wanted to ask. So it's here if you want.

[Chew Terr]

Great, I was hoping you would restart this thread here. I'm very novice at cooking, but enjoy it. I recently got a recipe for beef kebabs with a mint yoghurt sauce. After a few trials, I tend to be happy with the sauce and vegetables, but not always the beef. For example, the first time I made the mistake of grabbing stew beef, which was WAY too chewy. What cut of meat would you recommend, and is there anything I should try to prepare it or cook it properly?

[GoCat]

Okay... here's a general question, although not sure I expect a real answer. In my family, my daughter is vegetarian, my wife is gluten-intolerant, and I've just been told to cut my fat intake. Meal suggestions welcome!!

[daniel_the_smith]

I've just been told to cut my fat intake.

I'm only going to post about this once lest I become known for it.

Just about everything you've been told about diet and health is wrong. Shockingly, criminally wrong. Starting with the idea that fat, especially saturated fat, is bad for your heart. (More detail) (Trans fat, which people used to replace sat. fat when the government started telling us it was bad, really is as horrible for you as they say.)

High cholesterol is not necessarily bad. Only a very particular form of it is actually associated with heart disease. And it's not LDL; it's a subtype of LDL. The LDL number tells you NOTHING about your heart attack risk unless it's broken down further.

Grains (even and perhaps especially "heart healthy" whole grains) are not actually that good for you unless prepared properly (= long fermentation), and practically no one does so. (One example, incidentally this is the article that got me first investigating all this stuff) Wheat especially is quite bad for people. (Argument against cereal grains)

I found all this stuff almost a year ago and changed my diet accordingly. The term for it is the "paleolithic diet" and the idea is to eat the things our species evolved to eat, and not modern innovations associated with society's current health issues. Practically, this means to stop eating 1. wheat, 2. sugar (and high-fructose corn syrup, etc), and 3. modern oils (corn, safflower, cottonseed, peanut, etc). The best how-to list I know of is here. I feel better, sleep better, and my teeth (gums, rather-- I've never had a cavity) are better. Just dropping wheat had a noticeable effect.

Unfortunately, I discovered all this right when I was starting to get really good at making bread.

Apologies for the wall of text and I hope this doesn't run afoul of the "no religion" rule. hehe. I may or may not respond to questions, I don't really want to get into a debate, but I feel kinda obligated to at least attempt to get this info out there.

Most of my links above go to one of the more scientific sources, but it's far from the only one. Here are some others:

* http://www.proteinpower.com/drmike/
* http://www.paleonu.com/
* http://heartscanblog.blogspot.com/
* http://nephropal.blogspot.com/
* http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/
* http://freetheanimal.com/


Anyway, by way of an actual response (sorta) to GoCat: Ignore the low-fat rule. All of you should stop eating bread/wheat. Cook with lots of coconut milk (curry, mmm) and let your daughter pick the meat out.

[daniel_the_smith]

Like all other proselytizers.

Hey, it could be worse! I know when to let you come up for air.

Humans did also evolve to die young, which may not be a bad idea.
We will get rid of a lot of age related stuff and leave beautiful corpses.

Not really. Low average life expectancy in the past is mainly due to high infant mortality. If you lived to 20 (and were not engaged in a war) you'd probably live to 60 and beyond.

You may also try eating lice you picked from friends and relatives.
Great way to socialize.

Feel free to try this. On someone else. Far away from me.

[GoCat]

I've just been told to cut my fat intake.

I'm only going to post about this once lest I become known for it.
<snip>
Anyway, by way of an actual response (sorta) to GoCat: Ignore the low-fat rule....

Thanks for the input. I actually am a quite healthy eater, and have been most of my life. Yes, I still eat wheat, but in moderation. The low-fat thing isn't due to obesity (I'm not even close) or worries about cholesterol; it's because I just had my gall bladder removed. From what I understand, if I engage in high-fat meals, I'll simply have a harder time digesting. Nothing all that bad or fatal, but maybe more trips to the loo!

We could get into why, with my reasonably healthy lifestyle, I ended up with an inflamed gall bladder that had t be taken out. I couldn't say for sure, but one does suspect diet. I've never shied away from meats and fats, in general, and I do wonder if I've indulged too much at times. Probably genetics plays a part, too -- many people my age eat far worse than I do and still own a gall bladder.

Anyway... I appreciate your comments, although I suspect that the dietary lifestyle you are choosing for yourself and suggesting for others is no better or worse than many other choices.

As Helel pointed out: from an evolutionary point of view, I should probably be dead already (I'm 53). If we think back to pre-agricultural times (before we started eating lots of cultivated grains and dairy) probably any diet that provides sufficient calories will get you through your expected life span.

[wossname]

between 40/40/20 and 40/30/30 pfc split is what i like, but doctors orders may supersede that !!

[daniel_the_smith]

I just had my gall bladder removed.

Lol, that changes things. Bile is required to emulsify fats, so yeah, if you eat a ton all at once you may regret it!

[chef]

Great, I was hoping you would restart this thread here. I'm very novice at cooking, but enjoy it. I recently got a recipe for beef kebabs with a mint yoghurt sauce. After a few trials, I tend to be happy with the sauce and vegetables, but not always the beef. For example, the first time I made the mistake of grabbing stew beef, which was WAY too chewy. What cut of meat would you recommend, and is there anything I should try to prepare it or cook it properly?

Go for chuck, short rib, or brisket. Also make sure you got alot of fat in there. Fat adds moisture, flavor, and tenderness. Also you can try curing the meat. Just salt it and leave it for an hour. But fat is the key.

@dan... Well said. With all the propaganda, it created a continental wide neurosis of the issue.

@ go-cat I'll post a few recipes when I get more time. But in general, stick to cuisine like asian, where rice makes up the bulk of the diet. Watch out for alot of brands of soy sauce. Most of them use wheat.

[fwiffo]

Alright, I've got a food question. I want to start cooking chili for myself because you can make a bunch at once and then have meals for weeks. I'm looking for a good, simple recipe.

[GoCat]

But in general, stick to cuisine like asian, where rice makes up the bulk of the diet. Watch out for alot of brands of soy sauce. Most of them use wheat.

Agree on both... we do a lot of foods in a wok, over rice or rice noodles. And yeah, we know about the soy sauce thing -- we even carry a bottle of tamari (wheat-free) with us when we go for sushi!

Hey, and Fwiffo's question brought another to mind for me: Any slow-cooker (CrockPot) recipes for things like chilis? Any general thoughts/hints/rules of thumb for slow cooking? I ask because many days it seems like a great way to easily get a hearty meal -- toss things in by noon, add things as it progresses, serve in the evening. I've always liked that approach.

Also -- thanks for the thread -- any info you offer is appreciated!

[Suji]

What daniel_the_smith says is interesting. I, also, don't want to get into a debate.

While I'm personally not convinced, since if one follows the food pyramid (before it was revised) and eats smaller portions one can be very healthy.

I'm also not a nutrition expert, though the "correct" diet may lie somewhere in the middle.

I am liking the links that he linked to, though, as I'm finding them very interesting.

[chef]

Alright, I've got a food question. I want to start cooking chili for myself because you can make a bunch at once and then have meals for weeks. I'm looking for a good, simple recipe.

I'm really embarassed to say this, but I've never made chili before. Let me play around a bit and get back to you.

[Gresil]

This is the dietary system I endorse: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

[daniel_the_smith]

What daniel_the_smith says is interesting. I, also, don't want to get into a debate.

While I'm personally not convinced, since if one follows the food pyramid (before it was revised) and eats smaller portions one can be very healthy.

Just to be clear about what I was saying: yes, I'm asserting that the food pyramid (old and new) is a large part of the problem and is completely out of whack with what humans have eaten for the last 500,000 - 2 million years. For example, grains make up the bulk of the diet under the food pyramid, but grains have only been cultivated for about 10,000 years. Historical cultures range from nearly all meat (the Inuit) to moderately high in starchy tubers (Kitavians), but none ate significant quantities of grain and all ate as much meat and fat as they could get.