Healthy balanced diet

Beanie

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#21
Curious, why are legumes bad for you?
I did not say they are bad for you. I haven't had a white potato in almost three months, but generally speaking I don't see them as "bad" food. I eat peanut butter on a regular basis and peanuts are legumes. (If I could afford almond butter or sunflower butter on a regular basis, I would eat those instead, finding them nutritionally superior - but that stuff is expensive. =P)

But a potato is a legume and not a veggie just like corn is a grain and not a veggie, therefore shouldn't fall into that same "Hey eat LOTS of these!!" category. (Sweet potato, by the way, is a root veggie, like carrots and turnips.)

You could, however, google "lectin" or "potatos" and "leaky gut" to see why some people have issues with potatoes, and may not even realize it's the potato who is the culprit.
Here's a nice little write-up on legumes as a whole (including beans) and why it may be wise to limit them:
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/beans-legumes-carbs/
and some info from the same writer on potatoes in particular:
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/paleo-potatoes/
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/potatoes-healthy

Note where he talks about how eating potatoes seems linked to joint pain (for himself) - and yet he still eats them.

I don't think potatoes are necessarily horrible and need to be avoided at all costs, but I don't think it's the sort of thing people should be shoveling into their mouths with the same frequency as, say, spinach or broccoli or, really, any given other veggie. Fine in moderation like most things.
But just plain not a veggie.
 
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#22
Curious, why are legumes bad for you? A Legume is simply a plant that can fix it's own nitrogen, therefore you don't have to fertilize as much with N. Beans, peas, peanuts, etc. Fact, never knew potatoes were a legume!
a lot of beans, which people substitute for meat and protein don't actually contain a lot of nutrition other than some starch and protein. Also they contain phytates that block the absorption of other nutrients and actually bind to others in the intestines and pull them out of your body. So while they provide protein, they rob your body of a lot of other things. There are lots of better sources for protein for your everyday diet.

In limited quantities, big deal I say. I still use black beans when I make burritos with flour shells :), but that's not a staple in my diet.
 

Lizmo

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#24
I did not say they are bad for you. I haven't had a white potato in almost three months, but generally speaking I don't see them as "bad" food. I eat peanut butter on a regular basis and peanuts are legumes. (If I could afford almond butter or sunflower butter on a regular basis, I would eat those instead, finding them nutritionally superior - but that stuff is expensive. =P)

But a potato is a legume and not a veggie just like corn is a grain and not a veggie, therefore shouldn't fall into that same "Hey eat LOTS of these!!" category. (Sweet potato, by the way, is a root veggie, like carrots and turnips.)

You could, however, google "lectin" or "potatos" and "leaky gut" to see why some people have issues with potatoes, and may not even realize it's the potato who is the culprit.
Here's a nice little write-up on legumes as a whole (including beans) and why it may be wise to limit them:
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/beans-legumes-carbs/
and some info from the same writer on potatoes in particular:
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/paleo-potatoes/
http://www.marksdailyapple.com/potatoes-healthy

Note where he talks about how eating potatoes seems linked to joint pain (for himself) - and yet he still eats them.

I don't think potatoes are necessarily horrible and need to be avoided at all costs, but I don't think it's the sort of thing people should be shoveling into their mouths with the same frequency as, say, spinach or broccoli or, really, any given other veggie. Fine in moderation like most things.
But just plain not a veggie.
Ah, gotcha. I was just intrigued to your reasoning for limiting legumes (other than potatoes, totally understand why you would want to limit those). I took a veggie class last semester, so I did learn a thing or two, but yeah, must have missed where potatoes were a legume. Learn something knew everyday! :)

I guess this is kind of more off topic, I know a potato is a swollen underground stem, and a legume. A sweet potato is an actual root, so it is a legume also?
 

Laurelin

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#25
I do stir fry a lot but my problem is sauces. I know I am undercutting the nutrition by dousing it in a sauce. So need to fix that.

Is it normal to have GI issues when you switch over from a lot of prepackaged meals to whole foods? I am having some issues today. Put it mildly. Chills, diarrhea, feeling a bit shaky. This always happens and is usually why I revert back to crap eating.
 

Xandra

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#26
Is there some rule for approximately how many veggies you should eat? Lately I've been using about 5 cups of raw leafy greens for my smoothies.
 
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#27
But a potato is a legume and not a veggie just like corn is a grain and not a veggie, therefore shouldn't fall into that same "Hey eat LOTS of these!!" category. (Sweet potato, by the way, is a root veggie, like carrots and turnips.)
A potato is not a legume.

Its in the tomato family (nightshades), you can even graft tomato plants to a potato and get plants that grow both tomatoes and potatoes. A potato also grows small green fruit that looks like a tomato, but are poisonous.
 
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#28
Yeah, I am pretty sure that potatoes are not legumes.

Legume
A legume is a plant in the family Fabaceae, or the fruit or seed of such a plant. Legumes are grown agriculturally, primarily for their food grain seed, for livestock forage and silage, and as soil-enhancing green manure. (Wikipedia)

Potatoes are in the Solanaceae family, or nightshades. Not legumes.
 

sillysally

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#29
I'm currently in the process of cleaning up my diet. As of last Saturday I've cut out refined sugars as much as possible. No foods with sugar as one of the first 3 ingredients, no foods with high fructose corn syrup, no fast food, when I eat grains go for whole wheat, brown rice, etc. I've also cut out pop.

This was actually a very big deal for me since I usually ate fast food and candy at least once a day if not twice, drank tons of pop, and lots of pizza. I'm not worried so much about portions right now beyond not eating past full and making sure I'm eating single portions of breads, corn, pasta, or potatoes when I eat them.
 

Laurelin

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#31
I had to apologize to everyone in my office for snorting so loudly. I tried and tried not to laugh.... I was laughing so hard i was crying for minutes.
 

RedHotDobe

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#33
I stay relatively paleo, I guess. No grains typically, but I'll still eat cheese. I stick with meats, veggies, and fruits. I usually drink water, but I don't mind tea or even juice sometimes. Real juice, not those "juice cocktails" with a million ingredients. My breakfast is typically eggs with green peppers or spinach, or bacon and apples with peanut butter. Again, real peanut butter where the only ingredient is peanuts.

Reading ingredient labels will definitely help you become more aware of how much junk you consume without realizing it.
 

~Dixie's_Mom~

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#34
That typo :rofl1:

I don't drink soda. I basically only drink water. Always have though. I don't like carbonation and juice is usually too expensive (but I love it). I used to drink milk every day, but I haven't had it in a few weeks because dairy gives me a stomachache and phlem lol!

ETA: I do drink tea. When I was having milk and cream, I had coffee every day but now I have tea with honey.
 

~Jessie~

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#36
I'm just going to piggy back on what Beanie said (because it was awesome).

I read a quote a while back and I can't remember it word for word, but the general idea is to eat things that remember their "past." For example, grapes come straight from the vine. Grape Fruit Roll-ups? Not so much.

If it comes in a box or a can we generally don't eat it. I'd guess about 90% of our groceries are fresh, real foods. The other 10% are things I couldn't imagine making from scratch- generally things like Greek yogurts, feta cheese, etc, etc. My husband and I are lucky in that we REALLY love veggies and fruits and don't like fast food.
 

~Jessie~

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#37
I totally agree with Laurelin on eating one "free" meal out a week. For us, tomorrow we're going out to our favorite Mexican restaurant and I'm excited about getting chicken enchiladas :p

When you do go out for meals besides that one "free" meal, be calorie (and portion) conscious. Realistically, my husband and I end up going out for lunch once or twice a week. There's a little salad/wrap/smoothie place that we go to about once a week, and all of the options are healthy and fresh. Sure, it's still going out to eat- but a 300 calorie hummus salad and 150 calorie smoothie is better than a 1500 calorie lunch at McDonalds.
 

GoingNowhere

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#38
Has anybody else used this site?

http://nutritiondata.self.com/

If so, do you think it is legit? I like that I can look up the nutritional content of pretty much any food (ranging from 'natural, whole foods' to pre-packaged stuff to restaurant/fast food). I just want to know if the informational content is valid.
 

DJEtzel

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#39
I just wanted to throw in... and I haven't read all the replies.. but my "healthy" diet just consists of organic food. No genetically modified foods if I can avoid it. I cook with GMO free oils, butters, etc. and then actually make GMO free foods with GMO free sides, sauces, etc. Meijer has a pretty nice line of options now along with some meat... lots of fruits and veggies!

Eating organic has been an awesome change for me. I feel so much happier, I'm more active, my acne has cleared up a lot, etc.

I also wanted to say that I was having a talk with my boyfriend's sister last week, as she had just returned home from a 4 month study abroad program in argentina and she made a good point about food consumption there. In America, we are often told to clear our plate/finish our food because it's a waste and other people are starving or whatever. Well, in Argentina they see it as a waste to eat food you are not hungry for/after you are content or full because that food isn't actually doing anything for you. Makes sense, but it's never broken down that way here! So they advocate a lot smaller serving sizes because that's all you actually NEED and USE.
 

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