ciphergoth comments on What should I have for dinner? (A case study in decision making) - Less Wrong

23 Post author: bentarm 12 August 2010 01:29PM

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Comment author: CronoDAS 12 August 2010 03:16:34PM 7 points [-]

My conclusion has been: nobody really knows anything about nutrition, so I'm going to eat what I damn well please. (They used to say that margarine was better than butter, but now they've concluded that "trans fat" is actually worse than ordinary saturated fat.) Summing up all the various advice, it all seems to come down to "eating is bad for you." (And data on caloric restriction seems to confirm this!)

Remember this scene from Woody Allen's movie Sleeper?

Dr. Melik: This morning for breakfast he requested something called "wheat germ, organic honey and tiger's milk."
Dr. Aragon: [chuckling] Oh, yes. Those are the charmed substances that some years ago were thought to contain life-preserving properties.
Dr. Melik: You mean there was no deep fat? No steak or cream pies or... hot fudge?
Dr. Aragon: Those were thought to be unhealthy... precisely the opposite of what we now know to be true.
Dr. Melik: Incredible.

Comment author: ciphergoth 13 August 2010 06:57:04AM 0 points [-]

You're quoting fictional evidence. I'm afraid you've bought a media narrative that's almost entirely at odds with the truth. I strongly recommend Ben Goldacre's book Bad Science for more on this: healthy eating advice has stayed roughly the same for decades.

Comment author: CronoDAS 13 August 2010 07:07:51AM 2 points [-]

The "Sleeper" quote was a joke. :(