Overweight with good food vs overweight with junk food?

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Title speaks the intent. I'm asking because I have been told by a couple of people that becoming overweight with "good" food (homemade bread, lean cooked meat, seafood, basically anything non-processed and cooked normally) is usually less harmful than becoming overweight with "bad" food (everything fried, fast food, junk food, the stereotypical American junk diet).

And when I say "overweight", I don't mean "obese", just slightly over your personal "healthy" BMI or something. Just curious if anyone has insight on this.
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Isn't it sort of obvious what would be better? If you eat good food like fruits and vegetables and are overweight not sure how that is not better than eating chips and cookies and being overweight....So yeah.
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blinkgirl211 wrote...
Isn't it sort of obvious what would be better? If you eat good food like fruits and vegetables and are overweight not sure how that is not better than eating chips and cookies and being overweight....So yeah.


Just verifying that I understood it correctly, what with the common perception that all "fat" in general is a bad thing, you know?
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Taltharius wrote...

Just verifying that I understood it correctly, what with the common perception that all "fat" in general is a bad thing, you know?


You can basically eat what you want just learn control to quantity. If you eat fast food or fried you don't eat it everyday. You just need to control what you eat, get enough for each food group, and then maybe workout.
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blinkgirl211 wrote...
You can basically eat what you want just learn control to quantity. If you eat fast food or fried you don't eat it everyday. You just need to control what you eat, get enough for each food group, and then maybe workout.


Well, it also varies from person to person.

Somebody with a faster metabolism can eat more and remain skinny. I'm not 100% sure how that works, but it does. I probably eat less my brother, do around as much exercise, and yet he's in the middle of the 'normal' weight range, whilst I am just above the overweight line. And I have been for my entire life, since birth.

Also, eating stuff from each food group isn't really necessary. If you're looking to improve your health then sticking to the classic ideas of nutrition is helpful (although it won't improve your fitness). But generally, you can pretty much eat whatever you want, so long as you're not an idiot about it.

Taltharius wrote...
Just verifying that I understood it correctly, what with the common perception that all "fat" in general is a bad thing, you know?


That is of course not true, but it's useful propaganda to make people cut back on it.

Fat is necessary. It is our primary way of storing energy. Without it, we would find it difficult to keep warm by ourselves, survive when we're low on food, and exercise for extended periods of time. Cutting all fat out of your diet would be incredibly stupid, and dangerous, not to mention near impossible.
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Misaki_Chi Fakku Nurse
The human body needs three important things: proteins, carbohydrates and fats/lipids. All of these are called; macronutrients.

Macronutrients are basically nutrients that provide us with energy. We need nutrients because they are needed for growth, metabolism, and for other body functions. The word "macro" means that we need large quantities of these nutrients to allow us to function properly (need a lot to give us energy).

When you look at your diet and what is needed for your body, generally it is recommended that when you eat carbs, proteins, and fats that you eat them both in moderation and choose things that are better for you.

Instead of buying chicken nuggets at McDonalds, buy and cook up some lean chicken breast. Instead of getting that huge steak (that could feed two people) at that restaurant with mashed potatoes, make a smaller steak at home and make a baked potatoes with some steamed broccoli

Everybody is different, so even if you have more meat on your bones (or less) that doesn’t mean that you are unhealthy. The unhealthy part comes how the food affects your body. Sugars, cholesterol, and triglyceride levels are the three biggest issues (epically with fast foods or junk foods since they are the main contributors).

More information below on cholesterol, sugars and triglycerides since they all contribue to weight gain and their potentional adverse health effects.



Spoiler:
To go into this further let’s look further into cholesterol, triglycerides and sugars.

We naturally make some cholesterol in our body and we get some from our diet. Basically there are two different types of cholesterol; good and bad.

The good cholesterol usually termed HDL (high density lipoprotein) is small and circulates in our blood stream. It is good because it helps get rid of the bad cholesterol in our body and makes everything run smoothly (this is a very simple breakdown of this subject matter and if you want more info, look it up). High HDL levels help with lowering the chance of heart disease.

The bad cholesterol termed LDL (low density lipoprotein) is much larger. It sticks to the walls of our circulation and hardens to form plaque. This plaque can build up over time and can cause heart attacks (plaque buildup in the heart) or stroke (plaque buildup in the brain). Bad cholesterol can be increased by eating a diet high in saturated fats or trans fats (usually in high amounts with fast food or any processed foods)

With sugars the reason that we say to be careful about how much you ingest is because of the risk of developing diabetes type 2. Sugar which can come from unprocessed sugar products, breads, pasta, some fruits, processed foods become transformed into glucose. Glucose is an energy source for the body. When you have too much glucose your body releases insulin to bring the glucose levels down. Basically glucose is energy while insulin calms you down. When we have too much sugar (glucose) in our body, over time these high levels will cause to body to become “sensitized”. When this happens your insulin won’t work properly and you will have too much glucose running around in your system. Since glucose is an energy source for our body, this uncontrolled energy can overwork various areas of the body (the nerves in your eyes, the nerves in the ends of your feet and hands, your heart, and your kidney’s). Eventually your body will crash and you can go into shock. This severe instability with your body to process sugar is called type 2 diabetes.

Triglycerides are a form of fat produced by the body; basically triglycerides are the stored fat within your body. High levels of triglycerides directly relates to overweight and obesity. Inactivity, eating a diet high in carbohydrates (breads and sugars), smoking and excessive alcohol intake can cause high levels of these triglycerides. High triglycerides relates to high LDL levels, low HDL levels, and higher sugar levels which all can cause heart issues as well as type 2 diabetes (look up the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes if you want to know the difference since there is an extreme difference.)

Note: know that some cholesterol, sugars and triglycerides are not bad to have in your body, so don't just cut them out completely! Just consume them in small moderations.





In summary, the best thing to do for your body is this:
1) Eat a well-balanced diet (more veggies, fruits, proteins, complex carbs, and eat health fats; look these up for yourself)
2) Portion control (eat until you are satisfied; not until you are about to keel over; most people have the most trouble with this in general)
3) Talk to your doctor and see if he recommends anything to you specifically (every person is unique in what they should eat)
4) Also talk to your doctor about any history of heart disease, stroke or diabetes within your family since this can increase your chances of developing these complications (genetics are a bitch sometimes).
5) If you have a little fat on you don’t freak, a little fat on the body is healthy and natural; again everyone is different
6) Lastly, it’s okay if you eat some processed foods and some junk foods, just don’t overdo it.
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Misaki_Chi wrote...
Spoiler:
To go into this further let’s look further into cholesterol, triglycerides and sugars.

We naturally make some cholesterol in our body and we get some from our diet. Basically there are two different types of cholesterol; good and bad.

The good cholesterol usually termed HDL (high density lipoprotein) is small and circulates in our blood stream. It is good because it helps get rid of the bad cholesterol in our body and makes everything run smoothly (this is a very simple breakdown of this subject matter and if you want more info, look it up). High HDL levels help with lowering the chance of heart disease.

The bad cholesterol termed LDL (low density lipoprotein) is much larger. It sticks to the walls of our circulation and hardens to form plaque. This plaque can build up over time and can cause heart attacks (plaque buildup in the heart) or stroke (plaque buildup in the brain). Bad cholesterol can be increased by eating a diet high in saturated fats or trans fats (usually in high amounts with fast food or any processed foods)

With sugars the reason that we say to be careful about how much you ingest is because of the risk of developing diabetes type 2. Sugar which can come from unprocessed sugar products, breads, pasta, some fruits, processed foods become transformed into glucose. Glucose is an energy source for the body. When you have too much glucose your body releases insulin to bring the glucose levels down. Basically glucose is energy while insulin calms you down. When we have too much sugar (glucose) in our body, over time these high levels will cause to body to become “sensitized”. When this happens your insulin won’t work properly and you will have too much glucose running around in your system. Since glucose is an energy source for our body, this uncontrolled energy can overwork various areas of the body (the nerves in your eyes, the nerves in the ends of your feet and hands, your heart, and your kidney’s). Eventually your body will crash and you can go into shock. This severe instability with your body to process sugar is called type 2 diabetes.

Triglycerides are a form of fat produced by the body; basically triglycerides are the stored fat within your body. High levels of triglycerides directly relates to overweight and obesity. Inactivity, eating a diet high in carbohydrates (breads and sugars), smoking and excessive alcohol intake can cause high levels of these triglycerides. High triglycerides relates to high LDL levels, low HDL levels, and higher sugar levels which all can cause heart issues as well as type 2 diabetes (look up the difference between type 1 and type 2 diabetes if you want to know the difference since there is an extreme difference.)

Note: know that some cholesterol, sugars and triglycerides are not bad to have in your body, so don't just cut them out completely! Just consume them in small moderations.


"Wrong". We don't "naturally make cholesterol" -- I mean the true molecule, not those fat drops traveling through blood. We need external sources (1) -- that's why even on a diet it is necessary to eat essential fats like sterols or some fat acids.

I dislike a bit those constent confusions whose lead too much people to ruin their health, thinking by short-cut : "hey ! since I make my own cholesterol, why eat fat during a diet ?". To what any doctor would answer (1 :) "your cells need to renew their lipidic membranes so you mustn't stop eating fat, just reduce some classes of fats." But since people are confused, they don't get at all they harming themselves.

Plus you mustn't go on a diet on your own -- there is also lot of things like the family background, puberty, type of job, daily habits, stress... to take in account so the diet can be successful. You must always see before hand your doctor who will works with you to build one diet specifically adapted to you. But how many people just look TV or magazine then do stupidly anything and after that and get even more severe health problems ?

And most of all : there are morphologies built to be straight thin like needle and you can't do nothing about, and also some built to be rather chubby and you better stay like this instead of messing your health for ever, with (almost ? or always ?) no guarantee for being that "better" about the look.


That aside, I agree to this :

Misaki_Chi wrote...
In summary, the best thing to do for your body is this:
1) Eat a well-balanced diet (more veggies, fruits, proteins, complex carbs, and eat health fats; look these up for yourself)
2) Portion control (eat until you are satisfied; not until you are about to keel over; most people have the most trouble with this in general)
3) Talk to your doctor and see if he recommends anything to you specifically (every person is unique in what they should eat)
4) Also talk to your doctor about any history of heart disease, stroke or diabetes within your family since this can increase your chances of developing these complications (genetics are a bitch sometimes).
5) If you have a little fat on you don’t freak, a little fat on the body is healthy and natural; again everyone is different
6) Lastly, it’s okay if you eat some processed foods and some junk foods, just don’t overdo it.



To answer the title, it's more complex than a simple "yes" or "no". They are people whom normal diet are harmfull due to health disorders, others for whom "excesses" toward normal diet are rather permitted because their metabolism is quite to really different, others again who just happen to be a bit thin or chubby but must stay with a normal diet or else they will harm their health.

Only medical check-up with none other than your doctor may answer that question for each of us.
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Good food and Junk food are WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy apart from each other. Overweight on good food means that you are packed with health but that doesn't mean you can keep it permanently, but as for junk food that contain harmful substances must be QUICKLY removed or else it will quickly spread and become a disease. It is fact that our body weight and height must match for our BMI to be on a normal scale.

Also being overweight on good food is a myth, because in reality you cannot have that sort of addiction on good food like you do on junk food. Junk food tastes great and stimulates our sense of taste, thus creating that addiction that leads you to being obese, with extra substances that helps supports that addiction. Good food is natural, it gives you the proper nutrients it needs for the day, and doesn't stick around to be the " Bad Guy " in your system.

There is so much to discuss about this matter but I recommend watching " Hungry for change" documentary to have a better understanding about this type of stuff.
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I don't really think or agree there would be "good" or "junk" food. Even when I'm before such called "junk" food, I don't end up addicted, not even after years in contact. I think I should thank my education.

In a way, isn't it more about taste education than "evilish" food ?...
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Golden_Lightning wrote...
Good food and Junk food are WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy apart from each other. Overweight on good food means that you are packed with health but that doesn't mean you can keep it permanently, but as for junk food that contain harmful substances must be QUICKLY removed or else it will quickly spread and become a disease. It is fact that our body weight and height must match for our BMI to be on a normal scale.

Also being overweight on good food is a myth, because in reality you cannot have that sort of addiction on good food like you do on junk food. Junk food tastes great and stimulates our sense of taste, thus creating that addiction that leads you to being obese, with extra substances that helps supports that addiction. Good food is natural, it gives you the proper nutrients it needs for the day, and doesn't stick around to be the " Bad Guy " in your system.

There is so much to discuss about this matter but I recommend watching " Hungry for change" documentary to have a better understanding about this type of stuff.


Uhh, not addicted to good food? Dude, I absolutely CRAVE most forms of meat on a daily basis. Salmon, lean cuts of beef, pork, and poultry, the works. And it doesn't have to be deep fried, or slathered in oil for me to want it EVERY day at least once.

Salmon for life and increased brain power man, :D
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Taltharius wrote...
Golden_Lightning wrote...
Good food and Junk food are WAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy apart from each other. Overweight on good food means that you are packed with health but that doesn't mean you can keep it permanently, but as for junk food that contain harmful substances must be QUICKLY removed or else it will quickly spread and become a disease. It is fact that our body weight and height must match for our BMI to be on a normal scale.

Also being overweight on good food is a myth, because in reality you cannot have that sort of addiction on good food like you do on junk food. Junk food tastes great and stimulates our sense of taste, thus creating that addiction that leads you to being obese, with extra substances that helps supports that addiction. Good food is natural, it gives you the proper nutrients it needs for the day, and doesn't stick around to be the " Bad Guy " in your system.

There is so much to discuss about this matter but I recommend watching " Hungry for change" documentary to have a better understanding about this type of stuff.


Uhh, not addicted to good food? Dude, I absolutely CRAVE most forms of meat on a daily basis. Salmon, lean cuts of beef, pork, and poultry, the works. And it doesn't have to be deep fried, or slathered in oil for me to want it EVERY day at least once.

Salmon for life and increased brain power man, :D


I understand what you mean but what I mean is that sort of dangerous addiction ... like a chain that binds you kind of addiction. You know it's bad for you but you still eat it, not the good kinds. Natural foods are yummy yes, but they don't get you dangerously addicted like junk food does.
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Golden_Lightning wrote...


I understand what you mean but what I mean is that sort of dangerous addiction ... like a chain that binds you kind of addiction. You know it's bad for you but you still eat it, not the good kinds. Natural foods are yummy yes, but they don't get you dangerously addicted like junk food does.



Well, funny you mention the "chain addiction". I used to be like that. But now there are 2 primary reasons why it no longer happens to me the way it used to. On one hand, I'm usually broke between getting income assistance (I live with my family, btw), so I don't usually have the money to overstock on bad-for-you junk. And on the other, for whatever reason, I've become adept at noticing detrimental effects when over-consuming junk food.

Take Coca Cola for instance. Great in a glass or two to perk me up for my next online fire fight. If I drink it exclusively and neglect my normal water intake, however, I become dehydrated and my reflexes actually suffer noticeably. Dehydrated because Cola has caffeine, so it acts as a diuretic, making me lose water faster.

And interestingly enough, I can gauge my approximate hydration levels by checking my mouth lips. If the skin is dry, but not chapping or peeling off (I've always had somewhat dry skin), that's the acceptable minimum. If the skin is dry, chapping, and splitting when I open my mouth, that's a clear signal to start sipping my 1.1 litre plastic cup of water.
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Misaki_Chi Fakku Nurse
Fligger wrote...
"Wrong". We don't "naturally make cholesterol" -- I mean the true molecule, not those fat drops traveling through blood. We need external sources (1) -- that's why even on a diet it is necessary to eat essential fats like sterols or some fat acids.

I dislike a bit those constent confusions whose lead too much people to ruin their health, thinking by short-cut : "hey ! since I make my own cholesterol, why eat fat during a diet ?". To what any doctor would answer (1 :) "your cells need to renew their lipidic membranes so you mustn't stop eating fat, just reduce some classes of fats." But since people are confused, they don't get at all they harming themselves.


I’ve been tested on this quite a few times by now and I can pretty accurately say that the human body and other various organisms on this earth do produce a small amount of cholesterol naturally in their bodies. The amount isn’t much though (the exact number is different for each person depending of age, gender and weight) so that is why we need to consume a minimal to moderate amount of it in our diet (200mg-300mg I believe is that average in dietary guidelines for the United States). We produce such a small amount ourselves because it is such a vital molecule and steroid. Also good to know since we have the occasional patient that may produce abnormally high levels of cholesterol and they need to change their diet to accomidate for this (usually a genitic issue).

Even though I say we produce this naturally I never implied that you could live on your own cholesterol. You need to consume cholesterol (and find foods that promote good cholesterol) to function in life. I know patient’s get mad when they tell us something like, “but you said I make it naturally so why do I still need to eat it?!?” But we never say to stop eating something, just cut down on it. Normally this either happens when a patient takes it upon themselves to go diagnose themselves and try their own form of treatment, or there was a miscommunication error and the patient believed that the physician/RN said something differently.

I made this note below all of that information for a reason:
[quote=”Misaki_Chi”]Note: know that some cholesterol, sugars and triglycerides are not bad to have in your body, so don't just cut them out completely! Just consume them in small moderations.[/quote]

Also we are still learning more and more everyday about the human body and what is considered good or bad for it. Cholesterol is one of those things that people are up in high arms about. There are some countries that have a cholesterol level through the roof, yet live into their late ages, while countries such as the United States can die from high levels of cholesterol at a young age or suffer from chronic complications.

For now, we just go with what we have so far and change as new studies come out.
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It depends on a persons metabolism. I have seen people that eat nothing but junk food and coca-cola, and are 100% healthy, and in amazing shape, with beautifully toned muscles etc.

I for example have a really healthy diet out of necessity (it rapes my wallet so bad, i shudder every time i go grocery shopping. High quality food is expensive...), because i simply cant consume the crap most people eat on a daily basis and at the same time stay healthy and in good shape due to my metabolism.

I also noticed that if i gain weight from good quality food, it only takes me a couple of days to lose the excess weight by simply adjusting my diet (no meal skipping/meal size reduction, just reducing intake of high calorie foods), whereas if i consume junk food, it take MONTHS to get rid of the excess weight.



Golden_Lightning wrote...

Also being overweight on good food is a myth, because in reality you cannot have that sort of addiction on good food like you do on junk food. Junk food tastes great


^ Healthy food can be just as tasty (and much tastier) than junk food if you are a good cook and have the time for it. I know you might disagree because it really is a matter of personal preference, but i just felt i should mention this.
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There's allot of food that's unhealthy for reasons other than gaining weight. You could be six foot/125 lbs like me (do I even lift?) and have heart conditions or something from a bad diet. So if you get overweight with bad food, but not too overweight, you might end up getting some non-weight related problem in the process.
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Chat wrote...
There's allot of food that's unhealthy for reasons other than gaining weight. You could be six foot/125 lbs like me (do I even lift?) and have heart conditions or something from a bad diet. So if you get overweight with bad food, but not too overweight, you might end up getting some non-weight related problem in the process.


You can still be very fit without being healthy. And you can get very bad non-weight problems, even if you eat food which are commonly considered 'good'.

The best example I know to show this is Sumo wrestlers. They basically eat a load of extra rice to get as big as they do. But they still have to work out incredibly hard to be successful, and that makes them very fit. Yet because of the large amounts of fat in their system, they are very unhealthy, and if they remain at that weight for too long, they often develop things like heart conditions, as you suggested, which often don't go away even if they reduce their weight. That's why Sumo wrestlers don't have long careers.
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Chat wrote...
There's allot of food that's unhealthy for reasons other than gaining weight. You could be six foot/125 lbs like me (do I even lift?) and have heart conditions or something from a bad diet. So if you get overweight with bad food, but not too overweight, you might end up getting some non-weight related problem in the process.


Woah dude, you must be as skinny as a twig! I am 5.7 foot/162 pounds, and i am lean...
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King Dingaling wrote...
Chat wrote...
There's allot of food that's unhealthy for reasons other than gaining weight. You could be six foot/125 lbs like me (do I even lift?) and have heart conditions or something from a bad diet. So if you get overweight with bad food, but not too overweight, you might end up getting some non-weight related problem in the process.


Woah dude, you must be as skinny as a twig! I am 5.7 foot/162 pounds, and i am lean...


I have the physique of a code geass character, and I eat quite a bit and fairly well too. Never had gravy for example. I just decided as a kid I might as well not start (not to imply it's a miracle diet). I would like to get up to at least 135 lbs though, at that point I'd probably be able to bench my own weight. Until that moment, I'll just keep wearing lots of layers.

Moral of the story is, like Silence said, you can be fit or unfit regardless of weight. Though I'd like to point out I used the word "overweight" and not unfit. I used unhealthy once, but it was referring to the food, not the eater.
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@ Chat

Try body-building. Surely it needs a lot effort but if you take your time, the shape won't go too fast -- the longer it takes, the longer it remains :-)
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Chat wrote...
King Dingaling wrote...
Chat wrote...
There's allot of food that's unhealthy for reasons other than gaining weight. You could be six foot/125 lbs like me (do I even lift?) and have heart conditions or something from a bad diet. So if you get overweight with bad food, but not too overweight, you might end up getting some non-weight related problem in the process.


Woah dude, you must be as skinny as a twig! I am 5.7 foot/162 pounds, and i am lean...


I have the physique of a code geass character, and I eat quite a bit and fairly well too. Never had gravy for example. I just decided as a kid I might as well not start (not to imply it's a miracle diet). I would like to get up to at least 135 lbs though, at that point I'd probably be able to bench my own weight. Until that moment, I'll just keep wearing lots of layers.

Moral of the story is, like Silence said, you can be fit or unfit regardless of weight. Though I'd like to point out I used the word "overweight" and not unfit. I used unhealthy once, but it was referring to the food, not the eater.


Yeah, gravy is definitely not something one should eat on a regular basis (id say once a month is ok). And jesus christ, like code geass? thats insane.

If you want to gain some mass for bodybuilding using a healthy method, then drink fresh "live" beer (beer with a small amount of live yeast in it) before bed, every doy, until your mass increases. You will have to make the beer yourself though (but you can just buy a beer making kit, its easy. you dont need a pressurizing keg, because the objective isnt to make an effervescent beverage, but a dietary supplement).
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