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Comment by DavidBishop | Hacker News Reader

People resist the idea because the answer is too simple. "Fats" are better than "Carbs". So lard is better than a banana? Ugh.

It's not the broad category of "Fats" vs "Carbs". It's the TYPE of food. Eat good food. Period. Not something made in a factory. Twinkies: out. Soda: out. Standard pizza with refined grains and loads of cheese: out.

Eat healthy food: the right meats, fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lots of water. Don't eat crap. Exercise.

It really isn't rocket science, but when we make one food group "bad" and the other one "good" just so we have another excuse to eat junk, we lose.

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> People resist the idea because the answer is too simple. "Fats" are better than "Carbs". So lard is better than a banana? Ugh. > It's not the broad category of "Fats" vs "Carbs". It's the TYPE of food. Eat good food. Period. Not something made in a factory. Twinkies: out. Soda: out. Standard pizza with refined grains and loads of cheese: out

People resist this idea because it is too simple. The reason behind the whole article is trying redefine what "good food" is. The last twenty years we've been told that fatty foods were bad for us, and high-carbonhydrate foods were good for us. That we should have 60%+ of our diets as carbs.

There is now mounting evidence that this is all bad advice.

I know many people now who trim the fat off the meat whilst eating unchecked quantities of pasta because they believe this is what good food is and what 'eating well' means. This is wrong and people need to be re-educated.

I totally agree, the problem is that it's harder for people to eat healthy than simply pick a single thing and demonize it. Plus, telling people to eat healthy doesn't sell a lot of books.

I'm pretty sure Michael Pollan's bank account disagrees with your second sentence.

True, but I think the sentiment is correct at least in selling food. It's hard to get rich selling spinach, but it's easy to get rich selling Sugar-Frosted Excitement Pops - now made with whole grain-like substances!

Fad books sell to a lot of people over and over. Of course you can get rich helping people to just eat healthy, but it's harder and you likely don't get the repeat buyers. But write a book saying x is evil or fat is not your fault because y is evil and you'll get tons of buyers.

On top of that, phrases like "eat healthy", "eat healthy fats", "eat cleanly", etc are ambiguous, and not helpful. This is because each person's definition of "healthy" and "clean" is different.

We need to be very specific when describing what to eat.

It's also more expensive to provide quality fats, proteins and carbohydrates. Compare the cost of a big mac to a free-range organic chicken breast and some fresh vegetables.

> the right meats

There is no such thing as "wrong meat".

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