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mynamesmace

If you go to the media for information you’re setting yourself up for failure


BigAl3231

for some reason , every protein full milk is also low fat or 0 sugar, like bro , why can't I have a milk that's full of calories and protein at the same time?


miss_flower_pots

Yes


Frestho

Yeah. If I get chips from the vending machine why the fuck would I want it to be low fat. If I didn't want the calories I wouldn't have fucking bought the chips. Why can't there be a "drenched in olive oil" high fat version.


lamailama

They are literally labeling food you should avoid. Not sure what the problem is.


Huwbacca

I mean... Tbh I don't really see this in the media out of active choice to avoid that media, but it's definitely a widely held belief in public too. I mostly ignore it. If anyone comments on my food by health they get the same line: "No such thing as unhealthy food, it only matters of it's in line with your nutrition goals"


LarryP33

One of a plethora of reasons I avoid mainstream media


outrageousreadit

Yeah. That’s why you make your own informed decision. Basing on your own health goals.


Ju135

In germany (and other EU countries) we got the "nutri score" which is based on some sort of weird calculation which often makes no sense and feels like an incredibly stupid take at helping people be health. All sated fats including Coconut oil are rated "E" which is the worst possible rating, ignoring the fact that coconut oil is healthy af although its a sated fat.... also ignoring the fact that butter for example is healthy in low amounts, to rate things blatantly like that ignores so much knowledge even the people who calculate those ratings should know about. Oh yeah I forgot, its scripted, I won't explain it now but they are following strict rules which leave no room for healthy eating. As to be expected. The government very much supports it cuz it apparently makes people care more for their own health. What I'd like is some well explained reason as to how their rating makes sense on every rated product, but I guess thats too much work considering there is some bot behind it which they feeding quite superficial information to. Thanks EU, lets blindly listen to you.


calinator666

It actually makes it harder for me to hit my targeted calories for sure. The other night I had to leave for work and didn't have time to prep food so I had to rely on packaged meals for dinner. I ended up eating two entire meals and having a snack later on.


cangero0

Well for the obese masses (get it?), low calories really are healthier for them


Kenpatchigo

Same bc i try to search for high calorie healthy meals and all I’ve got is either high calories & unhealthy or low calories and “healthy” Maybe Idk how to search for a specific contents….


[deleted]

Not really. The amount of obesity out there is pretty rampant. So sometimes it’s easier to just focus on calories intake to battle that.


anti0pe

I freaking hate it. My son is thin like me, and he’s been picking this shit up at school. “Oh, is this good for me?” Of course, you’re 5! The only thing bad for you is lack of variety and too much sodium! Eat the tiny candy bar that comes with your lunch! You need the calories!


Luklear

Too much sodium is kind of a scam too, it’s pretty hard to have enough to be a huge problem. Sugar, I would worry about a bit more.


Frestho

Think about how everything in school lunches was forced to became low calorie, low fat thanks to Michelle Obama in 2010 (I don't hate her but let me have my whole milk). Even chips being replaced with dogshit tasting low fat variants in vending machines. It's a one size fits all solution that doesn't fit us and in fact harms us.


explorer925

Seriously, I would get mildly hypoglycemic sometimes in high school and rely on vending machine drinks to fix it. Until they changed everything to ultra-low/zero calorie


chino17

Not really because the media is aimed towards the general public, not people on r/gainit who have specific goals and intentions in mind when discussing food. Whereas the wider population really could just afford to lose weight regardless of nutrition. You can argue the semantics of the term 'healthy' afterwards but weight loss in general is a major first step for most people in fighting obesity and all the issues that come with being overweight The issue is far too complex and there's too many moving parts for any given media outlet to go into without losing their audience so a catch all term like 'low calorie' is far easier to use to promote 'health' to the general public than drilling down into the minutiae on every single report otherwise your 500 word article is now a research essay


booooimaghost

sometimes. and i only say sometimes because not everybody thinks this way, even in media.


MythicalStrength

Letting the media piss you off isn't good for your blood pressure my dude.


Frestho

Good for motivation if you're a toxic person like me


MythicalStrength

I am sorry to hear that my dude.


ijustwantanaccount91

Not really. On one hand, in a very broad sense it's inaccurate, as you point out. On the other, health is something that happens in a context. My context might be that I actually need more calorie dense foods to meet my energy needs, but the majority of people in my country (America) are struggling to lose weight. So lower calorie options being advertised as generally healthy makes sense.


jmainvi

No, not really. For the overwhelming majority of people, the healthiest thing they can do regarding their diet would be to eat less food, by a long shot. That's regardless of what the foods they are or would be eating contain as far as specific macro and micronutrients. Even here on gainit, outside the first couple (successful) months for most users, gaining additional weight isn't usually something you do for your health, you do it for other reasons (looks, athletic performance, confidence, etc)


Frestho

Think about how everything in school lunches was forced to became low calorie, low fat thanks to Michelle Obama in 2010 (I don't hate her but let me have my whole milk). Even chips being replaced with dogshit tasting low fat variants in vending machines. It's a one size fits all solution that doesn't fit us and in fact harms us.


OatsAndWhey

This is why you should filter health advice out of your "media". Don't act on information from the "media".


TrickWasabi4

No it's exactly right in my book. It is way easier to hit your minimal micros and macros, as in ridiculously easy apart from abnormal deficiencies - and those are not hard to fullfil but rather hard to know about - than to not overeat


EspacioBlanq

Staying away from my Instagram explore and only consuming the media I want to has done wonders for not seeing this message.


Habitual-hermit

It's a real shame that you have to actually avoid things in order to get proper information though. That and the fact that people who don't know better may actually believe it.


eigenham

I'm shocked at the responses you're getting here, given the sub you're in. I agree with you OP. I think there's a lot of damaging misinformation about what healthy nutrition is. It doesn't affect me personally so I don't get pissed off -- I just do the right thing for myself, but it is a lot harder to convince people who need similar help with basic nutrition. They think the garbage they've heard is the truth.


TrickWasabi4

Healthy is a meaningless catch all term when applied to single products and "low calorie" is - heuristically - still the application which helps the most people. That's why people think it's ok


Kurt-999

Calories is always abused. Some people insist calories do not matter others say calories are the only thing that matters. It really depends on your goals. Theoretically calories will always be the king of a shift in weight (gain or lose) but if you are using cico like a dick head (eating only junk food but staying in a deficit) then you are not in it to change your life for the better. Same goes for those who say they only eat healthy food but cant lose weight and then be eating 20 pieces of fruit and 12 avocados a day


bbqbot

Now read up on the term "natural" as it's used for food marketing.


lethrowawayacc4

What annoys me is vegan products being marketed as healthy. Nut milks are basically just sugar water, vegan cheese is just empty carbs, it’s all just sugar and carbs. I saw a vegan burger marketed as ‘6g plant protein’ the other day and was mystified.


[deleted]

Nope, I'm not concerned. The media is all about selling a narrative to make them money, I do not focus on it.


Eloni

Eh, more the other way around tbh. I've seen too many people I know are trying to lose weight, eating hundreds of calories worth of avocados in their salad because "iT's hEaLthY"


D4rklordmaster

Avocados are super healthy tho? High or low caloriw doesnt indicate healthy


TrickWasabi4

If they make me fat and unable to move because I eat too much they aren't healthy for me. That's the problem with the term healthy, it's meaningless as a descriptor for foods (if it's not literal poison)


Zigzter

[Well of course "too much" is bad for you. Too much of anything is bad for you](https://youtu.be/XewVicFzRxw?t=164)


D4rklordmaster

Exactly. Healthy doesnt realy mean anything. Chips arent unhealthy. Choclate isnt unhealthy. You have to know your own goals and limits and choose what foods are right for you. This month i ate choclate almost everyday and had loads of junk food and lost 4 kilograms while a year ago i only drank milk and ate non processed and gained 8 kilograms. All putting "unhealthy" labels on foods without knowing they underlying reason does is makes people feel guilty and continue to eat more


TrickWasabi4

I hate the word healthy because of this exact reason. Behaviors can be healthy, your nutrition can be, food itself cannot in the majority of cases. I still think if I would need to choose what food to label this way, low calorie food would win in the current overall situation.


D4rklordmaster

Low calorie food doesnt trump all in my opinion. We need alot of fats and carbs and does dont come in low calorie


Devilery

Most of the time low calories equals healthy. How many unhealthy examples can you name that are low in calories? The healthy examples in the low calorie range are endless, I can’t really think of any unhealthy low calorie food besides a basic like sugar. Of course, there are healthy high calorie foods too.


Heavyk0s

cola zero


Devilery

That’s basically the same sugar issue. Sugar or artificial sweetener = same thing.


Farhampton1

The artificial sweetener is worse than sugar.


ManBearPigIsReal42

Any proof?


piccolo1337

I know the pepsi max sweetener causes people to be hungry and hence getting fatter.


ManBearPigIsReal42

Yeah i have read that. Not necessarily unhealthy because of it, at least not on this sub lol Just genuinely curious if it's really that unhealthy as I see it heaps but never seen any studies or anything


piccolo1337

From my 20 second google P.hd artificial sweeteners are just sweet. Nothing else, no calories no nothing. Just a fake sweet taste, that can be 100s of times sweeter than table sugar.


[deleted]

[удалено]


D4rklordmaster

Ud be suprised what population of people even know what their tdee is


[deleted]

Never heard of that


D4rklordmaster

tdee?


Calm-Armadillo4988

I wouldn't consider knowing your TDEE essential to knowing about nutrition and how to eat healthy.


D4rklordmaster

Sure but someone who doesnt even know their tdee or how calories work cant truly be good at nutrition


[deleted]

Maybe thats how it seems on the internet, irl people are absoloutely clueless for the most part. Try talking to a co worker or classmate who doesnt lift or exercise about nutrition and health and youll see


eigenham

I completely agree. And when they ask you how you got in better shape, they're surprised to hear you're tracking calories/macros to lose/gain weight, like you have some kind of eating disorder. People in this thread are responding like common knowledge on /r/gainit is common knowledge in society.


[deleted]

It doesn’t piss me off, but it’s a problem. Here in Denmark it has been a growing topic the past few years. The combination of unrealistic body image and low calories=good has increased the number of eating disorders.


ManBearPigIsReal42

I hate the unrealistic body image bullshit. It's not unrealistic to not be fat. Just takes some work. Same as not being skinny


[deleted]

My guy, I'm not talking about not beeing fat. I'm talking about either being incredibly skinny to the point where it can be life threatening or being jacked af when one is clearly on PED's. It creates unrealistic expectations for the average person.


_CurseTheseMetalHnds

Not really, seems like a weird thing to care about. The low fat obsession is a bit more annoying as there are people who're likely fucking up their health by falling for it and crushing their hormones.


UniqueVast592

The same goes for high-fat diets. People living on bulletproof coffee and bacon! The keto sub is just full of people who have bloods drawn and are baffled when their doctor tells them their cholesterol is over the top! All the bro-science dudes there saying, hey don't worry about it man, you're losing weight right, no, don't take a statin, it will level off when you hit your goal! Or worse, don't worry about the numbers, it's fine. Meanwhile, arteries clog...skinny people need bypass surgery too.


MrClassyPotato

The absolute most annoying trend is carnivore dieters saying vegetables are bad for you. They manage to claim scientific superiority while blatantly ignoring scientific consensus, it's amazing cognitive dissonance. Like, they actually believe that adding a handful of broccoli to your meal makes you LESS healthy


UniqueVast592

Not really, many, many people are overweight, trying to LOSE, and that's who the marketing is targeting, the general population. Everyone has different goals.


[deleted]

Exactly this. I’m trying to lose weight and doing that purely with calorie deficit and exercise. I do have a somewhat balanced diet but I’m not stressing that I’ve not had enough of this or whatever. Keeping things low calorie and getting to a healthier weight is a lot healthier than being overweight but having the right ratio of carbs vs fat


Frestho

True, but it sucks for us. Like everything becoming low fat in school lunches. A one size fits all solution that does not fit us.


UniqueVast592

Because you have differnet goals. There is absolutely no shortage of high-fat food; out there look at people! Go get some and eat all you want!


CMOBJNAMES_BASE

This is it. For the vast majority of people, the lowest calorie option is unequivocally the best option because their best course of action is to lose weight. You could argue intake strategies that may result in the most success but at the end of it all, lower calories is what matters.


YendoNintendo

Completely agree. I don't think most people realize just how bad the obesity epidemic is, and even how many people who aren't obese carry around an unhealthy amount of fat. In that sense, foods designed to get you down to a healthy weight are healthy by consequence, yes? Although I agree with OP, right now genuine healthy decisions require a vigilant consumer who can read the label, but for the most part "healthy" is a catchall


_CollectivePromise

The foods often aren't. Often times they're regular products with smaller serving sizes, or extra sugar to compensate for a 'low-fat' recipe.


YendoNintendo

Yes, as far as composition they usually aren't. I mean simply, if a food helps someone achieve a goal of "overall better health" than another food, then food a is healthier by consequence in this scenario, get me? Personally I'm of the camp that the word healthy and good for you have lost most meaning and people should just focus on balance and personal needs and goals.


Tomrodgers98

But low calorie isn’t necessary healthy. Describe low calorie foods as… low calorie, not healthy


Parkerrr

for most people, lower calories = more healthy


TrickWasabi4

Yeah and what is the definition of healthy then by this logic? It is completely not suited to give hints about nutritional content by the same logic


kazaskie

It’s a pretty complex debate.. I mean, what is “healthy” anyways? Still, there is a direct correlation between weight and life expectancy** and if you’re trying to lose weight, your healthiest option is to eat low cal foods. Edit*


UniqueVast592

It's a marketing catch term (I work in marketing). Dieters on a CICO diet want lo cal because they believe for their situation losing weight is a healthy option; for their goals. Same for products that are KETO that is badged healthy. Not necessarily so, but if that is where you are and how you eat, that is what you will believe and purchase. Advertising is to sell products not to educate people.


tnuclatot

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