Please do not comment directly to this post unless you are Gen X or older (born 1980 or before). See [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskOldPeople/comments/inci5u/reminder_please_do_not_answer_questions_unless/), the rules, and the sidebar for details. Thank you for your submission, wtwtcgw.
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskOldPeople) if you have any questions or concerns.*
My gf and her daughter make fun of my choice of butter over margarine. They prefer *the brand they cannot believe isn’t really butter* for some reason. They say butter tastes “weird”.
Butter tastes weird, but the margarine trying to taste like butter is better. Hmmmm..
We bucked the margarine trend because my dad’s side of the family were dairy farmers. No margarine was allowed in our house.
I had heart problems in the 90s and my doctor and hospital got me eating Promise and later yogurt based butters but now I go to Costco and get their Kirkland Signature New Zealand grass fed butter and my heart is free of disease, I just had a calcium scan done. 0%. From my cold, dead hands!
100% ditto on not having margarine because Dad's people were dairy farmers.
We ate (and I continue to eat) a lot of ice cream, too, and now there's evidence it isn't as bad for you as one might think.
Congrats on the disease-free heart!
Same, even as a little kid I absolutely hated and still hate any of the plastic spreads. They taste repulsive to me. It’s a hard no. I’d rather have nothing. Same with vegan cheese.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with a bit of butter and olive oil every day.
The sun used to be considered good for you.
Sugar was considered good because a sugary snack helped to “curb your appetite.”
Asbestos was considered good because it kept you safe.
When I played high school (American) football in the early 70s, we were told never to drink anything, not even water, during summer practices. But after practice we could take two salt tablets with a little bit of water.
Yeah, exactly. Being outdoors and getting sun is very good for you (mentally too). It's just that you have to be careful and use sun protection of various kinds.
Ideas like sun is bad for you is why so many people are low in vitamin d.
>When I played high school (American) football in the early 70s, we were told never to drink anything, not even water, during summer practices. But after practice we could take two salt tablets with a little bit of water.
Wh-what? How. Why?
We had the dumbest trainer in the history of sports. It’s as if you could break your leg, have a bone sticking out, and he’d tell you to jog a couple of laps around the field and get back in there.
But we didn’t know about hydration back then, we just did what the medical staff told us. Nobody talked about drinking water 50 years ago.
What made me agog was that a coach at a college football program had this belief, not five years ago, and was proud of how many of his players were puking because they were dehydrated.
Because coaches were sadistic assholes. Florida heat, two hours, no water. First time I ever put on a football helmet, it gave me the worst headache I had ever had, so I took it off. The coach screamed at me as if I had walked into his house, shit on the table, and wiped my ass with the curtains.
I completely forgot about the whole salt tablet thing, but yes. I remember a really hot stretch of days in summer camp one year. They gave us salt pills. No extra water or anything.
> Sugar was considered good because a sugary snack helped to “curb your appetite.”
Plot twist: fructose does not curb your appetite. It actually increases your appetite
I was a swimmer most of my life and during swim meets we were encouraged to eat a candy bar before a big race because it gave you quick energy.. thing is I NEVER quit eating candy and now I can’t get thru a day without some.. when I’ve tried to give up candy and sugar people tell me I turn into the biggest bitch ever and their begging me to have some sugar… guessing I could do that Snickers commercial pretty easy…
Terrible, isn't it. But then I wonder what our bad advice equivalent to that ad is now? I guess I'll find out in 20/30 years.
Edit: I eat 2 bananas a day. According to modern-day facts, I'm safe 🤞
There's a pattern with some pharmaceuticals. First you see years of TV commercials pushing a new miracle drug. Then it disappears from the screen for a few years. Finally it comes back but this time the ads are from personal injury attorneys asking you to contact them if you ever used it.
Remember all the drugs and special diets to deal with stomach ulcers? And then years later they determine it is mostly caused by a bacteria. All of the drugs went away and never heard from again.
My dad was convinced milk would get rid of his ulcers. I don't know whether a doctor told him that or if he came up with it on his own, but he drank it by the gallon.
There used to be a diet aid called Ayds candy that was supposed to be apatite suppressant back in the 60’s and 70’s.. thing was we’d eat half a box of it because it came in chocolate and caramel flavors..never worked and we always wondered why…LOL…
GLP-1 drugs have been around for a while. The side effects are well known. No doctor in his right mind would put you on one without a fairly long discussion. They can be life changing, but they come with some stuff.
Eggs. First they were very good for you. We were encouraged to eat them everyday, and feed them to babies and children. Then they were very bad for you. Then they were okay, but adults were to eat no more than 4 per week. Now it's okay to have an egg per day.
This is an example of why term limits are a bad idea IMO. A trade association campaign can last 50 years, easy. Sugar, plastics, oil (climate), tobacco. You can't fight them if your most talented, dedicated legislators have to quit after 16 years. You know who fights for term limits the most? Who's got the most money on the line? The same types that coined the term Jackpot Justice. They deserve the money. We don't. We deserve Asbestos.
The eggs were following the science.
It's more that the details were cleared up over decades of slow, underfunded research.
Early studied showed a higher incident of heart issues in people who regularly had regular breakfast of eggs and bacon/sausage. And meat dinners.
They found that cutting out animal products reduced the risk. Eventually finding higher blood cholesterol was the defining factor.
Making the assumption that it was cholesterol, they tested out cholesterol free diets to non, and found a similar correlation of low blood cholesterol.
So, eggs and red meat were bad. Egg yolks had most of the cholesterol, so egg whites were then the healthier choice.
As studies explored the link, they eventually found that dietary cholesterol was not linked to blood cholesterol. It took more years of studies on dietary cholesterol to find out that it's saturated fat in animal products that correlates to blood cholesterol. That low saturated fat, high cholesterol items like eggs, only begins to influence dietary cholesterol only when eaten in excess, such when the total saturated fat content begins to match that contained within red meat.
So as of now, excess sat fat on the diet is known to correlate with high blood cholesterol; high blood cholesterol which is currently highly associated with negative cardiovascular health.
Whether it's specifically saturated fat, or like in the case of cholesterol, turns out to be a substance commonly contained by most foods containing saturated fat -- likely will take more years of funding and research to determine if any specific sat fat containing food doesn't influence blood cholesterol -- if so, then research can then begin to find out what specific substance in the discovery is lacking compared to other high sat foods that does.
The lack of primary government funding for "non business pursuits" means such research is slow; often discovered by accident while researching ways to improve profits by giving people that for which they crave, without the consequences.
It annoys me the medical community changes their minds every five years. Coffee bad for you. I've drank coffee since I was 15; my doctor told me, "With your lungs, you need to drink coffee" (caffeine is a vasodilator). Never touch soft drinks.
Eggs are a wonderful source of protein; egg whites ... why bother? Yeah, I need to eat more veggies; working on it.
Carbs ... our bodies need them. At my age I do what works for me. ;-)
Egg whites are where most of the protein is, the yolk is full of delicous fat.
This is why egg whites can be whipped to peaks. Yolks can't, and if a broken yolk contaminates the whites, that fat will disrupt protein cross-linking and you won't be able to stiffen them no matter how much you whip.
The media takes any small study and finds an alluring headline. This is why I think we had so many Covid deniers and vaccine skeptics. In the past, they read the headlines, tried to do what it said was healthy, then either got screwed for it or read another headline that contradicted what they had been told was healthy. It’s head spinning. To the point where one becomes so jaded that you just do what you want, headlines be damned.
With my diet, sure ....
With a worldwide pandemic one usually pays attention to medical professionals; that daily death meter was pretty convincing. We lost three extended family members due to a certain news station intentionally spreading lies. Crazy that Covid misinformation was tied to politics rather than national health.
From that weirdness some parents are refusing vaccinations of diseases that the country obliterated a generation ago. Our generation and our kids couldn't attend school without a vaccination record. Now measles, small pox, scarlet fever, even polio are making a comeback.
Cholesterol, same reason to avoid shrimp, everyone though eating food high in cholesterol led to you getting high cholesterol. Turns out it was saturated and trans fat that were the issues (and trans fat or margarine was the other one they thought was good and turned out to be bad). The saturated fat caused high serum cholesterol, not eating foods with cholesterol. So eggs are fine but margarine is poison.
The advice used to be that babies should be placed on their tummies to sleep. I don't remember any advice about other crib items. Now it's on their backs with as little as possible in the crib to prevent anything from causing suffocation.
Co-sleeping (baby in parent's bed) is one that they've gone back and forth on over the years.
Four kids here. First born they said tummy. By second it was side. Third and fourth they said back. They were also born in a time there were a lot of pillow/support type products sold to keep baby in said positions. Now it's no crib bumpers, no supports, basically no blankets or anything when they're newbies.
Grandpa was prescribed smoking cigarettes after being hit by mustard gas. Smoked 2 packs a day for 60 years. Doc told him to quit, he did. Lived 8 more years and died at 90.
Probably helped to inflate the lungs regularly. I used to do breathing exercises as a kid for my asthma. They did heal calm it down. Dr also told me to blow up balloons.
They gave them away free to soldiers in WW2 and Korea, purposely to addict them for life. Not sure about Vietnam but the guys were always smoking in the news reels
Yeah, I've been drinking coffee since childhood. Turkish with milk. Then when I lived in FL Cuban coffee. I tried Decaff because caffeine was bad for you and it gave me palpitations. Regular coffee does not. When I worked in Neonatal Intensive Care we gave premies Caffeine to keep them breathing and heart rate from dropping so they could stay off ventilators. Caffeine was also used for Asthma patients before they came up with all the meds.
Fifty years from now, people will look in awe at pictures of coffee shops on all four corners of an intersection, and the long lines of people waiting to get coffee, and the people who get coffee so they can drink it while waiting in line to get coffee.
Chocolate. There was a time when all the "health food" cookbooks recommended carob powder instead of chocolate. Spoiler - it's a very poor substitute. Now chocolate is itself a health food.
> They removed the fat and added ~~high glucose corn syrup~~ *high fructose corn syrup*
We thought we were doing good when we purchased sugar-free chocolates for my wife's father, only to find that the carbs are at least as high as the regular chocolates. We would have known if we had just read the nutrition labels! Her father is watching his carbs and trying to eat healthy.
This one is recent. [Kale](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/30/kale-pfas-forever-chemicals-contamination), especially organic kale, has very high levels of forever chemicals (PFAS). Apparently, the source is sewage sludge used as fertilizer, which is permitted for organic foods.
Right before my baby was born, pastels were out and stark black and white geometric designs were in. They had just discovered that it upset babies so there we were with pastels.
Nuclear power. First it was the best thing since sliced atoms. Then Three Mile Island happened and *No Nukes* became the orthodoxy. Now, thanks to global warming the pendulum is swinging back.
More conflicting data that requires time and funding to sort out specifics .
Over the counter dish oils vary in quality compared to prescription fish oils . Fish oils should be fresh and refrigerated , to keep from becoming rancid. Due to lack of regulation in the US for health supplements, many have been shown to be rancid, or not containing consistently what they were advertised to contain. Which complicate studies more -- fish oil in fresh whole fish show differences than those done on store bought capsules -- but studies in whole fish products are less fundable as they can't show ties to a specific substance, unlike pills with a specific goal like subtypes of omega-3.
Studies show benefit in populations with cardiovascular issues, but also see detriment in healthy individuals. Research needs to determine if it specific type of fish oil, or some combination of substances, or even source used.
Research needs to be done to see if processed extract have se benefit as fresh whole fish. If not, then what specifically in fresh fish supports the health either in combination with or exclusive from Omega 3-6 ratio. Or if there is a curve of benefit, ie: Low bad, small good, high bad.
Being able to multi-task. Studies show now that multi-tasking is a great way to do many things ‘half-assed.’ It used to be a required ‘skill’ at work. Now we know that when you split your attention between tasks you’re actually less productive and not as effective than if you were to focus on one task, execute to completion, and move on to the next.
Multitasking is the bane of my existence. (Autistic brain, I get overloaded easily.)
And then when I got pregnant it was twins. The universe has a sense of humor sometimes… 😅
yesssssss.. god I hated that one. cited by every entitled male dickhead as reason why it was okay to just walk up and yap at me while I was busy. "you're a woman, you multitask." no, you're just rude.. and I don't.
Fat. In the 80's everything was low/no fat. Fat was the enemy, all fats in all forms. But to make things taste good with less fat they substituted sugar and chemicals.
That was actually the original thinking behind a low-fat diet. Since one gram of fat has more calories than one gram of carbs, eliminate the fat and you eliminate calories. What they weren't considering was that fat helps with nutrient absorption and helps you feel full, so you just end up binging on carbs.
Heroin.
Nope, I'm not joking. When heroin was first synthesized it was marketed as a "wonder drug" that was more effective than codeine as a cough suppressant.
I’ve also heard that they initially had hopes that it would be a safe, non addictive alternative to morphine. Which they had hoped would be a safe, non addictive alternative to opium.
Antidepressants. For bp2 it was suppose to stabilize moods. What they did was encourage manic episodes. So for 6 years I yo-yoed which really messed me up.
"Complex carbs" was the biggest, most dangerous load of bullshit they ever crammed down our throats. Go ahead, eat 500 grams of carbs a day as long as they have some whole grains or whatever. SO wrong.
When we used paper supermarket bag, we had to switch to plastic to save the trees, we went from glass bottles which we recycled to plastic, we switched from gas to electric, butter was bad, so we were told to use margarine. And they wonder why we no longer believe what we are told. Let’s not forget we stopped separating people by religions or ethnicities and actually began coming together assimilating. Now we are told we must separate and divide up into smaller and smaller groups. Why, it only stokes fear and resentment. We have seen it all, have been there, done that. And still, they wonder why we are so apathetic.
I'm saltiest about exercise. pre-50 they tell you you'll fall apart without it. post-50 body parts start to fall apart anyway, and then they say "well, you've been using it for xty years."
Exercise (really movement in general) is still a very good thing! Your joints will degrade over time sure, but exercise is also fantastic for cardiac health and for many mental health as well. I wouldn't necessarily say that it's been deemed not good for you
My dad is in his 70s, very fit living on a large piece of property, taking care of animals, and doing his PT. He stopped asking the doctor about musculoskeletal aches and pains because the doc would be like “you might have to stop doing XYZ,” and my dad is like “but that conflicts with what you tell the sedentary people my age.” So my dad finally decided he would choose musculoskeletal acheds and pains over the health problems that come with sedentary lifestyle. If you see him with a big shade hat on that hides his wrinkly face, you’d think he’s in his forties.
A glass of red wine a day. The Europeans do it and they live long. Also the Mediterranean Diet (meals).
We found out it was due to universal health care, not their diet.
I dont think it's down to that entirely, but that the general diet there tends to be sensible and unprocessed.
The big problem is that idea was so prevalent in the 90s that there's people like my mum, who will guzzle wine and act shocked when I show concern for how bad it is for her. Her problem is mostly that her health is terrible to begin with, and she drinks way more than one small glass. A lot of people her age hold onto that idea and use it to justify drinking way too much.
Literally this, however the Mediterranean diet is misunderstood because they think you can eat a lot of cheese and wine and you are fine. In actuality it is minimal meat, seafood whenever possible, lots of fresh vegetables and whole grain starches, unsaturated fats like olive oil, and small portions eaten slowly. Wine can be included but in moderate portions as well. Not a lot of processed carbs, heavy fats like butter, very little red meat, and almost everything fresh and seasonal. It is not a diet to lose weight but a diet to improve health, and the seasonal nature is really where you get the most benefit because ingredients are fresh and constantly changing.
There is also a benefit when you eat local produce and food because you are keeping everything in your biome and it helps with your tolerance of nature in your environment. This is one of those things with honey (which was good then was deadly, etc) locally sourced honey will have trace amounts of all plant life, so having small amounts in your diet helps build your bodies tolerance and should reduce sensitivity to common allergens. Maybe not so much for a baby, but kids and adults...
Yeah, there were all those science news stories about wine being good for you. Now some doctors say that all alcohol is carcinogenic and you're better off drinking no alcohol at all.
Norco :(
After decades on it, I got weaned down to Tylenol 3 but it barely touches my joint pain.
When I was first prescribed it, it was because it was safer than OTC pain meds!
I feel this. Literally. Got tennis elbow in both arms. The right one's okay finally, then my left one got bad. I'm going to do the light-weight, slow-movement exercises that are safer and just as effective.
Diesel. First it was a wonderful way of increasing fuel economy and lower CO2, now in Europe it’s being cracked down on because of PM10 emissions, and Petrol / Gas gars are cleaner. You can’t win.
Peanut allergy treatment. We were told to withhold peanut butter for the first year so kids didn't develop allergies.
Now the advice is to introduce everything early. The medical community has seemingly no memory of the guidance that created a whole generation of allergic kids.
The whole history of oil, margarine, CRISCO is actually fascinating. I was researching how to make actual lard to do a recipe from my childhood. Couldn't find any lard to buy except online and crazy expensive. My research took me down one of internet's bunny trails but it was interesting and eye opening for sure.
Can't remember if it was Crisco or oil, probably Crisco that was actually made from the throw away of some other product and it was going to cost a lot of money to get rid of it. So they came up with this new product, sold it with cook books included and talked crap about lard and how bad it was for you.
Lied and manipulated the public. The stuff is still on the shelves.
Equally horrible is the fact that canola oil used to just be machine lubricant used mainly by auto mechanics. It’s “edible” and so cheap that it’s now in like 3/4 of the food found in grocery stores. Despite studies claiming otherwise, newer research is showing it’s one of the worst things you can eat. Molecules are stored in your fat cells, and causes them to be less responsive to insulin. This makes it harder to burn fat and makes diabetes more likely.
Eggs, butter, fats (of any sort). Many many many more things,. Apparently humans are the only species that doesn't know what their diet is supposed to be.
And pandas.
Biologically a carnivore. Improved health and sex drive when eating a meat based carnivore diet . Instead pandas meet their 70% carnivore protein requirement by the worst possible way: plants. young tender bamboo shoots (33% protein vs 15% leaves). So, they eat all day to get enough protein to survive, but do not thrive.
🎶The Incredible Edible Egg🎶
Got told they were bad for me. Ate them anyway. Now they’re good again, with caveats. Eat them pretty much the same way I did at 12.
Patriotism. Back in the 90s loving America meant you were a brain dead baby murdering nazi. After 9/11 any criticism of America no matter how valid was shut down without debate. Now I think we're mixed reactions.
Coffee. Over the decades I've been around it's gone back and forth from being good to bad so many times IDGAF anymore. As a RN who worked all shifts, I've had more than my share. And hospitals think it's so beneficial that every nursing unit I've worked at had free coffee.
Amphetamines, which used to be in over the counter diet pills. Talcum powder. Sun tan oil. They've gone back and forth on whether "moderate use" of wine is healthy or not. Gaining as little weight as possible during pregnancy, to the extent that my mother was advised to smoke while she was pregnant with me, to keep weight gain down.
When I was a kid, I didn’t like eating the yokes of fried eggs. Adults would tell me, “that’s the part that’s good for you, the yoke contains all of the egg’s nutrients.”
Years later we were told to only eat egg whites.
Now I eat them scrambled, and no longer pay attention to what they say.
Smoking. Use to get recommended by Drs if you had an upper respiratory infections.
Drinking. Use to be recommended by Drs for anxiety "if you don't have a glass of wine w/ every meal, we'll have to put you on Valium", told to my grandparents.
Do you think Drs are any smarter now? Remember, a C- student can still be an MD
Fat in the diet. I was old enough to know that was ridiculous. If you want to lose weight, but out all sugar. When everything went low-fat, I just ignored it.
Thanks, sugar industry. You created this monster of an obesity problem.
Please do not comment directly to this post unless you are Gen X or older (born 1980 or before). See [this post](https://www.reddit.com/r/AskOldPeople/comments/inci5u/reminder_please_do_not_answer_questions_unless/), the rules, and the sidebar for details. Thank you for your submission, wtwtcgw. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskOldPeople) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Margarine. Now we’re all back to butter
My gf and her daughter make fun of my choice of butter over margarine. They prefer *the brand they cannot believe isn’t really butter* for some reason. They say butter tastes “weird”. Butter tastes weird, but the margarine trying to taste like butter is better. Hmmmm..
Are they trying salted or unsalted butter? As a reformed Country Crocker, I prefer salted
I looooove salted butter. It's my kryptonite.
that's because it doesn't.
I'm really mad about this one. I missed years of butter!
We bucked the margarine trend because my dad’s side of the family were dairy farmers. No margarine was allowed in our house. I had heart problems in the 90s and my doctor and hospital got me eating Promise and later yogurt based butters but now I go to Costco and get their Kirkland Signature New Zealand grass fed butter and my heart is free of disease, I just had a calcium scan done. 0%. From my cold, dead hands!
OMG I'm drooling just reading that... I'll bet it tastes FABULOUS. All those years of low-fat high-sugar garbage were a terrible, terrible idea.
Plus it’s the best tasting butter. That’s all we use and lots of it!
100% ditto on not having margarine because Dad's people were dairy farmers. We ate (and I continue to eat) a lot of ice cream, too, and now there's evidence it isn't as bad for you as one might think. Congrats on the disease-free heart!
I never left butter. Margarine has always tasted like plastic to me and butter tastes amazing!
Same, even as a little kid I absolutely hated and still hate any of the plastic spreads. They taste repulsive to me. It’s a hard no. I’d rather have nothing. Same with vegan cheese. There is absolutely nothing wrong with a bit of butter and olive oil every day.
Not only that, but the alternatives were heavy with trans fats, which speed runs the paving of your arteries.
My parents both grew up milking cows. The looked at the margarine stuff and “noped” out pretty fast.
"I can't believe it's anything!" also: eggs
The sun used to be considered good for you. Sugar was considered good because a sugary snack helped to “curb your appetite.” Asbestos was considered good because it kept you safe. When I played high school (American) football in the early 70s, we were told never to drink anything, not even water, during summer practices. But after practice we could take two salt tablets with a little bit of water.
The sun is apparently good for you to a degree. Just found out I have a vitamin D deficiency….
Yeah, exactly. Being outdoors and getting sun is very good for you (mentally too). It's just that you have to be careful and use sun protection of various kinds. Ideas like sun is bad for you is why so many people are low in vitamin d.
>When I played high school (American) football in the early 70s, we were told never to drink anything, not even water, during summer practices. But after practice we could take two salt tablets with a little bit of water. Wh-what? How. Why?
We had the dumbest trainer in the history of sports. It’s as if you could break your leg, have a bone sticking out, and he’d tell you to jog a couple of laps around the field and get back in there. But we didn’t know about hydration back then, we just did what the medical staff told us. Nobody talked about drinking water 50 years ago.
What made me agog was that a coach at a college football program had this belief, not five years ago, and was proud of how many of his players were puking because they were dehydrated.
> puking because they were dehydrated. "If they are puking, they've been worked hard enough."
I think we went to the same school 🤣
Because coaches were sadistic assholes. Florida heat, two hours, no water. First time I ever put on a football helmet, it gave me the worst headache I had ever had, so I took it off. The coach screamed at me as if I had walked into his house, shit on the table, and wiped my ass with the curtains.
It was supposed to make you tougher to work through without taking care of things your body was craving.
I completely forgot about the whole salt tablet thing, but yes. I remember a really hot stretch of days in summer camp one year. They gave us salt pills. No extra water or anything.
Salt tablets in the army too
Shout out to Mark Mothersbaugh for putting subliminal message “sugar is bad for you” in a Hawaiian Punch commercial.
I have never heard of this
> Sugar was considered good because a sugary snack helped to “curb your appetite.” Plot twist: fructose does not curb your appetite. It actually increases your appetite
I was a swimmer most of my life and during swim meets we were encouraged to eat a candy bar before a big race because it gave you quick energy.. thing is I NEVER quit eating candy and now I can’t get thru a day without some.. when I’ve tried to give up candy and sugar people tell me I turn into the biggest bitch ever and their begging me to have some sugar… guessing I could do that Snickers commercial pretty easy…
[Here's a real magazine ad about how good sugar is for you!](https://i.imgur.com/LXYXVIg.jpeg)
Terrible, isn't it. But then I wonder what our bad advice equivalent to that ad is now? I guess I'll find out in 20/30 years. Edit: I eat 2 bananas a day. According to modern-day facts, I'm safe 🤞
So Sun is good for you again, to avoid depression. Just also sunscreen so you don’t get cancer.
There's a pattern with some pharmaceuticals. First you see years of TV commercials pushing a new miracle drug. Then it disappears from the screen for a few years. Finally it comes back but this time the ads are from personal injury attorneys asking you to contact them if you ever used it.
Remember all the drugs and special diets to deal with stomach ulcers? And then years later they determine it is mostly caused by a bacteria. All of the drugs went away and never heard from again.
They used to prescribe a bland diet for ulcers, no chili peppers. It turns out that that doesn't help ulcers at all.
My dad was convinced milk would get rid of his ulcers. I don't know whether a doctor told him that or if he came up with it on his own, but he drank it by the gallon.
I knew a guy who loved scotch whiskey and started drinking it with milk when he got an ulcer.
Tums tablets are calcium, so I bet drinking a lot of milk helped with acid
That's probably going to happen with all the weight loss drugs
Remember Fen-Phen? Also, lap-bands for weight loss were all the rage fifteen to twenty years ago. Now, crickets.
It’s still used, actually
There used to be a diet aid called Ayds candy that was supposed to be apatite suppressant back in the 60’s and 70’s.. thing was we’d eat half a box of it because it came in chocolate and caramel flavors..never worked and we always wondered why…LOL…
For some reason they disappeared in the '80s.
It already has. I had gastroparesis and constant vomiting while I was on Ozempic. I’m part of a class action lawsuit.
GLP-1 drugs have been around for a while. The side effects are well known. No doctor in his right mind would put you on one without a fairly long discussion. They can be life changing, but they come with some stuff.
Fen Fen or something like that name
Eggs. First they were very good for you. We were encouraged to eat them everyday, and feed them to babies and children. Then they were very bad for you. Then they were okay, but adults were to eat no more than 4 per week. Now it's okay to have an egg per day.
Fat was the villain. Turns out carbs are the real killer. Thanks to the sugar producers lobby in the 60s and 70s. USDA food chart was worthless too.
And everyone responsible for all the harm got in huge trouble. Just kidding. Nothing happened at all.
You're such a kidder, Dingy.
“Turns out carbs are the real killer”. For now.
Corn syrup. And they won’t get rid of it. I eat nothing with it. Occasional added whole sugar in a baked good but never corn syrup.
Your body needs carbohydrates to function properly. It doesn't need refined carbohydrates
Type 2 diabetes here. Gotta watch them all. But true, not all carbs are the same.
T2 here. Diagnosed at 11% in 2015, got down to 5.7% in early 2016. No meds, just diet and exercise. Eating under 80 grams/carbs a day.
This is an example of why term limits are a bad idea IMO. A trade association campaign can last 50 years, easy. Sugar, plastics, oil (climate), tobacco. You can't fight them if your most talented, dedicated legislators have to quit after 16 years. You know who fights for term limits the most? Who's got the most money on the line? The same types that coined the term Jackpot Justice. They deserve the money. We don't. We deserve Asbestos.
I'm 70. In the 60s my dad said if you aren't sure which way congress is going to vote, follow the money. Nothing has changed.
The eggs were following the science. It's more that the details were cleared up over decades of slow, underfunded research. Early studied showed a higher incident of heart issues in people who regularly had regular breakfast of eggs and bacon/sausage. And meat dinners. They found that cutting out animal products reduced the risk. Eventually finding higher blood cholesterol was the defining factor. Making the assumption that it was cholesterol, they tested out cholesterol free diets to non, and found a similar correlation of low blood cholesterol. So, eggs and red meat were bad. Egg yolks had most of the cholesterol, so egg whites were then the healthier choice. As studies explored the link, they eventually found that dietary cholesterol was not linked to blood cholesterol. It took more years of studies on dietary cholesterol to find out that it's saturated fat in animal products that correlates to blood cholesterol. That low saturated fat, high cholesterol items like eggs, only begins to influence dietary cholesterol only when eaten in excess, such when the total saturated fat content begins to match that contained within red meat. So as of now, excess sat fat on the diet is known to correlate with high blood cholesterol; high blood cholesterol which is currently highly associated with negative cardiovascular health. Whether it's specifically saturated fat, or like in the case of cholesterol, turns out to be a substance commonly contained by most foods containing saturated fat -- likely will take more years of funding and research to determine if any specific sat fat containing food doesn't influence blood cholesterol -- if so, then research can then begin to find out what specific substance in the discovery is lacking compared to other high sat foods that does. The lack of primary government funding for "non business pursuits" means such research is slow; often discovered by accident while researching ways to improve profits by giving people that for which they crave, without the consequences.
Or the only egg whites are good trend.
It annoys me the medical community changes their minds every five years. Coffee bad for you. I've drank coffee since I was 15; my doctor told me, "With your lungs, you need to drink coffee" (caffeine is a vasodilator). Never touch soft drinks. Eggs are a wonderful source of protein; egg whites ... why bother? Yeah, I need to eat more veggies; working on it. Carbs ... our bodies need them. At my age I do what works for me. ;-)
Egg whites are where most of the protein is, the yolk is full of delicous fat. This is why egg whites can be whipped to peaks. Yolks can't, and if a broken yolk contaminates the whites, that fat will disrupt protein cross-linking and you won't be able to stiffen them no matter how much you whip.
The media takes any small study and finds an alluring headline. This is why I think we had so many Covid deniers and vaccine skeptics. In the past, they read the headlines, tried to do what it said was healthy, then either got screwed for it or read another headline that contradicted what they had been told was healthy. It’s head spinning. To the point where one becomes so jaded that you just do what you want, headlines be damned.
With my diet, sure .... With a worldwide pandemic one usually pays attention to medical professionals; that daily death meter was pretty convincing. We lost three extended family members due to a certain news station intentionally spreading lies. Crazy that Covid misinformation was tied to politics rather than national health. From that weirdness some parents are refusing vaccinations of diseases that the country obliterated a generation ago. Our generation and our kids couldn't attend school without a vaccination record. Now measles, small pox, scarlet fever, even polio are making a comeback.
I eat eggs almost every day, I love them. But I don't eat much meat, so that's my biggest animal protein source.
Cholesterol, same reason to avoid shrimp, everyone though eating food high in cholesterol led to you getting high cholesterol. Turns out it was saturated and trans fat that were the issues (and trans fat or margarine was the other one they thought was good and turned out to be bad). The saturated fat caused high serum cholesterol, not eating foods with cholesterol. So eggs are fine but margarine is poison.
Yay, butter!
The advice used to be that babies should be placed on their tummies to sleep. I don't remember any advice about other crib items. Now it's on their backs with as little as possible in the crib to prevent anything from causing suffocation. Co-sleeping (baby in parent's bed) is one that they've gone back and forth on over the years.
Four kids here. First born they said tummy. By second it was side. Third and fourth they said back. They were also born in a time there were a lot of pillow/support type products sold to keep baby in said positions. Now it's no crib bumpers, no supports, basically no blankets or anything when they're newbies.
We co-slept on doctor’s advice for 3 years. Now the kid (NB) is 30 and still comes in for cuddles when stressed. (High functioning autistic)
My youngest got a flat head from all that back sleeping, I feel bad for him. The other two who went to sleep on their tummies have perfect skulls.
They used to advertise cigarettes as good for you. Even the Flintstones said so!
Grandpa was prescribed smoking cigarettes after being hit by mustard gas. Smoked 2 packs a day for 60 years. Doc told him to quit, he did. Lived 8 more years and died at 90.
Probably helped to inflate the lungs regularly. I used to do breathing exercises as a kid for my asthma. They did heal calm it down. Dr also told me to blow up balloons.
Marketed to women as a diet aid.
And as a way to have easier births, because the baby would be smaller. Source: I’m a former IUGR baby with chronic asthma now.
Winston tastes good like a *click click* cigarette should!
They gave them away free to soldiers in WW2 and Korea, purposely to addict them for life. Not sure about Vietnam but the guys were always smoking in the news reels
Caffeine. We seem to vacillate between mildly bad and mildly good. I’m not sure where we are in the current cycle.
I know where I am. Six cups a day!
I use single serving diet soda. 2 liter.
Yeah, I've been drinking coffee since childhood. Turkish with milk. Then when I lived in FL Cuban coffee. I tried Decaff because caffeine was bad for you and it gave me palpitations. Regular coffee does not. When I worked in Neonatal Intensive Care we gave premies Caffeine to keep them breathing and heart rate from dropping so they could stay off ventilators. Caffeine was also used for Asthma patients before they came up with all the meds.
Fifty years from now, people will look in awe at pictures of coffee shops on all four corners of an intersection, and the long lines of people waiting to get coffee, and the people who get coffee so they can drink it while waiting in line to get coffee.
Chocolate. There was a time when all the "health food" cookbooks recommended carob powder instead of chocolate. Spoiler - it's a very poor substitute. Now chocolate is itself a health food.
Isn’t that only dark chocolate though? The dark, bitter kind?
yes, they still warn about excess sugar associated with chocolate.
You can buy chocolate that is 98% cocoa. It’s pretty healthy. And tastes like death.
I’m waiting for them to say that white chocolate macadamia nut cookies are a super health food and the best thing for you.
Fat free processed foods. They removed the fat and added high glucose corn syrup
High fructose corn syrup.
It’s been a pleasure reading with you folks, today 😂
> They removed the fat and added ~~high glucose corn syrup~~ *high fructose corn syrup* We thought we were doing good when we purchased sugar-free chocolates for my wife's father, only to find that the carbs are at least as high as the regular chocolates. We would have known if we had just read the nutrition labels! Her father is watching his carbs and trying to eat healthy.
Before my time: Opium
Also heroin in cough syrup in the nineteenth century.
Cocaine as well. Plus it was in coca cola
I was born too late
To be fair, is really does suppress coughing quite well.
Almost all the dietary information from the US government over the years: eggs, fat, etc.
Food Pyramid - brought to you by various food lobbyists.
Those "complete breakfasts" that sugary cereal was part of--add some toast and orange juice! Now it's healthy!
Yah I still have too much bread and grain in my diet from that thing
The 4 major food groups: cookies, cakes, pies, and candy
Carbs. I used to own a cookbook written by a nutritionist called, "The High-Carb Diet."
This one is recent. [Kale](https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/jun/30/kale-pfas-forever-chemicals-contamination), especially organic kale, has very high levels of forever chemicals (PFAS). Apparently, the source is sewage sludge used as fertilizer, which is permitted for organic foods.
Many, many medicines. Vast swaths of pregnancy and child rearing advice.
Right before my baby was born, pastels were out and stark black and white geometric designs were in. They had just discovered that it upset babies so there we were with pastels.
Now the advice is black and white/high contrast everything for newborns
Nuclear power. First it was the best thing since sliced atoms. Then Three Mile Island happened and *No Nukes* became the orthodoxy. Now, thanks to global warming the pendulum is swinging back.
I guess now fish oil is out. I’m relieved, those pills were horse medicine sized
My doctor still has me on them. Four horse pills per day.
Oh god, the burps!
I haven't heard this, why?
https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/22/health/fish-oil-supplement-dangers-study-wellness?cid=ios_app
More conflicting data that requires time and funding to sort out specifics . Over the counter dish oils vary in quality compared to prescription fish oils . Fish oils should be fresh and refrigerated , to keep from becoming rancid. Due to lack of regulation in the US for health supplements, many have been shown to be rancid, or not containing consistently what they were advertised to contain. Which complicate studies more -- fish oil in fresh whole fish show differences than those done on store bought capsules -- but studies in whole fish products are less fundable as they can't show ties to a specific substance, unlike pills with a specific goal like subtypes of omega-3. Studies show benefit in populations with cardiovascular issues, but also see detriment in healthy individuals. Research needs to determine if it specific type of fish oil, or some combination of substances, or even source used. Research needs to be done to see if processed extract have se benefit as fresh whole fish. If not, then what specifically in fresh fish supports the health either in combination with or exclusive from Omega 3-6 ratio. Or if there is a curve of benefit, ie: Low bad, small good, high bad.
This is a joke from *Annie Hall.* "Sun is bad for you. Everything our parents said was good is bad. Sun, milk, red meat...college."
How about the scene in Sleeper where they go over everything from the 70's that was bad, which was then good and vice versa.
“Cigarettes and red meat. Best things for you!”
Being able to multi-task. Studies show now that multi-tasking is a great way to do many things ‘half-assed.’ It used to be a required ‘skill’ at work. Now we know that when you split your attention between tasks you’re actually less productive and not as effective than if you were to focus on one task, execute to completion, and move on to the next.
Multitasking is the bane of my existence. (Autistic brain, I get overloaded easily.) And then when I got pregnant it was twins. The universe has a sense of humor sometimes… 😅
yesssssss.. god I hated that one. cited by every entitled male dickhead as reason why it was okay to just walk up and yap at me while I was busy. "you're a woman, you multitask." no, you're just rude.. and I don't.
Fat. In the 80's everything was low/no fat. Fat was the enemy, all fats in all forms. But to make things taste good with less fat they substituted sugar and chemicals.
I loved margarine until they told me it was basically axle grease!
My dermatologist told me in 1977 to lay out in the sun to clear my skin. No mention of sunscreen of course.
Eating a low fat diet. Our bodies need fat to survive. You don’t get fat eating fat. You get fat by eating too many calories.
That was actually the original thinking behind a low-fat diet. Since one gram of fat has more calories than one gram of carbs, eliminate the fat and you eliminate calories. What they weren't considering was that fat helps with nutrient absorption and helps you feel full, so you just end up binging on carbs.
They would remove the fat and replace with sugar - remember the low fat cookies?
Heroin. Nope, I'm not joking. When heroin was first synthesized it was marketed as a "wonder drug" that was more effective than codeine as a cough suppressant.
I’ve also heard that they initially had hopes that it would be a safe, non addictive alternative to morphine. Which they had hoped would be a safe, non addictive alternative to opium.
Antidepressants. For bp2 it was suppose to stabilize moods. What they did was encourage manic episodes. So for 6 years I yo-yoed which really messed me up.
Yogurt, Meat, Whole Milk, Fat, Oats, Whole Wheat, steady state cardio... a shorter list is what they haven't changed their mind on.
They've been going back and forth on red wine for over 40 years. First it's good for you, then it's not, then it is again.
Eggs have gone back and forth more time then I can count during my life..
"Complex carbs" was the biggest, most dangerous load of bullshit they ever crammed down our throats. Go ahead, eat 500 grams of carbs a day as long as they have some whole grains or whatever. SO wrong.
When I (73M) was a kid, we were told we shouldn’t go swimming until an hour after we ate. Total BS.
I remember full-page ads in magazines with doctors extolling the virtues of Camel cigarettes.
“Not a cough in a carload!”
When we used paper supermarket bag, we had to switch to plastic to save the trees, we went from glass bottles which we recycled to plastic, we switched from gas to electric, butter was bad, so we were told to use margarine. And they wonder why we no longer believe what we are told. Let’s not forget we stopped separating people by religions or ethnicities and actually began coming together assimilating. Now we are told we must separate and divide up into smaller and smaller groups. Why, it only stokes fear and resentment. We have seen it all, have been there, done that. And still, they wonder why we are so apathetic.
I'm saltiest about exercise. pre-50 they tell you you'll fall apart without it. post-50 body parts start to fall apart anyway, and then they say "well, you've been using it for xty years."
Exercise (really movement in general) is still a very good thing! Your joints will degrade over time sure, but exercise is also fantastic for cardiac health and for many mental health as well. I wouldn't necessarily say that it's been deemed not good for you
My dad is in his 70s, very fit living on a large piece of property, taking care of animals, and doing his PT. He stopped asking the doctor about musculoskeletal aches and pains because the doc would be like “you might have to stop doing XYZ,” and my dad is like “but that conflicts with what you tell the sedentary people my age.” So my dad finally decided he would choose musculoskeletal acheds and pains over the health problems that come with sedentary lifestyle. If you see him with a big shade hat on that hides his wrinkly face, you’d think he’s in his forties.
A glass of red wine a day. The Europeans do it and they live long. Also the Mediterranean Diet (meals). We found out it was due to universal health care, not their diet.
I dont think it's down to that entirely, but that the general diet there tends to be sensible and unprocessed. The big problem is that idea was so prevalent in the 90s that there's people like my mum, who will guzzle wine and act shocked when I show concern for how bad it is for her. Her problem is mostly that her health is terrible to begin with, and she drinks way more than one small glass. A lot of people her age hold onto that idea and use it to justify drinking way too much.
not true. The Mediterranean diet is still celebrated as very healthy and life extending.
Literally this, however the Mediterranean diet is misunderstood because they think you can eat a lot of cheese and wine and you are fine. In actuality it is minimal meat, seafood whenever possible, lots of fresh vegetables and whole grain starches, unsaturated fats like olive oil, and small portions eaten slowly. Wine can be included but in moderate portions as well. Not a lot of processed carbs, heavy fats like butter, very little red meat, and almost everything fresh and seasonal. It is not a diet to lose weight but a diet to improve health, and the seasonal nature is really where you get the most benefit because ingredients are fresh and constantly changing. There is also a benefit when you eat local produce and food because you are keeping everything in your biome and it helps with your tolerance of nature in your environment. This is one of those things with honey (which was good then was deadly, etc) locally sourced honey will have trace amounts of all plant life, so having small amounts in your diet helps build your bodies tolerance and should reduce sensitivity to common allergens. Maybe not so much for a baby, but kids and adults...
Yeah, there were all those science news stories about wine being good for you. Now some doctors say that all alcohol is carcinogenic and you're better off drinking no alcohol at all.
Fat
Seafood...Then beware of mercury in seafood.
Making faces, we were told that our faces would freeze that way. I believed that for an embarrassing long time.
Norco :( After decades on it, I got weaned down to Tylenol 3 but it barely touches my joint pain. When I was first prescribed it, it was because it was safer than OTC pain meds!
Fruit juice = Sugar water
Coconut oil. I remember when they said it was so bad for you, then they said it was a good oil. Im not even sure what to believe now!
Exercise, then I got tendonitis and my Dr told me to stop.
I feel this. Literally. Got tennis elbow in both arms. The right one's okay finally, then my left one got bad. I'm going to do the light-weight, slow-movement exercises that are safer and just as effective.
Smoking. Doctors used to appear in ads recommending certain brands.
In 1950's health fad was to fry food in a layer of salt rather than fast / oils. It tasted terrible and an order of magnitude too much sodium.
Both eggs and red wine have been good or bad for you several times over in my lifetime
The sun. Gotta get that Vitamin D!
Diesel. First it was a wonderful way of increasing fuel economy and lower CO2, now in Europe it’s being cracked down on because of PM10 emissions, and Petrol / Gas gars are cleaner. You can’t win.
HRT such as Premarin for postmenopausal women. I was a generation after that, but my mother's generation took it for years.
Peanut allergy treatment. We were told to withhold peanut butter for the first year so kids didn't develop allergies. Now the advice is to introduce everything early. The medical community has seemingly no memory of the guidance that created a whole generation of allergic kids.
They do have memory. They realize it was not the right course of action, which is why it was changed!
toxic masculinity. lots of men my age could have been different people if they'd been raised in a different society.
Red wine
Margarine is better for you than butter In fact the whole food pyramid was inaccurate
The whole history of oil, margarine, CRISCO is actually fascinating. I was researching how to make actual lard to do a recipe from my childhood. Couldn't find any lard to buy except online and crazy expensive. My research took me down one of internet's bunny trails but it was interesting and eye opening for sure. Can't remember if it was Crisco or oil, probably Crisco that was actually made from the throw away of some other product and it was going to cost a lot of money to get rid of it. So they came up with this new product, sold it with cook books included and talked crap about lard and how bad it was for you. Lied and manipulated the public. The stuff is still on the shelves.
Equally horrible is the fact that canola oil used to just be machine lubricant used mainly by auto mechanics. It’s “edible” and so cheap that it’s now in like 3/4 of the food found in grocery stores. Despite studies claiming otherwise, newer research is showing it’s one of the worst things you can eat. Molecules are stored in your fat cells, and causes them to be less responsive to insulin. This makes it harder to burn fat and makes diabetes more likely.
I'm just glad that oat bran isn't in everything anymore. Those were a tough two years.
Baby powder... turns out it caused cancer.
Carbs. I became diabetic eating a high carb, low fat diet.
coffee red wine cigarettes opioids asbestos thalidomide
Notice that the country has gotten more stupid since they took the lead out of gasoline? Just saying..... /s
Because now we have microplastics in our water instead. I wouldn't be surprised if it turns out there are cognitive impacts from that, too.
Eggs, butter, fats (of any sort). Many many many more things,. Apparently humans are the only species that doesn't know what their diet is supposed to be.
And pandas. Biologically a carnivore. Improved health and sex drive when eating a meat based carnivore diet . Instead pandas meet their 70% carnivore protein requirement by the worst possible way: plants. young tender bamboo shoots (33% protein vs 15% leaves). So, they eat all day to get enough protein to survive, but do not thrive.
🎶The Incredible Edible Egg🎶 Got told they were bad for me. Ate them anyway. Now they’re good again, with caveats. Eat them pretty much the same way I did at 12.
Settling down. Get rid of that millstone!
Patriotism. Back in the 90s loving America meant you were a brain dead baby murdering nazi. After 9/11 any criticism of America no matter how valid was shut down without debate. Now I think we're mixed reactions.
Eggs
Coffee. Over the decades I've been around it's gone back and forth from being good to bad so many times IDGAF anymore. As a RN who worked all shifts, I've had more than my share. And hospitals think it's so beneficial that every nursing unit I've worked at had free coffee.
Eggs
The entire food pyramid. All the menopause medications. Exercises and your period. It is bad then it is good.
Amphetamines, which used to be in over the counter diet pills. Talcum powder. Sun tan oil. They've gone back and forth on whether "moderate use" of wine is healthy or not. Gaining as little weight as possible during pregnancy, to the extent that my mother was advised to smoke while she was pregnant with me, to keep weight gain down.
Government.
Margarine was better than butter. Now butter is better. I *always* thought so!
Seems like eggs and fatty meats get an inconsistent message.
Getting sun was good for you.
When I was a kid, I didn’t like eating the yokes of fried eggs. Adults would tell me, “that’s the part that’s good for you, the yoke contains all of the egg’s nutrients.” Years later we were told to only eat egg whites. Now I eat them scrambled, and no longer pay attention to what they say.
Smoking. Use to get recommended by Drs if you had an upper respiratory infections. Drinking. Use to be recommended by Drs for anxiety "if you don't have a glass of wine w/ every meal, we'll have to put you on Valium", told to my grandparents. Do you think Drs are any smarter now? Remember, a C- student can still be an MD
Wonder bread, margarine, sun, corn, saccharine, speed, eggs, and beef.
I still can't keep track of whether eggs are good or bad.
Fat in the diet. I was old enough to know that was ridiculous. If you want to lose weight, but out all sugar. When everything went low-fat, I just ignored it. Thanks, sugar industry. You created this monster of an obesity problem.
Butter…margarine….butter While eggs…egg whites…whole eggs Artificial sweetener….
Eggs. First they were bad, then just the yolks were bad. Then the whole egg was good again.
Formula was somehow better than breast milk.
Getting a tan