this post was submitted on 19 Feb 2026
138 points (96.0% liked)
science
25389 readers
840 users here now
A community to post scientific articles, news, and civil discussion.
dart board;; science bs
rule #1: be kind
founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
Fiber.
Specifically leafy greens and legumes.
Same answer it's always been.
Eat a bunch of that, even if you don't want to. And then you can literally eat all you want of anything else. You just won't want to eat much of anything else, because it takes forever to digest legumes and leafy greens.
The "problem" is that stuff is cheap as fuck and there's no way for anyone to make any money off telling people to do that
Aren't oats supposed to be pretty good too? Although they are fairly high in carbs. Far cheaper than legumes, can get a kg of dry oats for about £0.50 while a similar amount of chickpeas is around 4 times that price.
Problem is if I simmer some oats in water and a pinch of salt then add some fruit my partner says it isn't a proper dinner.
Yeah, leafy greens and legumes are good because there's a bunch of extra vitamins.
Oatmeal (especially fortified) has a bunch of other stuff tho.
Like, don't literally only eat a few things. Anything high in fiber keeps you full for a long time.
Especially for the dudes, eating fiber is a very easy preventative measure for colo-rectal cancer. And it's hard to look at the correlation between modern low fiber high processed food diets and the skyrocketing rates of colo-rectal cancer and say there's zero correlation.
But convincing people to eat fiber gets a weird amount of opposition
I usually get rolled oats. Not sure if oatmeal is an American thing, I don't think it's common here? I have never heard of it anyway.
Here you usually get plain rolled oats or ultra processed instant porridge in various forms of packaging.
"oatmeal" just refers to the prepared/cooked oats, whether that's from steel cut/rolled whole oats or processed and flavored in a packet
Oats are very much a thing in the US. Quite common. Stores sell rolled oats, steel cut oats and sugary packaged oats. The trick is buying the rolled/steel cut and not the packaged sugar garbage.
I haven't seen much. It's usually when it comes in the form of vegan evangelism and moralising. "Eat a balanced diet which include meat and veggies" is about as milquetoast a message as you can get with very little opposition. In fact, the new U.S. food pyramid is exactly that. Reception has been very good. It's not perfect, but it's a hell of a lot better than the old one.
I've seen quite a surprising amount of oposition to fiber specifically here on Lemmy. It comes completely unrelated to any vegan discussions. It's kinda wierd, to be honest.
Okay that is weird. My comments were more real life experiences. Then include me in the mystery. Why would people oppose fibre?
Why would people oppose fiber?
Well it can be trickier than you might think. The general advice is to get 30 grams a day. I tried that, and I ended up having to overeat by quite a bit to achieve that number. Then I realized that number was not meant for me, it was for men who are at least twice my size. I probably only need 15 grams a day, which I was probably already getting. But that "30 grams" recommendation is everywhere. There's also two different types of fiber, and you might need more of one than the other depending on your individual biome. I think most people would benefit from a more tailored recommendation or plan.
I also have a theory that fiber does not interact well with IBS, and that there may be some number of folks who don't know they have it. Personally, I can't digest leafy greens at all. I would eat them if I could, because it often feels like some personal failure and that I'm going to die early since I can't. But if the undigested bits get stuck in my intestinal pockets, I end up in the hospital. 🤷
Not downloading a PDF...
But anyone advocating for RFKs inverted food pyramid really shouldn't be listened to on health issues.
"I refuse to look at text on the internet."
"I don't like the messenger so I'm going to reject their proposal for a healthy diet."
Cool story, bro. I hope you enjoy your cheeseburgers and diabetes. It suggests a healthy diet of protein, vegetables, and healthy fats. I presume that would be an immense improvement over yours.
Oats are almost pure carbs.
This is where the data meets an uncomfortable impasse. Hispanics in the U.S. live a lot longer than whites. It's not because of socio-economics. Hispanics eat a lot of meat, too. It is theorised that their legume heavy diet might be responsible. Meaning that, despite eating a lot of carbs, they still live longer. I suspect longevity effects are primarily related to the fibre. This might be true in the study linked. Perhaps it isn't the low carb/low fat part which gave heart benefits, but the higher fibre intake.
As for the mechanisms:
Fibre binds bile acids, which increases bile acid secretion. The liver uses LDL to make more bile acid, reducing LDL.
Fibre acts as a glucose release modulator. Glucose spikes are responsible for a range of immediate and systemic issues. Reducing overall glucose consumption and especially spikes results in lower risk of type 2 diabetes, metabolic syndrome, and atherosclerosis progression.
Lower blood pressure (we're not really sure why yet).
Fermentable fibres are metabolized by gut bacteria into short-chain fatty acids. These reduce systemic inflammation, improve gut barrier integrity, improve insulin sensitivity, and regulate immune function. The inflammation one in particular could explain a great deal of the health benefits.
The cancer risk specifically decreases because of dilution and faster transit of carcinogens, SCFA production (especially butyrate, which has anti-tumor properties), and reduced insulin and IGF-1 signalling.
Fibre keeps you full for longer, reducing the risk of obesity.
There can be many more factors influencing lifespan than just diet, though.
Quite right, and this is the problem with correlational studies like that linked: they're observational. We can't do controlled studies on humans, so we try very hard to control for confounds.
Or they just don’t eat processed crap.
I would be surprised if that were true but I haven't seen any data either way on that.
greek yogurt mixed with uncooked oats is good. it's chewy. and the carbs in the oats helps to feed the probiotics in the yogurt--good for gut health
My eyes are bad and I read that cats are pretty good. And I surmised that they are high in carbs. because of what the mice they caught had eaten.
Turn your eyes off and back on again to perform a factory reset
If that doesn't work, you could also unplug them and plug them back in again. It's approximately what Jesus suggested for certain issues related to impulse control.
I have a cup of green lentils for breakfast and another one for lunch. Huge fan.
Do you chug it from the can or add some spices?
I buy them raw and cook them with spices, yeah.
How long does your 1 lentil for lunch keep you full for?
It's a big freakin' lentil.
Are you joking?
How do you prep this?
I really, really struggle to decide what to eat. I think it's a neurodivergence thing. I've often wished there was some bullshit soylent kind of thing I could consume instead of food.
Not joking. I buy bulk raw lentils. I cook three cups green lentils in two cups water and spices. Yields 7.5 cups. In the morning, I eat a tin of sardines before it. In the afternoon, I mix it with half a cup of Greek yogurt. Fiber and protein.
I wish bachelor chow from Futurama was real
nuts are good too (not peanuts, for me), but expensive AF
I keep trying but somehow always end up with highly salted or suugar coated garbage.
What is wrong with peanuts? And yeah so expensive. Also high energy density means I find it easy to eat far too many kcal when snacking on cashews.
i should have said "for me," edited. i'm not deathly allergic, but enough to get a reaction in my mouth and wreck my gut. wish i wasn't, because i love them
Ahh, that makes more sense
Legumes aren’t low carb no one can afford to eat enough leafy greens to meet their caloric intake for the day
Do you think it's normal to eat one item exclusively all day every day?
I agree - it was a terrible suggestion…