The FastDay Forum

This has been all over the net and TV on the weekend (well ABC TV and radio anyway and i found it on net today)

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-02-14/a ... ty/6094914

thoughts?

Just heard about it on ABC radio. The landline lady said she they have been eating them in the office in hope. Mind you she isn't exactly a big person!!

Hmm might have to get me some plums!

[carieoates]

You never cease to amaze me JR.
Plums whatever next.
Thanks for keeping us up to date.

Well super plums whatever next!!





P.s. I'm really childish, but that word makes me giggle and well.......... Plums!!

[carorees]

Let's not get our hopes up until human trials of these especially rich in anthocyanins plums are conducted!

I am confused by the whole antioxidant thing that is constantly being pushed as being essential for well-being as in trials where people were given antioxidant supplements the death rate was higher than in the group that did not receive the supplements. Are we sure that it is the antioxidants that are at work or the fact that if you eat more antioxidant containing foods (i.e., fruit and veg) you are eating less of something else (i.e., junk food)? If so, then just eating plums or taking plum extract is likely not to be the answer!

@carorees, You are absolutely right. The evidence is very strong that overdoing antioxidants is quite unhealthy. There are quite a few large, well-respected epidemiological studies (not related to each other) that have found that taking antioxidants increases the risk of death over a long period of time.

The explanation has to do with the fact that oxidation is used as a signal in mitochondrial processing. If you turn it off, the signalling doesn't work properly. One thing that doesn't happen is that cells that should self-destruct, because something is wrong with them, don't. (Apoptosis.) This can allow cancerous cells to survive.

In addition when you work against oxidation you work against the very "fat burning" that you are attempting to achieve with exercise. So taking too much antioxidant works against the benefits of exercise.

If you are interested in Mitochondria you can learn all about them in Nick Lane's wonderful book, Power, Sex, Suicide: Mitochondria and the Meaning of Life, which you can find on Amazon. His other book, Oxygen, the Molecule that Made the World also gives more insight into what "oxidation" and "antioxidants" really are about.

But getting back to the magic plums. This report is almost certainly based on research funded by the interests that market the plums. It won't hold up to any kind of unbiased scrutiny, and eating sugary fruit in higher than normal quantities is not going to improve anyone's health or help them lose weight.

The public's hunger for "superfoods" is insatiable because everyone would rather believe they can live forever eating something disgusting like kale, chia seeds or quinoa to which magical properties have been ascribed than do the hard work of NOT eating that it takes to actually lose weight.

Fortunately, this forum is filled with people who have figured out what it takes to lose and are doing a fine job of it.

Yeah I'm another skeptic of super/magical foods. But I have to admit I'm probably give these a try if they became available in my area. Not for their possible special weightloss abilities, but because I'm a believer in maximizing nutrients in the food I eat. So I do eat kale and chia seeds and on occasion quinoa, because they are nutritious and fit into my diet as a vegetarian and as someone looking to stay away from processed foods as much as possible. They can taste good too.

Carorees said: Are we sure that it is the antioxidants that are at work or the fact that if you eat more antioxidant containing foods (i.e., fruit and veg) you are eating less of something else (i.e., junk food)? If so, then just eating plums or taking plum extract is likely not to be the answer!

My question is always "what if it isn't the anti-oxidants in the food but it's other phytonutrients that we don't even know to look for yet? Or an interaction between substances in the food once it hits our system?" And yes for sure our eating the fruit rather than junk + a supplement is better. I wish the powers that be wouldn't over-hype this stuff.