I have always had a cast iron stomach. I can eat anything, or at least I used to be able to. Now, just about any restaurant food or processed food makes me feel like crap. I had a roast beef sandwich from Arby's yesterday, that almost made me ill and we bought a smoked ham last week that was the same way. So what's changed. Are they adding new stuff or preservatives to food to make it last longer or am I just getting old.
I dunno, but I'm the same. I have no processed, canned or prepared foods in my house now - if I eat "clean" food I feel great. Otherwise- gah.
Probably a combination of both? Having pretty much similar issues, but more with restaurants than grocery store food. I guess as we get older we can't tolerate some foods we used to.
Probably age - today's foods are generally light on preservatives, thanks to the organic food crowd that would stop buying and cry bloody murder if a company added any.
In reply to GameboyRMH:
That's why I'm wonder if they have come up with some new crap that people won't recognize.
so the older generation needs the preservatives to keep going?
In reply to mad_machine:
Could be, I had a grandmother that ate Little Debbie Oatmeal pies like they were going out of style. If someone didn't cook for her, that's all she would eat. She missed her 100th birthday by 3 weeks.
Toyman01 wrote: In reply to GameboyRMH: That's why I'm wonder if they have come up with some new crap that people won't recognize.
Technically possible, but if they don't list it as an ingredient somehow they'd be headed for major legal trouble. Even the beetle shells and beaver butt grease are listed on the ingredients in some form 
mad_machine wrote: so the older generation needs the preservatives to keep going?
My dad jokes that these things (which you can buy in a box...coconut-strawberry rolls, can't remember the brand name) are so loaded with preservatives that they'll keep your corpse from rotting We buy them at every opportunity, yum!
TROLL: vegetables cause cancer. END TROLL
Fat. If I eat French fries more than two days in a row, my guts just want to come out and scream at me. That wasn't a problem when I was 35. At 54, it is.
My fiance is a dietitian who is highly interested in this stuff, and my supervisor is a organic, grass fed gluten free type who will spew this stuff on us.
My answer after listening to these folks: Maybe. Too much of anything can be toxic. Too much bacon and your arteries will clog. Too much sugar, you'll get diabetes. I think that a big problem is corn syrup. It is in everything, including that arby's sandwich. I try to avoid it when possible. The grass-fed beef thing? I'm less concerned.
My fiance, being a professional, won't subscribe to something until she has seen the scientific proof. She's read the Paleo anecdotes. They could have something. The China Study is much more compelling to her though. I will say that my anecdotetal data "prooves" that if you eat more fruit and vegetables than you do fried food, you feel better.
What does your supervisor think about grass-fed beef being the most environmentally unfriendly food on the planet? That grass they munch on is usually grown on clear-cut South American rainforest.
Streetwiseguy wrote: Fat. If I eat French fries more than two days in a row, my guts just want to come out and scream at me. That wasn't a problem when I was 35. At 54, it is.
I'm 50. I could eat French fries two times in one DAY. My gut wouldn't complain a bit, but my conscience would kick my ass.
GameboyRMH wrote: What does your supervisor think about grass-fed beef being the most environmentally unfriendly food on the planet? That grass they munch on is usually grown on clear-cut South American rainforest.
She buys from a local farm that supposedly grows their own. She's weird, and I don't think she really understands health/science/medical developments.
My personal belief is that unless you are regularly working out, a quasi-vegan diet is probably the healthiest. I'm not saying don't eat meat--Lord knows that I eat way more than I should, but a plant based diet is likely going to be the best for long term health. My uncle (who is married to a Dietitian) has seen dramatic improvements on his health since he went on the China diet. He will freely go off of it for a meal, or even for a whole vacation (I saw him eat a bacon cheesburger on vacation last year), but his typical diet has a lot of rice, fruits, veggies, whole grains, nuts, etc., while leaving out meat, eggs, milk, etc. If you are working out, you'll need protein, and meat is the best source of protein.
I don't know... but right it seems like damn near anything I eat gives me crazy heart burn. Pizza is the worst. And I love pizza. 
Every night I go to bed hoping to get to sleep quickly, but more often than not I'm up again in less than 30 mins heading for bottle of Pepcid. If I can sleep on my left side, it's not too bad. Right side is worse. (can't sleep on my back at all, but not due to heart burn)
Right now I'm sitting at my desk at work during lunch... trying to decide where to go for lunch and if it's worth the pain. 
I think it's a tolerance thing. I used to be able to eat 30 habanero deep fried chicken wings with a six pack of IPA and pop up the next day ready to chop wood after some eggs fried in bacon grease. Then, a few years back, I decided to get in shape and eat healhy, yada, yada... so I cut all that stuff out. Now Salt + grease KILLS me. Because I lost my tolerance.
Now, if I eat 1 deep fried pirogi or go heavy on the salt it's like asking for a murderous hangover. I get all puffy under the eyes and feel like E36 M3 all day until I can go sweat it out.
The answer (for me) is to eat that way all the time - or never. So... I'm in the never camp these days.
I think having first-world junk food cut out of my diet made me realize how awful carbonated drinks leave you feeling (especially if they're sugary). I can barely tolerate one a day anymore, they're just hell on my stomach and leave me with a "hangover" feeling.
mtn wrote: My personal belief is that unless you are regularly working out, a quasi-vegan diet is probably the healthiest. I'm not saying don't eat meat--Lord knows that I eat way more than I should, but a plant based diet is likely going to be the best for long term health. My uncle (who is married to a Dietitian) has seen dramatic improvements on his health since he went on the China diet. He will freely go off of it for a meal, or even for a whole vacation (I saw him eat a bacon cheesburger on vacation last year), but his typical diet has a lot of rice, fruits, veggies, whole grains, nuts, etc., while leaving out meat, eggs, milk, etc. If you are working out, you'll need protein, and meat is the best source of protein.
and if you're diabetic, that takes away the rice and even the whole grains … though they cause less damage than the processed grains
Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: I think it's a tolerance thing. I used to be able to eat 30 habanero deep fried chicken wings with a six pack of IPA and pop up the next day ready to chop wood after some eggs fried in bacon grease. Then, a few years back, I decided to get in shape and eat healhy, yada, yada... so I cut all that stuff out. Now Salt + grease KILLS me. Because I lost my tolerance. Now, if I eat 1 deep fried pirogi or go heavy on the salt it's like asking for a murderous hangover. I get all puffy under the eyes and feel like E36 M3 all day until I can go sweat it out. The answer (for me) is to eat that way all the time - or never. So... I'm in the never camp these days.
Damn, you might be on to something. I cut a lot of the crap out of my diet when I was diagnosed with hypertension. I may well have lost my tolerance to them.
Nothing eats me up like slumming it at WhackArnold's.
I can drink like a fish, though.
I think it's a tolerance thing.
When I was younger I would never say something like 'I'm craving a salad'.
I can't eat late either or I get reflux during the night. Charcoal caps help.
Love this label 'Symptomatic relief of Wind'.
Cheap stuff from Walmart works.
I blame the preservatives in processed food. You buy something at a restaurant. It came off the Sysco Food Truck. There's no telling what was put in it to keep it "fresh." Like the bread you by in the store. I make bread (ask Margie....) My home made bread will stay good in a sealed box for about 4-5 days. 6 days and there's new antibiotics growing on it. 7 days, too late for even the dog. I've bought bread at the store, opened it, taken a piece out, closed the bag back up. 6 weeks later, it is still soft and there's nothing growing on it. What the hell did they put in it to make it do that? And how does that effect me? We share some of those biological pathways with the bacteria. Plus we have bacteria in our gut to help us out. Chemicals that interfere with the bacteria can interfere with us too.
Dr. Hess wrote: I blame the preservatives in processed food. You buy something at a restaurant. It came off the Sysco Food Truck. There's no telling what was put in it to keep it "fresh." Like the bread you by in the store. I make bread (ask Margie....) My home made bread will stay good in a sealed box for about 4-5 days. 6 days and there's new antibiotics growing on it. 7 days, too late for even the dog. I've bought bread at the store, opened it, taken a piece out, closed the bag back up. 6 weeks later, it is still soft and there's nothing growing on it. What the hell did they put in it to make it do that? And how does that effect me? We share some of those biological pathways with the bacteria. Plus we have bacteria in our gut to help us out. Chemicals that interfere with the bacteria can interfere with us too.
Alton Brown was talking about making stuffing over the holidays, and one issue is that your really need day-old bread for it to be yummy. BUT, you can't get day old bread anymore because there are so many preservatives in breads that they stay fresh for a week or more!
In reply to Dr. Hess:
Hence my OP. Everything seems to have a shelf life of forever anymore, but I don't see anything new on the packaging labels. So what's changed. The food obviously has because it's lasting longer. Is that what is actually causing the problems, or is it that I'm 47 and not 27; or is it both.
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