CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » General Edinburgh
"Edinburgh named takeaway capital of Scotland as poll singles out ‘toxic cities’
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Posted 12 years ago #
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We must be doing pretty well in the Tesco Metros / Sainsbury's Locals per head of population category too.
Posted 12 years ago # -
It also has it's fair share of upmarket 'eateries' which also contribute to the problem.
2000 MacDonanlds calories are no worse than 2000 Gourmet Burger calories.
The more expensive the establishment, generally just means the more expensive the calories are. Often the places the 'middle classes' eat are just as bad as the fast food places, but they seem to get none of the bad press, just reviews...
Posted 12 years ago # -
@baldcyclist - which one serves more people/meals? what proportion of diet made up of takeaway? surely that is more relevant than just 'types' of food or clientele?
Posted 12 years ago # -
"which one serves more people/meals?"
This isn't relevant, there are more people who can afford MacDonalds so they will always sell more meals, this isn't necessarily bad.
"what proportion of diet made up of
takeawayunhealthy food?"This is an issue, and not just one of the working classes who eat MacDonalds. M&S sells a huge amount of 'ready meals' to the middle classes in nice packaging and lovely sounding Italian temptations...
I think the point I was making (perhaps not very well) is that eating a MacDonalds once or twice a month isn't really that bad, when you start eating it 2 or 3 times a week, it is.
When you eat one of those lovely Italian goodies from M&S (which I confess I am partial) for a treat on a Sunday it isn't really that bad. When you eat them 2 or 3 times a week, it is.Of course I don't have the exact figures, or representative demographics of where obesity is most prevalent, and I do accept it is worse in the poorest areas of society. But obesity isn't a 'poor' problem, it exists in a large proportion throughout all society.
So in my opinion to blame chippies and MacDonalds is surely missing the point somewhat, the problem is everywhere, just accepted more when the poor folk don't do it or have access to it.
Posted 12 years ago # -
"The more expensive the establishment, generally just means the more expensive the calories are."
Erm. Just. No.
If you think a pre-packed half-salt-and-water Micky D's burger is exactly the same as something served up at somewhere like, for example, The Red Squirrel, then...
Yes the calories content is the same, but personally when I buy food I'm not buying calorie content alone. I'm buying taste and quality and something that is hopefully a little less morally objectionable.
It's a bit like saying a free-range chicken bought directly from the farmer is the same thing as a frozen battery-hen chicken for a quid from Asda.
Plus the cheapness of the likes of Burger King and McDonald's means that they churn out a lot more burgers each day than objectionably 'middle class' establishments.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Although the article doesn't link to the orignal study (or include more detailed methodology), it sounds pretty weak in using "takeaways per head of population" as an index of unhealthiness given Edinburgh's very high population of fly-by-night visitors and tourists who one might expect are frequent users of such establishments.
I don't think the residents of George IV bridge are any more or less healthy than those of Bruntsfield because the former has more kebab shops on it.
Posted 12 years ago # -
"
Erm. Just. No.If you think a pre-packed half-salt-and-water Micky D's burger is exactly the same as something served up at somewhere like, for example, The Red Squirrel, then...
"I don't think I am saying that, I think I am saying....
If you eat enough of either, then you WILL get fat.Posted 12 years ago # -
I think that part of the issue is that "Obesity" is a term banded around so much it has lost all meaning.
I was medically obese until the start of last summer when I started training for my C2C and had been for a number of years including two when I was cycling daily. But when people think obese they think of the guy from the "fat boy slim" album cover. There are plenty of very overweight to obese people who eat fine but don't realise or care that their weight may be a problem, it might not even be a problem!
Its not a class issue or the fault of the companies peddling the unhealthy foods regardless of how its marketed. Attacking the takeaway companies is as pointless as attacking car companies for over crowded roads. People need to make a concious choice to do something different, tax or other hard government intervention will likely work as as other "sin taxes".
Posted 12 years ago # -
Misunderstanding then Baldcyclist based on my misreading of, "The more expensive the establishment, generally just means the more expensive the calories are"
I agree, in terms of pure calories there is no difference, though I'd maintain there's a lot more 'gunk' that has a detrimental effect on top of the pure calorie count in 'cheap' takeaways than an M&S pie....
Posted 12 years ago # -
I agree with WC on this one - you might get the same number of calories in a more expensive eatery, but you are also likely to get a better class of calories - for example, more vitamins, fibre etc. The extent to whic hthe food is processed can make a big difference to how the body digests it and how long it leaves your hunger sated.
Posted 12 years ago # -
I remember my chemistry teacher telling me that a Pie Supper wasnt all bad - as it contained fats and carbohydrates, both of use in a balanced diet.
Mind you that was about 28 years ago and tubby kids were a bit thin (sic) on the ground.
It clearly stuck with me though and I am still rather partial to a post pub pie supper (salt and sauce, of course) to soak up the beers !
Posted 12 years ago # -
The poll has Manchester first with one takeaway for 492 inhabitants (good old rusholme). Bristol 623, Edinburgh 725, Brighton 768, London 830, Glasgow 923
Tourism and students are clearly factors. Overall population will also have had an input in the league table standings.
I struggled to find the source (not that I tried too hard) so you do not know what population figures they have used, nor how busy each takeaway joint is.
if you have a pie supper once a month as discussed you will probably survive.
Any processed food whether from marks and spencer or McDonald's needs checked for salt, fat, sugar, calories etc. often when the label says healthy living it just means fewer calories, with less healthy ingredients.
I love a warburtons tattie scone but one small scone has a gramme of salt. I have written to them as this is a mental amount of salt. Feel free to contact them too on my behalf. Scotmid has the best labelling, very detailed on the ising glass findings used to filter beer which is made from the fish swim bladders, soothe beer is not veggie
Posted 12 years ago # -
Check out the amount of sugar in low fat 'healthy' yogurt. Crazy. We want the kids to have whole fat, but no sugar (as per health guidelines) and it's very difficult to find.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Heard about a polish guy who has been trying to make sour milk. (Different from yoghurt). In the old days in Poland they let the cows milk sour. But now the milk is pasteurised so they add a bacteria. He has tried that on Scottish milk and the milk won't sour. Check out also the special ingredient in borsch, a kind of rancid relish. My opinion is that the polish people I see in Edinburgh are often looking healthy. I have three small off cuts from a barbecue fire that someone had up at Harlaw reservoir where my favourite upturned tree has had branches sawn. All good, barbecues healthy, sour milk is Dr yakult, borsch I love it
Posted 12 years ago # -
The polish buttermilk that can be bought in some tesco's asda etc (also polish shops) is really, really lovely.
Posted 12 years ago # -
We want the kids to have whole fat, but no sugar (as per health guidelines) and it's very difficult to find.
Just buy a big tub of natural yoghurt (various % of fat available), then serve individual portions with some fresh/frozen soft fruits stirred in. Much healthier than any packaged flavoured yoghurts.
Posted 12 years ago # -
@crowriver. Yes, that is what we do, but sometimes the shops run out of plain yeo valley and all the others are low fat or sugar added.
My more general point was that a lot of 'healthy' labelled things are simply low fat, but high sugar and with additives & processed stuff.
Posted 12 years ago # -
One thing to watch is there is a big difference between something labelled 'low fat' and something labelled 'reduced fat'. The latter only has to have a little bit less fat than its 'full fat' equivalent, but it
could still beprobably is very high in fatPosted 12 years ago # -
Company A: Buy our new diet product, called Fat: it's low in sugar!
Company B: Got fat by eating so-called diet products like our competitor's 'Fat'? Then you need our new diet product, called Sugar! It's low in fat!
Anyway, I had a chipsteak supper from Gino's in Dalry tonight. Low. In. Sugar.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Graeme Obree told me that he thought "New Covent Garden" -style cartoned soups were some of the worst things you could buy due to salt content. He then went and ate a big plate of chips for lunch.
True story.
Posted 12 years ago # -
My obesity is going to be my target this year (again!), 4000 miles of cycling a year and still have a BMI of 32, sigh.
I seem to have 2 issues which prevent me losing weight, admittedly one of them in my head!
First issue (not in my head) is that although I do lots of miles, because I am asthmatic, and overweight, those miles are done at a slow pace. I ave 11-12mph for a 28 - 30 mile round trip, and I'm regularly overtaken by much heavier folk than me. Sometimes I try to keep pace with them and my lungs just burst, especially on any incline, so I do think that issue is more asthma than weight? I don't really know how I can improve my lungs to 'train harder' as they will only take me so fast.
Second issue (is in my head), is the full mute munchies. When I do the full mute more than 2 days in a week I wake up starving, and I go to bed starving. No matter how much I put away in that day I am starving. So I do admit to having a c**sp habit, or my second breakfast. This is where I do need to sort out my intake, but the munchies just keep coming!
Posted 12 years ago # -
As recommended on a similar thread, I started taking some protein powders when I got home. This helped with my desire to consume all the chocolate biscuits when I get in but I can still polish off my dinner.
As for the asthma, I can't really help. My (now mildly) asthmatic mate has no trouble keeping pace with me, even on the climbs, but he always takes his steroids (inhaler) before we set off and has it with him in case of issues on long climbs. Probably helps that I'm no whippet.
Posted 12 years ago # -
@Baldcyclist in the parallel thread -
http://citycyclingedinburgh.info/bbpress/topic.php?id=9185&page=2#post-95595
P.s. don't give up cycling!
Posted 12 years ago # -
I have asthma too, and I found when I put weight on, the asthma got worse, so I think there's a connection between physical condition and the wheeziness. I also find cold weather sets it off, when you go from a heated space outside, or vice versa.
I always take a Ventolin inhaler with me on rides, just in case. Like steveo's mate I take a squish from it before setting off, this usually means I'm fine for the whole ride. To what extent my asthma influences my lack of speed, I can't say. I suspect though speed has a lot more to do with general fitness levels. Just riding the bike has only taken me to certain level, I don't think I'll see significant further improvements in speed, stamina, etc. without training off the bike too.
Posted 12 years ago # -
The Obree Way might be worth a read, Baldcyclist (it's reasonably cheap for ebook), it has a whole section on breathing techniques and the mechanics of how your body gets oxygen from the air and into your muscles.
I can appreciate that asthmatics can be between a rock and a hard place - the best way to improve your cario-vascular performance is to stress it and take it beyond what is comfortable, however that's exactly what can set off fits.
One thing worth remembering is that when you set out on a climb (and for the entirety of smaller and even medium climbs, depending on your own particular level of fitness) it's not your breathing that gets you up the hill, but the oxygen already in your bloodstream and muscles and your body's ability to use it efficiently. Once I got fitter (starting from a base of zero fitness and much fatness) I realised that you get up the hill and then get out of breath, as your lungs catch up with the physical exertion your body just did.
I suppose it's possible to devise an ashtma-safe series of repeat climbing exercises that gently stress your C-V activity to get small, incremental gains. You can use the same hill and it needn't be a monster, it's all about a safe level of effort that is sufficient to get your body working and in stress, but not so much as to trigger the asthma. Doing lots of short repeats would hopefully be of use, rather than fewer attempts at bigger, steeper climbs. As things (hopefully) improve up hills, you simply push a little bit harder the next time.
As your body adapts to this, it should be a positive feedback loop, as you rely less on your "lungs" to get you up hills and more on your muscles / bloodstream to get you up. Once you're over the top, you can ease off the effort as your body recovers from oxygen debt.
Posted 12 years ago # -
Have you had your asthma checked recently? Mine has gone from being quite bad (for me) to totally under control since I started taking seretide. fabulous stuff - combines cortico-steroid with longacting reliever.
Posted 12 years ago # -
I could probably do with a check up, haven't had one since moving to Fife. Although Asthma does seem to be under control most of the time.
I'm not on Seratide, but a similar type product (different brand name), purple inhaler. I'm also on montelukast tablets in the evening, and supposedly 4x2 puffs of the blue inhaler a day but I only use that before commutes. I generally have a peak flow of 420 - 450 when asthma under control. Average Joe Bloggs would be ~600 at my age, but higher if fit.You know your in for a bad next day if that dull headache starts, and your ankles are slightly swollen in the morning. Cycling on flat at any pace an effort on those days!
I have always 'trained' (used subjectively) for distance, I need to do 150 miles a week so that is what I work to over a period of a few months to achieve at my same slow pace.
Recently, I have started ignoring my 'little' front gear, so I can now 'power' up all of the little climbs on my commute, but my cadence has gone so my ave speed remains the same. I've also started riding out of the saddle up one of the hills on the way home, and yes the lungs burst towards the top but I get to the top, maybe it will improve over (more) time.
Posted 12 years ago #
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