creesch's recent activity
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Comment on The hatred of podcasting in ~life
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Comment on My PKM journey in ~tech
creesch LinkThis is not directly a reply to you OP, but I was reminded about a previous discussion on Tildes about this topic. I feel like it is relevant to include as I know there might be people reading...This is not directly a reply to you OP, but I was reminded about a previous discussion on Tildes about this topic. I feel like it is relevant to include as I know there might be people reading this who feel like they need to get their things in order as well. But, using a PKM/Second brain to begin with and how to use it is actually really personal and not for everyone.
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Comment on Is there a postman alternative without the bloat? in ~tech
creesch Link ParentI've also switched to Bruno. If you have some postman collections you want to reuse Bruno claims to be able to import them. You can also export your Bruno collections to Postman format making it...I've also switched to Bruno. If you have some postman collections you want to reuse Bruno claims to be able to import them. You can also export your Bruno collections to Postman format making it easier to share them with people who still use that.
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Comment on Unfuck Google Drive (It's Gemini garbage, of course) in ~comp
creesch Link ParentNextcloud allows for public sharing of anything you have stored in there. Just double checked it is slightly hidden though. I personally rarely use it, but have been a happy user of nextcloud as...Nextcloud allows for public sharing of anything you have stored in there. Just double checked it is slightly hidden though.
I personally rarely use it, but have been a happy user of nextcloud as my document syncing thing for years now.
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Comment on Looking for low-cost ways to replace industrially processed foods in ~food
creesch Link ParentTofu does not classify as ultra processed. Soy sauce is a bit more tricky, traditional soy sauce does not but modern variants do. Tofu also is actually relatively easy to make at home, it is just...Tofu does not classify as ultra processed. Soy sauce is a bit more tricky, traditional soy sauce does not but modern variants do. Tofu also is actually relatively easy to make at home, it is just time-consuming. But all you need for Tofu is soy beans, water and gypsum/vinegar/limejuice.
In a lot of cases processing is indeed not harmful and avoiding any processing makes things extremely difficult. It's why I think it is important for people to be aware that there is more to it.
In the end, the best thing is to be able to read labels in general, be aware of what ingredients are, what a balanced diet is, etc. But, before someone gets there I think it helps to be able to roughly look at ingredients and determine if it is "okay processed" or "not sure, let's avoid it".
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Comment on Millennials: How do you feel about nostalgia pandering? in ~talk
creesch LinkI don't mind a few plays at nostalgia as much. Though, I haven't noticed it that much either. Well, you are getting older ;) I recently turned 40, in my early thirties I could still claim to be...I don't mind a few plays at nostalgia as much. Though, I haven't noticed it that much either.
seeing all of these throwbacks is starting to make me feel old.
Well, you are getting older ;) I recently turned 40, in my early thirties I could still claim to be young, but now I am firmly in middle age territory. Which is okay, at least to me. Aging takes me to different places as interests keep changing and evolving. I enjoy doing things I wouldn't have done when I was younger and also am able to do more things.
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Comment on What the hell are we doing with hierarchical tags? in ~tildes
creesch Link ParentIn your tildes settings you can filter out specific tags. Since they are applied pretty consistently, it allows me to filter out some topics I really don't care for. For example, I realized a long...In your tildes settings you can filter out specific tags. Since they are applied pretty consistently, it allows me to filter out some topics I really don't care for. For example, I realized a long time ago that I really don't care for political discussions on Tildes since that is not what I visit this website for. Now I don't need to stumble upon them since I filtered out some tags related to politics (mainly the politics tag though ;) )
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Comment on What the hell are we doing with hierarchical tags? in ~tildes
creesch (edited )LinkI don't feel as strongly about it as you do. I mostly use tags to filter out one or two things (mostly political related). But, I sometimes do feel that tags are not a really a community feature...I don't feel as strongly about it as you do. I mostly use tags to filter out one or two things (mostly political related). But, I sometimes do feel that tags are not a really a community feature as they are strictly controlled. Clearly there is a system, but it has been slightly annoying at times that tags I actually did put care and attention to were changed.
At the same time, I do realize that for tags to work they need to be consistently applied. In order to do that the current system does work actually pretty well even though it does lead to situations like this at times.
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Comment on Looking for low-cost ways to replace industrially processed foods in ~food
creesch Link ParentMaybe part of it is on me for also not wording it as clearly as I could. At the very least, it seems to me that we are viewing it from slightly different perspectives. If I am correct, your...In any way, I think my point still stands: for people (in their day to day and not as researchers or policy makers) these labels are kind if useless.
Maybe part of it is on me for also not wording it as clearly as I could. At the very least, it seems to me that we are viewing it from slightly different perspectives. If I am correct, your expectation is for clear-cut labels that you would be able to apply without hassle. To me, they aren't that, but more tools of awareness for people to know that not all processed foodstuff is necessarily bad, but that it comes down to what is in there. So it isn't as much that you can clearly apply these labels but that as a consumer you can be aware of the different levels of processing and through that can make better choices for yourself.
This in itself is still not easy, but comes close to what was said in the NY times article
“If you look at the ingredient list and you see things that you wouldn’t use in home cooking, then that’s probably an ultraprocessed food,”.
Maybe that needs to be expanded with "if you made the same type of product". In this thread tomato sauce has been brought up a few times. So let me give a tangible example here. I am using a dutch supermarket using "classic pasta sauce". Translated the ingredient list looks something like this.
Tomato Puree, Tomatoes, Carrots, Onions, Water, Modified Corn Starch, Canola Oil, Basil, Salt, Lemon Juice Concentrate, Ascorbic Acid, Natural Flavor, Garlic Powder, Citric Acid, Oregano Extract, Pepper Extract, Thyme Extract.
If you made tomato sauce at home, you would only use the 6 ingredients in bold. Excluding the water that leaves 9 other ingredients you wouldn't actually use, at least in that form. If you notice there is one "natural flavor" in there that is just nondescript, and of course it isn't entirely clear what they mean by extracts either. In many cases, you will find that these sauces also includes sugar as well.
Ready-made pasta sauce would be an example of something that sits close to or is ultra processed food in the NOVA classification.
So, based on that, this is the sort of food I generally try to avoid. At the same time, if we take a look at canned peeled tomatos it contains just these ingredients:
Tomatoes, Tomato Juice, Citric Acid.
Of these, the citric acid doesn't quite belong, but I also know it is used in canning to bring the PH value down to prevent botulism. So if I am making pasta sauce at home and don't want to use fresh tomatoes this, to me, is a perfectly viable choice. In the NOVA classification, this would sit around processed food and minimal at that. Basically, by looking at the ingredients you can make the call that it is a much better choice compared to the ready-made sauce. Basically, that the distinction isn't about whether something is canned or “processed” but how far it deviates from something you would cook yourself.
What it comes down to, for me anyway, is that while the onus shouldn't be on us a consumer, in reality it often is. That also means that I want to be aware of the choices I make when buying food. This includes being aware of the spectrum of food processing, and then be aware of what I need to look for in ingredient lists and so forth. It also isn't easy, because it requires me to be able to cook, be aware of how different things can be made at home, etc. As I said, where I feel like you expect "shopping labels" to me it has helped me in understanding patterns of ingredients and formulations to avoid.
Learning to cook with basic ingredients is a way more efficient path if you want to avoid poisoning yourself with additives, save money and understand what you are eating than trying to understand what all the additives and industrial processes do.
Fully agreed! But, to me anyway, having a better understanding of the differences in processing has allowed me to expand my list of basic ingredients that actually make things somewhat easier. I can save some time by using canned tomatoes, frozen vegetables and many more ingredients that are technically "processed" but not in a way that meaningfully impacts my health.
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Comment on Looking for low-cost ways to replace industrially processed foods in ~food
creesch Link ParentI agree it isn't a perfect distinction, but I still think it is better than no distinction where apply it to broadly. I also don't think they are a distraction. As the whole terminology is based...I agree it isn't a perfect distinction, but I still think it is better than no distinction where apply it to broadly.
I also don't think they are a distraction. As the whole terminology is based in research trying to understand what caused these obesity trends and in fact more clearly puts blame at manufacturers. It also gives consumers, once they are more aware of what to look for can avoid. In an ideal world that shouldn't be needed, but we aren't living in that world.
One final note about one of the points you specifically raised. Hot dogs, sausages and lunch meats often aren't that great. They are high in calories, low in protein, often contain nitrites and have large amounts of saturated fat and sodium within them.
There is some nuance here, slices from whole meat often will sit on a slightly healthier scale compared to say a salami. But overal they are a typical example of unbalanced foods.
If you want to be healthy there, and fitting for this topic, making your own lunch meats (from left overs for example) is probably the healthiest option.
Also here goes, it depends on how often you eat these sorts of things. Balancing your diet is the key here, but that does mean being aware of the makeup of what you eat and how it influences nutrient intake and all that.
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Comment on Looking for low-cost ways to replace industrially processed foods in ~food
creesch Link ParentFair enough, but then we arrive at the stuff I wrote about in my much longer comment. You can then skip the first paragraph about juice and continue reading from there. What I am getting in there...I don't consider juicing fruit but it was what I thought a good example for the degrees of effort involved in doing things yourself.
Fair enough, but then we arrive at the stuff I wrote about in my much longer comment. You can then skip the first paragraph about juice and continue reading from there. What I am getting in there is that while it can be beneficial to do more yourself, you don't really need to exclude all processing of foodstuff. The comment is long, but that is because there is a lot of nuance to it.
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Comment on Looking for low-cost ways to replace industrially processed foods in ~food
creesch Link ParentFrankly, there isn't a huge difference, both are simply not healthy and contain a lot of sugar. Ideally you don't have drinks with sugar added to them or at least not on such a regular basis that...Should I switch to coca cola then?
Frankly, there isn't a huge difference, both are simply not healthy and contain a lot of sugar.
Ideally you don't have drinks with sugar added to them or at least not on such a regular basis that you are considering juicing fruit yourself ;) I have no clue how much you drink on a daily or weekly basis. But, in general it really is best to avoid it as much as possible.
It's what I personally did years ago. I am not saying I never drink soft drinks or have some form of fruit juice, but when I do, it is incidental.
At home, I mostly just drink water. That and coffee in the morning. Sometimes I switch it up with some tea. I also found that sparkling water works quite well in the moments where I would have gone for a soft drink.
What helped me is that I realized I didn't need my drinks to be sweet, I was just conditioned/raised with that idea. On a warm day, cold sparkling water is equally refreshing as any fruit juice.
And if I really want something sweet, well I just eat the fruit itself.
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Comment on The majority AI view in ~comp
creesch Link ParentYou'd have to ask them, I suppose. If I had to guess, it is very close to the sort of privilege they enjoy as they firmly believe they “earned” it. Just a guess though, as I am not the person who...You'd have to ask them, I suppose. If I had to guess, it is very close to the sort of privilege they enjoy as they firmly believe they “earned” it. Just a guess though, as I am not the person who replied to you. It also isn't really that relevant, as the way you are zooming into that feels a bit like a deflection from what that person tried to point your attention to.
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Comment on Looking for low-cost ways to replace industrially processed foods in ~food
creesch Link ParentAll the more reason to take this bit of advice from stu to heart. Because fruit juice is all of the above (including even marketing due to historic reasons) even if you make it yourself. For more...I am simply tired of having to go out of my way to avoid various foods rich in sugar, marketing and addiction optimization.
All the more reason to take this bit of advice from stu to heart.
better lesson is to consider the macronutrient compositio
Because fruit juice is all of the above (including even marketing due to historic reasons) even if you make it yourself. For more details, I'd of course have to refer to the comment I made elsewhere.
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Comment on Looking for low-cost ways to replace industrially processed foods in ~food
creesch Link ParentWith all due respect, but they do have a definition. It is just that a lot of people are not aware of them. I can't blame you for skipping over my wall of but about halfway through I tried to...but I just object to using the terms "processed food" and/or "ultraprocessed food" since they seem to be quite badly and loosely defined and even when they are more strictly defined they seem quite useless.
With all due respect, but they do have a definition. It is just that a lot of people are not aware of them. I can't blame you for skipping over my wall of but about halfway through I tried to provide a decent background on their meaning.
I also disagree that it is useless to make the distinction, as it makes it clear that not all food processing is bad. What @boxer_dogs_dance mentions is actually what makes a majority of ultra processed foods so harmful for us. But exactly because a lot of people are not aware of the distinction you are seeing people trying to avoid all food that is processed in some way which is, to be frank, silly.
I am not entirely sure about the link with the tobacco industry, but other than that they are not wrong.
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Comment on Looking for low-cost ways to replace industrially processed foods in ~food
creesch Link ParentI am not sure if I am following you, but the instant pot was the "thing" that was the original product of the company (which now sells more devices). It was also the one that popularized modern...I am not sure if I am following you, but the instant pot was the "thing" that was the original product of the company (which now sells more devices). It was also the one that popularized modern multi cookers combining pressure and slow cookers.
So it is actually very similar to the things you name in that regard.
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Comment on Looking for low-cost ways to replace industrially processed foods in ~food
creesch Link ParentGreat addition, just one note I'd like to stress, though. Ultra-processed foods generally do not have a homemade counterpart. The confusion comes from the fact that not all processed food is...Great addition, just one note I'd like to stress, though.
ultra-processed foods are also not generally all that worse for you than home made counterparts
Ultra-processed foods generally do not have a homemade counterpart. The confusion comes from the fact that not all processed food is ultraprocessed. See the bit of the New York Times article I quoted. Although the article itself is worth reading entirely.
To add to the confusion, a frozen pizza can be both, depending on the ingredients used. Avoiding any processed food is then the safest option. But also, as you point, out quite intimidating and to a certain degree throwing away the baby with the bath water. In part because it is entirely possible to cook/eat unhealthy when making everything from scratch.
But buying whole grain bread made from basic ingredients is exactly the same (health wise) as baking it yourself. Even more basic, there is absolutely no reason to avoid frozen (precut) vegetables and fruits. They retain all the nutrients their raw fresh counterparts do, you can just keep in them in the freezer for longer, so overall are quite an excellent choice. Just make sure it is just produce and not something pretending to be a half prepared meal (where it includes frozen sauce).
The same is true for canned vegetables. As I said in my original comment, you can make a tomato based sauce from raw tomatoes. Which I highly recommend people try once as it tastes great! But, having canned tomatoes (just tomatoes, no added ingredients) on hand is almost just as healthy and makes it much easier to achieve the same goal.
As a rule of thumb, I suppose you can say that the more ingredients are pre-mixed by a manufacture, the more aware you need to be of what you are buying. But outside that, we come back again to a balanced meal.
As a final note,
But yeah, also, to paraphrase something I heard somewhere: "You wouldn't sit down and eat 8 apples in a row. Why would you drink 8 apples?"
I am stealing this, good way of putting it :)
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Comment on Looking for low-cost ways to replace industrially processed foods in ~food
creesch LinkBit of a wall of text incoming, sorry about that. But, it is a complex subject where I think it is beneficial to be aware of a more complete picture. About fruit juice As a fyi, fruit juice isn't...- Exemplary
Bit of a wall of text incoming, sorry about that. But, it is a complex subject where I think it is beneficial to be aware of a more complete picture.
About fruit juice
As a fyi, fruit juice isn't really healthy is not all that good for you anyway, regardless of the process it goes through:
- Most juice has been filtered to remove any of the pulp, so it lacks any dietary fibers.
- These fibers are important to slow down digestion, so the sugars don't hit your metabolism all at once. This means that it can spike blood sugar levels and increase your appetite.
- It also means that some other nutrients aren't processed and in turn aren't as beneficial (think vitamins).
- If you freshly juice anything, you know how much fruit goes into one glass. Which might seem healthy until you consider the caloric intake in the form of sugars you have now concentrated in one glass. Specifically when taking the previous points into account. Fruit juice effectively isn't that different from soft drinks.
There are more claims about fruit juice not being good for you. I mainly kept it to the main ones. If possible, it is best to simply eat fresh fruit. Second to that is to blend fruits and vegetables in smoothie form. But there you also do need to keep an eye on the amount of produce you include.
tl;dr
Skip fruit juice, juice itself isn't healthy. Eat whole fruits. As a bonus, this is also cheap and doesn't require appliances.
But I want something to drink!?
I think the habbit you already have with diluting juice with water is already better than pure juice actually.
Usually I simply buy the expensive ones and add 1-2 parts water ending up with better tasting juice at same or less cost.
You could even go further and simply go for infused water. Just throw in a few fruit slices, cucumber or mint for the taste alone.
Other alternatives here would be things like (herbal) teas and if you want something cold iced tea with minimal sugar.
About processed foods themselves.
As far as "processed" foods in general go. It is somewhat important to know that there are different kinds of processing and that the whole conversation around them is confused because most people are not aware of this. It was confusing to me for a long while and there are still a lot of subtleties involved. But, there is actually more to it than "just" processing as the terminology is based on something called the "NOVA classification". In that the ultra processed food classification is where you find most foods that are simply not healthy. Here is the tricky part, it isn't necesairly because these foods are ultra processed, it is technically possible to have very healthy but ultra processed foods. But the majority of ultra processed foods are not good for a variet of reasons and for a consumer that distinction is difficult to make. So the recommendation is to avoid these.
Last year someone on tildes linked me to this new york times article (archive link) that made things a lot more clear to me.
In order to study foods based on how they were processed, Dr. Monteiro and his colleagues developed a food classification system called Nova, named after the Portuguese and Latin words for “new.” It has since been adopted by researchers across the world.
The Nova system sorts foods into four categories:
- Unprocessed or minimally processed foods, like fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables, beans, lentils, meat, poultry, fish, eggs, milk, plain yogurt, rice, pasta, corn meal, flour, coffee, tea and herbs and spices.
- Processed culinary ingredients, such as cooking oils, butter, sugar, honey, vinegar and salt.
- Processed foods made by combining foods from Category 1 with the ingredients of Category 2 and preserving or modifying them with relatively simple methods like canning, bottling, fermentation and baking. This group includes freshly baked bread, most cheeses and canned vegetables, beans and fish. These foods may contain preservatives that extend shelf life.
- Ultraprocessed foods made using industrial methods and ingredients you wouldn’t typically find in grocery stores — like high-fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oils and concentrated proteins like soy isolate. They often contain additives like flavorings, colorings or emulsifiers to make them appear more attractive and palatable. Think sodas and energy drinks, chips, candies, flavored yogurts, margarine, chicken nuggets, hot dogs, sausages, lunch meats, boxed macaroni and cheese, infant formulas and most packaged breads, plant milks, meat substitutes and breakfast cereals.
“If you look at the ingredient list and you see things that you wouldn’t use in home cooking, then that’s probably an ultraprocessed food,” said Brenda Davy, a nutrition professor at Virginia Tech.
Basically, industrial processing doesn't necesairly mean the food is less healthy or bad in general. What matters more is the sort of ingredients that are being used and what sort of processing we are talking about. Things like canned beans and frozen vegetablesare all technically processed but are often nutritionally equivalent or better because the proces of preserving them so soon after harvest preserves a lot more nutrients. These also happen to be cheaper.
In other cases, like with fruit juice, it doesn't matter where it is being processed the outcome is still something that isn't healthy for you if you drink a lot of it.
But here we are also looking at eating healthy and balanced in general. Assuming the same ingredients (I know that is often not the case, bear with me) a frozen pizza from the supermarket is about as healthy as one you make at home from scratch. Which is to say, both aren't all that great because the proportions aren't right. Because the main ingredient is bread made from white flour, it is heavy on carbohydrates and light on most other things, including dietary fiber.
What is more important is that the balance is right. Skip white flour bread but go for whole wheat bread Make sure your portions of food are alright, most people eat way too many carbohydrates when they portion things like pasta, potatoes and rice. If I did my conversion correctly for pasta and rice (dry before cooking) it is 2.6 to 3.5 ounces per person and for potatoes roughly 10 to 12 ounces.
Having said all of the above, to avoid ultra processed things and to more directly answer your question there are a variety of things you can easily make yourself at home:
- Salad dressings. simply have oil, vinegar, salt and peper on hand. You can mix it up with things like mustard, lime juice (honestly the bottled stuff is fine here). It takes slightly more effort but gives you a lot of flexibility.
- Pasta sauces. You can make them entirely from scratch with tomatoes, however you can also get canned tomatoes which (as long as it is purely canned tomatoes without added ingredients) it is absolutel fine.
- Breakfast cereals. Plenty of options here, if you get some frozen fruit and a handful of nuts you can mix these with yoghurt for example.
Making these yourself likely will be cheaper and will give you better control over a balanced meal for sure. But,I can't stress it enough, that does mean you really need to be aware of what a balanced meal is. Otherwise it might be cheaper but not healthier.
Previous tildes discussions about the subject
This and related subjects has come up a fair few times. You might interested in those discussions as well. These are the ones I am aware of:
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Comment on Amazon ordered to pay $20K after British Columbia customer says package never arrived in ~tech
creesch LinkAmazon can be such a shitshow at times. Luckily we still have a lot of alternatives for online shopping here so I try to avoid it when I can. But, sometimes Amazon is the only place to get a hold...Amazon can be such a shitshow at times. Luckily we still have a lot of alternatives for online shopping here so I try to avoid it when I can. But, sometimes Amazon is the only place to get a hold of some specific items, other than importing them and dealing with days of shipping and sometimes weeks of customs.
Amazon claiming to have proof of delivery and then being unable to provide that proof reminds me of something else I dealt with the other day. This was an item shipped by Amazon, advertised as available and shipped the next day. I needed two, so did order two. The next day I got a strange mail where it said that the shipping date had changed from March 2026 to December of this year. When I checked the listing, it was still shown as available and next day shipping.
As it turns out, depending on the number of items I selected, the delivery date would jump up. Nowhere near the two months out date I had sitting in my mail, but it would change. My best guess is that if I select 2 it is actually a two pack of that item, shipped from elsewhere. But that is never made clear. To me, it comes across as false advertising or just a complete shit show in their inventory management.
Needless to say that I cancelled my initial order and then place two separate orders for the single item. For which I just got a delivery notification that they will in fact be delivered today. -
Comment on Amazon ordered to pay $20K after British Columbia customer says package never arrived in ~tech
creesch (edited )Link ParentI'd like to point out that your own experience is of course anecdotal. The delivery experience can be different based on a variety of factors. For example, in many locations Amazon doesn't do...I'd like to point out that your own experience is of course anecdotal. The delivery experience can be different based on a variety of factors. For example, in many locations Amazon doesn't do delivery themselves but has third party companies handle it. Even then, the experience can be wildly different depending on the driver. For example, we also rarely have issues with packages being delivered here. But friends a town over have issues with the same delivery company all the time.
I've heard reports from packages being thrown over fences to packages being thrown into garbage bins by drivers.And I said we have rarely issues, but that is mostly because I work from home and delivery drivers know that. We are living in an apartment complex. Generally speaking, what happens is that a delivery driver will have multiple packages, ring the doorbell of the person they suspect is home, once the central door is buzzed open they will throw all packages inside and mark them delivered. If they are nice enough, they will put the packages on top of the mailboxes. Only one delivery driver actually walks in and comes up to our front door.
Our apartment complex is fairly small with 10 apartments, and we know most of our neighbors. So for us it isn't that big of a deal. But, there are also bigger flats with many more apartments where the same thing happens. Often enough when I take a walk at the end of a day I see some flat hallways being littered with various packages. It doesn't take much for packages to get lost there.
I'd also say you must have been fairly lucky in general. Considering that the term "porch pirate" didn't suddenly pop in existence with no cause. In fact, if this person has one such "pirate" active in their neighborhood, it would perfectly account for multiple packages going missing.
Finally, if it really was that suspicious, the CPBC would likely have ruled differently. What is actually suspicious is Amazon claiming to have proof of delivery and then failing to come up with that proof.
I was reminded of some previous topics on tildes you might find interesting. I might be reading it wrong, but to me it sounds like you basically always have external input going on. Which can make it difficult to pause and breath.
This one I think might be relevant for you and maybe this one as well.