How do you know what to believe? Diet edition

I am in the car.

Where are you headed?

We are at another wrestling tournament. I'm not doing this one because I competed yesterday, and then we're also competing next weekend, so it's just my brother today.

Okay, good. Well, no stress for you today. How did you do yesterday?

Yesterday I placed 7th, but I didn't know that there was a 7th place match, so none of So my competitor and my competitor didn't show up either, probably because she didn't know. But so I got 7th out of 25 kids. But the thing is, I did 4th off, which is a high school bracket. There were 6th graders and stuff, maybe 6th to 8th. But a lot of the girls were bigger, so it was a challenge, but it was really fun. It was an all-girls tournament too.

Good for you for fighting against high schoolers. That's— was it intimidating?

I think at first the thought of it was intimidating, but I didn't know that there were so many girls my— more my size that were doing the bracket. There were a few girls that were bigger.

At some point, do they do weight brackets?

They do do weight brackets. It's just I did a much higher weight bracket than I usually do. I did 102 and I weighed in Or I was maybe 89. Wow.

Well, good for you for getting 7th. Um, you're welcome. So I was wondering about the question, how do we know what's true? And thinking, you know, with the internet and all sorts of different people having different opinions and, and different experts, I think we talked about this a little bit years ago, but how do you, if, if you're not sure which side of an argument is true, How do you think about it? How do you figure it out?

Um, I think it's important to think about how, or if, um, that argument, or which side of the argument or belief would suit you and what you would stand for if you were in that argument. And I think that side of the argument has to be good to you and your lifestyle and your morals. And I think you have to believe in it. So I think it depends on the person, though, to each individual person. I know that there might be some things that might seem obviously right or obviously wrong, but that same thing might seem the opposite for another person. So it depends, I think.

So it sounds like you're thinking of arguments about what we should do or how we should live. Is that correct?

That's what came to mind.

Okay. And you're saying it's most important that it be true to you?

Yeah.

So how does one— suppose somebody is arguing that this is how you should live and you— is it just a feeling that you know that it isn't true for you? Or is it a guess? I guess I'm trying to wonder, how do we know? If this is the right one or not?

Well, I think that's when it gets a little hard because you're deciding how to live your life, and I think in that case it's pretty important because your life is your life. Um, so I think number one, it depends on how you think your life should be lived. Just morally, and then also what you try and— what you're trying to gain out of life, all the experiences you're trying to get. So if you thought that maybe you wanted to travel a lot and that was how you were going to live, you maybe thought that experiencing new things and new cultures was one of the points of life. And maybe if you were the opposite, you would think the opposite.

So that totally makes sense. I'm thinking of other cases where, like, for instance, diet, there are all sorts of people that have different beliefs about what's healthy to eat and what's not healthy to eat. Um, how do you decide on something like that? What's healthy to eat and what's not healthy to eat?

Well, I think we humans have a pretty good understanding of what's healthy and what's not, but that might have been corrupted by systems over the years. So I think that you have to experiment and try it for yourself. In my family, we like to eat— I mean, a normal meal for us would be a steak, I mean roasted vegetables, potatoes and onions, and then milk at the end, and good water and electrolytes. And I've— and now I I'm very grateful for that because I, um, I know that I might not have been able to get those a little while ago on a daily basis. So I'm really glad that I can eat that now. Um, but on the other hand, I've met kids who eat junk food for dinner and breakfast and cereals and dry, non-nutritious things that they think provides them with a good diet. And I don't think that's right. Yeah, I think, think that.

So this is helpful. And then before going to the, the junk food diet thing, just on the diet that you guys have, do you know if your mom researched it, your dad researched it, they both researched it, you researched it? How did your household come up with this diet exactly?

Well, I know that, I mean, if we're just talking about my parents, I know that they experienced different diets and they learned what was right for them. Um, I know, um, they didn't really— I know they've told us that they didn't have much awareness about diet when they were kids, so they are trying to incorporate a good diet in our lives. Um, they've learned what's right for their body and for ours. And, you know, they're our parents, so we're pretty similar. My mom is trying to— is learning and has learned a lot about diet and the gut through investigating and researching so that she can provide us with supplements and good diets. And we really appreciate that. So they've both done definitely research and now we have a good diet.

Thank you. And then with respect to the kids, you know, who do junk food diets, Do you think that their parents don't know, the parents don't care, the kids don't know, kids don't care, or, or maybe junk food diet is right for them? How do we know that maybe junk food diet is the right thing for some people?

Well, I don't think that anybody could benefit off of only eating cereal for breakfast and not— I mean, that's just one example in one part of the day. I think it could be a variety, especially um, with different families and different cultures of just ignorance, not knowing, not maybe not caring. I'm not sure. It could be how they've eaten for such a long time that they don't want to change it. Um, that could be a mix of arrogance and ignorance. Um, it could be that they just don't want to switch because they like the foods they're eating because they taste good. So I don't know, there might be other examples that I don't know.

When, when you see kids eating food that you think is really unhealthy, do you ever say anything, or you completely avoid saying anything?

Um, it depends on my relationship with them. If they're really good friends or I know them good, then, you know, I'm not going to berate them about it because it's their life and not mine. But occasionally, oh, junk food or something like that, and then If I don't know them, I just let it go.

That makes sense. Totally makes sense.

Yeah.

And it's, it's really interesting. I mean, I like the notion that we test out things on our bodies and figure out what's good for us. But I guess the reason that seems limited to me as an approach to figuring out what's healthy is I think there are some things that people don't notice are, are making them unhappy or less healthy. And does that seem possible? You could have friends who are eating junk food and they've eaten junk food for years and they just don't notice that it's not good for them.

Yeah, I think that's definitely possible.

So that's where I think, you know, probably outside research is useful or necessary. And then you can still check as you change your diet, you can check to see if it does feel right for you. But yeah. And where do you think the outside research comes that tells us that, say, a junk food diet is not good for us?

Do you mean what kinds of research or where it came from?

Yeah, let's start with what kinds of research.

Well, I mean, what kinds of research? I know my mom is definitely into that stuff, and she, and she knows a lot about it. I— it's experimenting. People have been eating a lot of things for a long time, and of course there are different body types And I mean, depending on who you are, then you might be accustomed to certain things, or maybe you just don't have a tolerance for other things. But I think, um, experimenting with your diet and finding out what, what's good for you is sort of how you do it. Maybe you're just, maybe your body just does better with steak or vegetables or I don't know, your, your culture's food, you know, that you do well with that. I think that's mostly it. And then I know there are different studies, um, I can't name one, but there are different studies on, um, the nutrition and food and how they help you. So I think that those are the main factors.

Got it. Um, do you eat much sugar? Do you try to avoid sugar? What's your relationship to sugar?

Well, I mean, sugar is in a lot of things. You know, there's natural sugars, and then there's sugars that you find in lollipops. I'm a big fan of fruit and honey. I've been a honey lover ever since I was little. I wouldn't have tantrums about honey— er, about tablets. I would have tantrums about not getting honey when I wanted. So I think, I think that's good for you, and I think it helps give me energy, and it also has other nutrition in it. In them, and honey and fruits. So I have a good relationship with them. I try to avoid sugars and lollipops and candy, but I feel like in the time we're living now, it's almost impossible not to go without eating at least one in your lifetime, especially when you're a kid. So, and when there are so many other people around you doing it. So it's, I don't eat it often, but we eat it as treats and special occasions.

When I was your age, I think there was a lot less awareness about sugar and everybody I knew, all the kids I knew just ate a ton of candy. And now I think that sugar, too much sugar is definitely bad for us. You know, especially refined sugars and so forth. So that's a case where you know, I'm thinking back, even the, even the research wasn't as clear then that refined sugars were a problem. And so it can be a problem if, you know, maybe we don't know how to figure out what's right for our bodies and maybe the research is not as good as it could be. I certainly think things have gotten better on the sugar front, but that, that's why you see we kind of, we're stuck where I love the idea of seeing what works with your body, but sometimes it's just hard to know, and there really high-quality external research may be essential. Does that sound right?

I think so.

Well, I'm delighted that you are so acutely aware of your diet and kind of principles of health, and especially as an athlete. I mean, everybody, everybody should be healthy for their mind, But also you're an athlete, and so you have to be strong for your matches. Are there particular foods you eat to prepare for a match?

Do you mean the day of?

The day of, day before, I don't know. Is there a food-related cycle to going to tournaments?

Well, usually before tournaments I eat a little light. One, so I can make weight. It depends on how much I have to make weight. And two, just so that I'm not full and bloated the day of and when I compete. Um, unlike, for example, my brother— my brother likes to compete on a full stomach. He does much better when he eats a meal maybe an hour before his matches, which I don't know, but it works for him. Yeah, I like to eat light before, maybe some fruit, um, a meat stick, and then maybe honey. Um, yesterday my dad and I experimented with half of a can of Red Bull, so that was interesting. I think it helped a little, but I think that's what I usually do and it works.

All right, cool. Well, um, congrats on challenging the high schoolers yesterday and have fun with your brother today.

Okay, thank you. I will.

Thanks. Bye-bye.

Bye.