If you change one thing.
If you ask me, as a nutritionist, about the one thing you should do to improve your diet. I’m not going to get into, low carb v high fat, probiotics or fasting? For me the answer is just to eat real food. Eat food in as close to its natural state as possible, e.g. an apple, a piece of fish or wholegrain rice and minimise the processed stuff.
It sounds simple but it’s actually a big change for a lot of people. Such a large amount of the food we eat in the West is highly processed, especially that made for children for some reason, that we don’t even think about it. But, if you’re really serious about making better choices to improve your health then cut down on the processed and eliminate ultra-processed foods (UPFs) completely and you’re almost there.
UPFs include, but are definitely not limited to:
most fast food and anything fried in seed oils
packaged baked goods like cakes and biscuits
many breakfast cereals
margarines and spreads
crisps, and similar
ALOT of diet products (don’t even get me started on sweeteners) and ‘free from’ (e.g. gluten free breads) products
sodas and carbonated drinks
energy bars and granola bars
sausages, hotdogs and cold cut meats
Basically things which come in a shiny packet, have a long list of ingredients, most of which sound like they were made by a chemist.
UPFs are so bad for the body because they contain the following:
Unhealthy fats, seed oils like canola oil and soy oil. Originally industrial by-products which have been linked to obesity, heart disease, perpetuating asthma and recently in a study from the University of California Riverside, IBD (Ulcerative Colitis and Crohn’s disease).
Salt, important, not only because excessive salt is bad for the body, but also because it’s a key component in making these products hyper palatable and highly addictive.
Sugar, especially high fructose corn syrup. Sugar has a massive role to play in the huge increase in cases of obesity, diabetes and all the metabolic diseases and the complications that go with them. The big food companies love it because it’s highly addictive, lighting up the dopamine pathway in the same way as drugs and alcohol.
4. Refined grains that have been stripped of all their bran, fibre, and nutrients, and are found in white bread, pizza dough, pasta, pastries, sweet desserts, and many breakfast cereals. When refined in this way they become simple carbohydrates, which means that the glucose is really quickly absorbed into the bloodstream and acts like refined sugar.
Then there’s the multitude of ingredients which are made in a lab and are unrecognisable to the body. On top of this they undergo industrial processes, like hydrogenation and moulding which change the chemical structure of the food, and contain additives like dyes, stabilizers, flavour enhancers, emulsifiers, and defoaming agents. Our bodies do not know what these things are or what to to do with them, they are alien substances. Hello autoimmunity!
And because they don't really contain much, if any, nutrient content and so won’t saite us, they leave us feeling hungry because the body is still craving the nutrients it really needs. Meanwhile it’s stopped allowing glucose to enter the cells. A safety mechanism in the presence of excessive glucose (this is insulin resistance), which means sugar is circulating in the blood, damaging the arteries and being stored as fat. This pattern creates low energy and food cravings and so the cycle continues. It’s why once you pop you actually really can’t stop.
ABCD - adiposity-based chronic disease.
Recently, I read an article about doctors wanting to rename obesity as it is seen to have negative connotations which are demotivating for patients. Adiposity-based chronic disease has been suggested. But I don’t think we should normalise obesity.
We’re not supposed to carry a lot of excessive fat, it’s not good for our health and that’s why we have mechanisms in the body which regulate this. But these mechanisms rely on us eating actual real food because it knows what to do with it. I’m absolutely NOT blaming individuals for becoming obese, UPFs are hyper palatable, highly addictive, backed by huge advertising campaigns (ever seen an advert for broccoli?) and are often the cheaper choice.
From a public health point of view UPFs should have been identified as a real bloody nightmare. They are causing the health service a fortune. So many diseases, from autoimmunity to cancer to diabetes and heart disease as well as mental health conditions are linked to poor diet, and for poor diet you can basically read ‘ultra-processed foods’. They are costing us an absolute fortune in medical expenses, and this epidemic does not need to be happening, the solution is so simple. But somehow, not only are the big food companies allowed to continue to make these products but they can advertise them on TV and market them to children.
And basically it’s a question of inequality.
Poorer people don’t have the same access to the most nutritious food. Let's face it, it’s not lower income families who are heading down to a farmers market to get their organic, seasonal, locally grown veggies. To me there’s something up when access to basic natural food has become a privilege.
Anyway, I digress.
If you want to improve your health, eat good quality whole foods wherever you can. It’s just a no-brainer. Reduce the meat you eat (and eat better quality) and increase your plants, beans, pulses and whole grains, this will save you some cash at the same time. Buy raw ingredients and go homemade wherever possible. At first you might crave some of your favourite treats, but try it for a couple of weeks, you’ll be amazed how quickly your pallet changes.
