Fat is our friend. really! Copy
  • Why fat is our friend
    • LCHF - A beginners' guide >
      • Which fats to use? >
        • More on low-fat & sat fat
        • Demon Fat
        • Fatty Facts: Omega 3 & 6
        • Eat fat, don't get fat!
        • How fat became the enemy
        • Fats, oils & LCHF
      • Diabesity & Food to avoid >
        • Resolving the Junk Food Dilemma
        • More on Diabesity
      • Red and processed meats?
      • Exercise to slim?
      • Milk. Low fat or regular?
      • Going low-carb step-by-step
      • LCHF. Who started it?
    • Overweight? Take a low-carb step
    • Wheat ain't what it used to be
    • What is a diet?
    • We are the experiment
    • Calories in equal calories out?
  • Junk Food
  • The book
    • About >
      • Recommended reading
      • Contact
  • LCHF Recipe Index
    • Breads and crackers >
      • Gluten free crispbreads
      • Einkorn Bread
      • Savoury Cheese muffins
    • Basic ingredients >
      • Chicken Stock
      • Wheat substitutes
      • Roux, Bechamel and Souffle
      • Yogurt and cream cheese
      • Make your own Ghee
      • Mayonnaise
    • From Muesli to Granola >
      • Benchmarking commercial brands
      • New York Cheesecake
    • Frying fish
    • Meat ragout >
      • Cottage Pie >
        • Comparisons
      • Chili con Carne
      • Moussaka
      • Meatballs
    • Boeuf Bourgignon
    • Italian Chicken Wrap
    • Country Pate
    • Omelettes
    • Quiche
    • Sides and dips >
      • Bacon, Water Chestnut Crisp
    • Salads >
      • Simply Salad in a Jar
      • Chopped Chicken Salad (spicy)
      • Thai inspired beef salad
      • Salade Nicoise
    • Veggies made interesting >
      • Cauliflower Rice
      • Cauliflower Mash
      • Indian style aubergine mash
      • Zucchini noodles
      • Suspiciously delicious cabbage
      • Tastier Tomatoes
    • Pizza base
    • Desserts >
      • Chia Seed Dessert
      • New York Cheesecake
  • Blog

Comments & critique

If 'BigFood' got to taste its own medicine?

6/22/2017

0 Comments

 
The great lateral thinking expert, Edward de Bono likes to tell the story of a factory that needs clean water for its industrial processes and as a result, pollutes the river water for town inhabitants living downstream of the factory. Rather than passing draconian laws or getting the factory to co-sponsor water filtration in the river, the clever town council simply mandated that the factory take in its fresh water from somewhere downstream of its own industrial buildings (see below); the factory then became a victim of its own effluence!

​       This decision provided an existential threat to the continued use of the factory and so, not surprisingly, the problem got solved - quickly.
Picture
        As a clever 'lateral thinking' approach it is also one which has been used in the real world. At an individual level, it is the equivalent of giving someone a taste of their own medicine - that being the same treatment that they dish out to others. But... Could a lateral-thinking approach help deal with our increasingly obese world and rising levels of Insulin Resistance? 
​
     
      Work commissioned at the start of the UN's Decade of Nutrition(1) (2016-2025) revealed a strong association between 'ultra-processed food and drink' and the spread of chronic disease. A BMJ article(2) from 2016 showed how 'added sugar' also correlates strongly with this ultra-processed category. In total, added sugars represented 1 in 5 of these ultra-processed food calories(21.1%), far higher than the other three categories of processed foods at 2.4%, unprocessed/minimally processed foods, and processed culinary ingredients grouped together at 3.7%.
Ultra-processed food(2): formulations of several ingredients which, besides salt, sugar, oils and fats, include food substances not used in culinary preparations, in particular, flavours, colours, sweeteners, emulsifiers and other additives used to imitate sensorial qualities of unprocessed or minimally processed foods and their culinary preparations or to disguise undesirable qualities of the final product. 
        So, is ultra-processed food just guilty by association? After all, we know that correlation does not prove causation. But there again... The UN-anchored hypothesis on the table is that a significant reduction in the amount of processed food consumed would lead to less chronic disease. That is - to put it mildly - not in the interest of large food companies, whether manufacturers, distributors or retailers, because they rely heavily on the higher levels of profit they obtain with these hyper-processed packaged foods. To stop this hypothesis becoming mainstream thought, they are fighting this connection tooth and nail.

      And yet, the US based research pointed clearly at something most of us would have no problem accepting at an instinctive level. The authors wrote: "This study suggests that decreasing the dietary share of ultra-processed foods is a rational and effective way to improve the nutritional quality of US diets."
Does 'BigFood' really want what's best for us?
Nestlé - the world’s largest food and beverage company. Our purpose is enhancing quality of life and contributing to a healthier future.
​      We want to help shape a better and healthier world. We also want to inspire people to live healthier lives.    
PepsiCo - one of the world's leading food and beverage companies with a global portfolio of diverse and beloved brands. We believe acting ethically and responsibly is not only the right thing to do, but also the right thing to do for our business.
​The Kraft Heinz Company - the third-largest food/beverage company in North America and the fifth-largest in the world, provides high-quality, great taste and nutrition for all eating occasions whether at home, in restaurants or on the go.
        The 'About Us' website listings certainly make it sound as if they only want the best for us. Nestlé wants to contribute to 'a healthier future', Kraft Heinz aims for 'great taste and nutrition' while just this month, PepsiCo announced the "first eight nutrition, health and wellness brands joining its collaborative incubator programme in Europe". They all claim to be interested in our good health and in creating a better world... and yet I somehow doubt it.

       Pretty much all of the packaged food, drink and fast-food they produce falls within the ultra-processed category. So these representatives of #bigfood are major contributors to arguably the biggest health problem currently facing civilisation - the huge rise in number of those suffering from non-communicable chronic diseases, such as type-2 diabetes, obesity and Alzheimer's.

       That's what now provides our starting point for revisiting the successful type of approach used by that father of lateral thinking, Edward de Bono. Here goes:

        Our revised starting point:  Instead of repeatedly over-analyzing macro and/or micro ingredients and playing around with formulations and percentages, we should simply accept the UN recommendations that the whole category of Ultra Processed Produce (UPPs) is deeply problematic.

       In the bigger scheme of things, reducing the sugar content of breakfast cereal by 10 per cent won't be of much help; nor will 20 or 30 per cent for that matter, particularly when it's often replaced by synthetic alternatives such as Aspartame. The biggest change to our eating habits over the last 50 years, as the world becomes progressively more Westernized, is that people rely more and more on processed, packaged goods. That is the real problem we face.

       Because this is not clearly accepted or understood, it has not been sufficiently communicated that there is also a price to pay for such convenience; an environmental cost and a personal health cost for these 'faster', less perishable foods. In the US, UPPs already represent on average 60% of the annual calorific intake - for many individuals, it's a much higher percentage - and the rest of the world is quickly playing catch up(3).
Picture
Picture

        The Idea = The Solution: I am sure managers at Food & Beverage companies do from time to time eat their own food or drink their own drinks. But what would happen if, in order to step up and become a senior manager, they needed to make one simple commitment: ...to sign up for food and drink exclusively sourced from their own product portfolio. 
        Why not? After all, company PR statements always emphasize the nutritious and positive qualities of their goods, often together with some expression of deep concern for humanity. We'd have to enforce it properly of course. If you were caught out, you'd have to leave your well-paid job:), but there again, what would be so wrong with that?

       Perhaps as a result, one of these #BigFood CEO's would then feel obliged to state clearly that the major part of your diet should come from real food and home cooking - to be supplemented occasionally by their branded foods and drinks. In itself, that would represent just a small step, but one that would already be a very big deal; because nutritional guidelines such as the Eatwell Plate do not state anywhere that you should eat ultra-processed foods only occasionally. Yet the evidence indicates that you should.  
​      
       It is my considered opinion (and supported by the UN documentation) that the most important nutrition message of all is totally missing from today's guidelines. Encouraging people to go low-fat or eat 5-a-day, even if it were a good message, is not the same as telling people that they are self-harming on too much ultra-processed food and drink.

        You're thinking that this would be too limiting for these poor food execs, aren't you? Well consider this; As a senior manager at PepsiCo, you could start the day with Aunt Jemima pancake syrup on your Quaker Oats and a glass of Tropicana OJ, snack on Lays, Walkers or Cheetos during the day, drink Gatorade, 7UP or Pepsi if you're thirsty, then dip Doritos in your Sabra hummus before dining out at Pizza Hut or KFC with whom PepsiCo has lifetime contracts.
     
       What could be so wrong with that? After all: at http://www.balanceus.org/en/, Pepsi together with Coke and Dr Pepper have "come together to support your family’s efforts to balance what you eat, drink and do". ​ But balance might have to be interpreted and expressed rather differently when faced with eating exclusively from your own ultra-processed product portfolio. You'd be receiving a strong taste of your own medicine. What do you think?
Sources: 
​(1) http://www.who.int/nutrition/decade-of-action/en/
(2) ​http://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/6/3/e009892

(3) http://www.health.com/mind-body/6-ultra-processed-foods-to-throw-out-right-now

Source for all three named companies: Website 'about us' information.
0 Comments

What is Junk Food and does it matter?

6/5/2017

0 Comments

 
​SYNOPSIS

The public debate about junk food usually comes down to a damning indictment of all foods high in calories and rich in ‘high fat, salt and sugar’, whatever type of food you find them in. The informed debate is more nuanced and often singles out the role played by sugar, whilst adding in other refined carbohydrates, cheap vegetable seed oils and food additives.

     Often an emotional topic, the quality of the debate has been recently enhanced thanks to a changed stance from the UN at the start of their Decade of Nutrition, when a food grouping known as ‘ultra-processed’ foods came sharply into focus. So are all ultra-processed foods by definition the same as junk food? And would it help if that were the case?

Click here for the full 15 minute read.

The Big Read

Picture
Picture
If you know what junk food is, you can make informed choices
​        Public opinion about junk food leaves much to the imagination and brings with it confusing contradictions. In Ireland, councils desperately trying to do the right thing when it comes to childhood obesity, issue ‘no-fry zones’ which can allow a Starbucks to set up shop near a school, while banning the Fish & Chip shop – perhaps the original fast-food outlet. In New York, whole milk gets banned in schools while low-fat chocolate flavoured milk is permitted… not to mention that the school authorities now refer to whole milk as ‘full-fat’ milk.

        Meanwhile, manufacturers tweak their recipes for processed foods such as sausage rolls in the UK, so that the well-meaning traffic light labelling system shows them in a good light (no pun intended). By reducing the meat content and substituting margarine for the butter or lard originally used in the flaky pastry, they can even position them as a healthy snack. Yet logic tells me that they are a form of junk food.

        It does not help that the phrase ‘junk food’ is often used interchangeably with ‘fast food’. Maybe that’s why politicians make reference to junk food in their fiery speeches yet never in their policy decisions. Head-nodding junk food rhetoric can fire up the emotions, but there are a lot of votes at stake if you trouble the fast-food industry - a major employee category, particularly in urban areas.
​        In this opinion piece - Yes, a Big Read - I set out to clarify what junk food really is; why it is important that we officially define it, and why the resulting labeling should be made clearly visible on packages, in restaurants and at the point of sale. I am not trying to get junk food banned, just labeled appropriately. Then when people decide to eat that piece of cake, slice of pizza or snack-bar, they will know and better understand the role it plays in their overall diet - and what it's doing to their body.

        Such labeling would bring our attention back to the importance of less processed foods, to real food ingredients, to home-cooking and provide a better platform for the re-introduction of basic cooking lessons into a school’s curriculum …until such a time as their parents re-discover what their parents don’t seem to have passed on; cooking skills and the importance of family meals.
​Extract, on the subject of ultra-processed foods:
Read the full Junk Food Story
A singular feature of NOVA is its identification of ultra-processed food and drink products. These are not modified foods, but formulations mostly of cheap industrial sources of dietary energy and nutrients plus additives, using a series of processes (hence 'ultra-processed'). All together, they are energy-dense, high in unhealthy types of fat, refined starches, free sugars and salt, and poor sources of protein, dietary fibre and micronutrients. Ultra-processed products are made to be hyper-palatable and attractive, with long shelf-life, and able to be consumed anywhere, any time. Their formulation, presentation and marketing often promote overconsumption.
Studies based on NOVA show that ultra-processed products now dominate the food supplies of various high-income countries and are increasingly pervasive in lower-middle- and upper-middle-income countries.
​The UN Decade of Nutrition at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28322183
0 Comments

    Sammy Pepys

    "FAT IS OUR FRIEND" ADVOCATES A DIET:
    LOW IN STARCH AND SUGAR, HIGH IN PROTEIN AND FAT, RICH IN TASTY VEGETABLES.

    Sammy Pepys was the pseudonym used by James Capon when writing this book. He is not a doctor or a nutritionist but has studied nutrition and holds an MPH from Edinburgh University. Over the years, he has become increasingly suspicious of today's conventional wisdom about diet and health. When it comes to what we eat, he has helped many learn to eat more healthily.

    Archives

    May 2020
    July 2019
    February 2019
    June 2018
    March 2018
    January 2018
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    February 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    July 2015

    Categories

    All
    #jerf
    #lchf
    Low-fat

    Archive
    mar 2014 - feb 2016 

    1_blog_march_2014.docx
    File Size: 546 kb
    File Type: docx
    Download File

    2_blog_april_2014.docx
    File Size: 245 kb
    File Type: docx
    Download File

    3_blog_may_2014.docx
    File Size: 642 kb
    File Type: docx
    Download File

    4_blog_june_2014.docx
    File Size: 426 kb
    File Type: docx
    Download File

    RSS Feed

Sammy Pepys was the pseudonym used by James Capon when writing this book. He is not a doctor or a nutritionist. He is concerned and increasingly suspicious of today's conventional wisdom when it comes to diet, health and the lack of progress on tackling growing rates of type-2 diabetes, obesity and related diseases.
Since then, he has advised numerous people about the benefits of low-carb diets and seen their health and energy levels rise. Weight loss is associated with this eating approach (he lost 7 kilos) but feeling good and having more energy is the main driver!
Disclaimer: The information, recipes and results mentioned on this site may not work for everyone. They do not represent medical advice and it is best to discuss any significant dietary changes with your Doctor.
  • Why fat is our friend
    • LCHF - A beginners' guide >
      • Which fats to use? >
        • More on low-fat & sat fat
        • Demon Fat
        • Fatty Facts: Omega 3 & 6
        • Eat fat, don't get fat!
        • How fat became the enemy
        • Fats, oils & LCHF
      • Diabesity & Food to avoid >
        • Resolving the Junk Food Dilemma
        • More on Diabesity
      • Red and processed meats?
      • Exercise to slim?
      • Milk. Low fat or regular?
      • Going low-carb step-by-step
      • LCHF. Who started it?
    • Overweight? Take a low-carb step
    • Wheat ain't what it used to be
    • What is a diet?
    • We are the experiment
    • Calories in equal calories out?
  • Junk Food
  • The book
    • About >
      • Recommended reading
      • Contact
  • LCHF Recipe Index
    • Breads and crackers >
      • Gluten free crispbreads
      • Einkorn Bread
      • Savoury Cheese muffins
    • Basic ingredients >
      • Chicken Stock
      • Wheat substitutes
      • Roux, Bechamel and Souffle
      • Yogurt and cream cheese
      • Make your own Ghee
      • Mayonnaise
    • From Muesli to Granola >
      • Benchmarking commercial brands
      • New York Cheesecake
    • Frying fish
    • Meat ragout >
      • Cottage Pie >
        • Comparisons
      • Chili con Carne
      • Moussaka
      • Meatballs
    • Boeuf Bourgignon
    • Italian Chicken Wrap
    • Country Pate
    • Omelettes
    • Quiche
    • Sides and dips >
      • Bacon, Water Chestnut Crisp
    • Salads >
      • Simply Salad in a Jar
      • Chopped Chicken Salad (spicy)
      • Thai inspired beef salad
      • Salade Nicoise
    • Veggies made interesting >
      • Cauliflower Rice
      • Cauliflower Mash
      • Indian style aubergine mash
      • Zucchini noodles
      • Suspiciously delicious cabbage
      • Tastier Tomatoes
    • Pizza base
    • Desserts >
      • Chia Seed Dessert
      • New York Cheesecake
  • Blog