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Millions of us will have made drastic changes to what we eat | 0:00:02 | 0:00:04 | |
because we have been told it will do us some good. | 0:00:04 | 0:00:06 | |
But some of what is recommended can be very controversial. | 0:00:06 | 0:00:09 | |
So today we will be investigating the quick fix fads that could be | 0:00:09 | 0:00:11 | |
doing us more harm than good. | 0:00:11 | 0:00:14 | |
Every day we are bombarded with conflicting information about our | 0:00:18 | 0:00:21 | |
favourite foods. | 0:00:21 | 0:00:22 | |
One minute we are told something is good for us, | 0:00:24 | 0:00:26 | |
the next it's not and we're left feeling guilty about what we're eating. | 0:00:26 | 0:00:30 | |
We've been wading through the confusion to separate the scare stories from | 0:00:33 | 0:00:37 | |
the truth so you can choose your food with confidence. | 0:00:37 | 0:00:41 | |
Hello and welcome to Food: Truth Or Scare, | 0:00:49 | 0:00:52 | |
where we go behind some of these big, | 0:00:52 | 0:00:54 | |
bold headlines to tell you whether what you can eat really can transform | 0:00:54 | 0:00:58 | |
your health or even, as in the case of one of today's films, | 0:00:58 | 0:01:01 | |
just keep you from reaching for another biscuit. | 0:01:01 | 0:01:04 | |
But what the papers don't always tell us is that lurking behind some of | 0:01:04 | 0:01:07 | |
those reports is advice that could have a long-term impact on your health | 0:01:07 | 0:01:11 | |
and if some of the critics are to be believed, could even be dangerous. | 0:01:11 | 0:01:15 | |
So if you want to know the truth about the foods and diets that the papers | 0:01:15 | 0:01:19 | |
just can't seem to make their minds up about, | 0:01:19 | 0:01:22 | |
then you are absolutely in the right place because we have everything you | 0:01:22 | 0:01:25 | |
need to know. | 0:01:25 | 0:01:26 | |
Coming up... Will completely cutting out certain foods from your diet | 0:01:28 | 0:01:31 | |
do you any good or could it be a food fad too far? | 0:01:31 | 0:01:35 | |
I just read in a clean eating book recently that a lettuce leaf makes a | 0:01:36 | 0:01:40 | |
great substitute for bread. | 0:01:40 | 0:01:42 | |
And the headlines that question everything we thought we knew about fat. | 0:01:42 | 0:01:46 | |
Could it really be true that all we've been told about eating too much is wrong? | 0:01:46 | 0:01:51 | |
The report is actually quite misleading and actually that could | 0:01:51 | 0:01:54 | |
have quite damaging and detrimental effects on public health. | 0:01:54 | 0:01:58 | |
Chris, this first film was something that in a way you and I come from | 0:02:03 | 0:02:06 | |
different sides, different points of view really. | 0:02:06 | 0:02:09 | |
We certainly do. Did you know that up to two thirds of people have | 0:02:09 | 0:02:12 | |
considered cutting out entire food groups from their diet because they | 0:02:12 | 0:02:16 | |
think it will be good for them? That is more often than not dairy and | 0:02:16 | 0:02:19 | |
gluten, which my wife, who is a coeliac, cannot have at all. | 0:02:19 | 0:02:22 | |
But you have had to do something similar, haven't you? | 0:02:22 | 0:02:25 | |
I did. I actually quite by accident found out that I was classified as | 0:02:25 | 0:02:27 | |
prediabetic and so I was advised by this top doctor that I should really | 0:02:27 | 0:02:34 | |
cut out sugar, but he said you have got to cut out carbs as well. | 0:02:34 | 0:02:37 | |
So by cutting out carbs as well as sugar it meant that I avoided being | 0:02:37 | 0:02:41 | |
a type 2 diabetic and I lost 2st in weight. | 0:02:41 | 0:02:44 | |
Well, that's absolutely fine. | 0:02:44 | 0:02:45 | |
It's one thing cutting something out on clear medical advice and it's | 0:02:45 | 0:02:49 | |
quite another to do it for lifestyle reasons, and however popular cutting | 0:02:49 | 0:02:53 | |
out entire food groups seems to be in headlines like this one, | 0:02:53 | 0:02:56 | |
some reports say | 0:02:56 | 0:02:57 | |
it might not actually be that good for us after all. | 0:02:57 | 0:03:01 | |
So I set out whether to see whether exclusion diets are a short cut to good | 0:03:01 | 0:03:05 | |
health or a short-lived fad that could lead to long-term problems. | 0:03:05 | 0:03:09 | |
For years the papers have loved to tell us how to eat better, | 0:03:11 | 0:03:14 | |
but it seems the days of just cutting down on the bad things are long gone. | 0:03:14 | 0:03:18 | |
Now we are being told to cut some foods out of our diets altogether. | 0:03:18 | 0:03:22 | |
Whether it's dropping gluten, wheat, dairy, sugar or carbs, | 0:03:22 | 0:03:26 | |
we are told that so-called exclusion diets can apparently do everything | 0:03:26 | 0:03:30 | |
from help you to lose weight, | 0:03:30 | 0:03:32 | |
boost your energy, and even protect against conditions like diabetes. | 0:03:32 | 0:03:36 | |
But the same papers that appear to love them aren't shy about giving them | 0:03:36 | 0:03:40 | |
a bashing too. | 0:03:40 | 0:03:41 | |
And I have to say it's going to take quite a lot to convince me that these | 0:03:43 | 0:03:46 | |
diets are a good idea because I've got personal experience of what it's | 0:03:46 | 0:03:50 | |
like for someone who has no choice but to avoid gluten. | 0:03:50 | 0:03:53 | |
Now, my wife is a coeliac, | 0:03:54 | 0:03:56 | |
so I know how hard it is when you are trying to cut out certain food | 0:03:56 | 0:03:59 | |
groups. Why anyone would want to do it voluntarily is beyond me. | 0:03:59 | 0:04:03 | |
But Rebecca Hudson from Woking thinks she has got plenty of reasons to | 0:04:03 | 0:04:07 | |
exclude gluten from her diet too. | 0:04:07 | 0:04:09 | |
I can get quite bloated sometimes and I get quite tired and lethargic and | 0:04:10 | 0:04:15 | |
I can get like a few outbreaks of spots and things. | 0:04:15 | 0:04:17 | |
I've decided to give up gluten because I think it would be interesting to | 0:04:17 | 0:04:22 | |
see if some of my symptoms go. | 0:04:22 | 0:04:24 | |
From what she's read Rebecca thinks going gluten free really could help, | 0:04:26 | 0:04:30 | |
so she is going to try it for a month. | 0:04:30 | 0:04:32 | |
And for a bit of moral support | 0:04:32 | 0:04:34 | |
she is calling on her boyfriend and school sports coach, John, who will | 0:04:34 | 0:04:39 | |
be trying out an exclusion diet too. | 0:04:39 | 0:04:41 | |
He will be giving up dairy for a month because he wants to cut down his | 0:04:41 | 0:04:44 | |
body fat and improve how he feels. | 0:04:44 | 0:04:46 | |
Recently just reading newspapers I read that some people do it to clean | 0:04:49 | 0:04:52 | |
out their body and say, "Right, let's try something else." | 0:04:52 | 0:04:55 | |
That's what I believe, but it could be completely wrong. | 0:04:55 | 0:04:57 | |
Before they have to give up any of the foods they love | 0:05:00 | 0:05:03 | |
the couple have invited Rebecca's twin sister Natasha around for a last supper. | 0:05:03 | 0:05:09 | |
So, who do you think is going to find it harder out of the two of you? | 0:05:09 | 0:05:13 | |
-John. -Yeah, I think John. | 0:05:14 | 0:05:16 | |
Rebecca and John aren't alone in trying something like this. | 0:05:18 | 0:05:21 | |
In fact, it's been estimated that four in ten of us are now following | 0:05:21 | 0:05:25 | |
a specialist diet | 0:05:25 | 0:05:26 | |
and that includes those who have cut entire food groups to help lose | 0:05:26 | 0:05:30 | |
weight or even make them feel better. | 0:05:30 | 0:05:32 | |
But dietician Dimple Thakrar thinks it is a food fad that could actually | 0:05:34 | 0:05:37 | |
be dangerous for our health. | 0:05:37 | 0:05:39 | |
So, people are choosing to cut dairy or gluten. | 0:05:40 | 0:05:45 | |
-Yeah. -Why are you not recommending people do this? | 0:05:45 | 0:05:48 | |
OK, so for example gluten. | 0:05:48 | 0:05:51 | |
Gluten is contained in wheat and bread. | 0:05:51 | 0:05:55 | |
If we remove those foods from our diet and not replacing them, | 0:05:55 | 0:06:00 | |
we are actually removing a really good source of starch carbohydrates. | 0:06:00 | 0:06:05 | |
You're reducing your energy intake. | 0:06:05 | 0:06:07 | |
A good source of B vitamins, of iron, of calcium. | 0:06:07 | 0:06:12 | |
Dairy, again, a good source of protein, a good source of calcium. | 0:06:12 | 0:06:17 | |
So, again, removing those you could become deficient in them. | 0:06:17 | 0:06:20 | |
'The potential side effects could be so serious that the British Dietetic | 0:06:20 | 0:06:24 | |
'Association says that anyone wanting to do an exclusion diet should seek | 0:06:24 | 0:06:28 | |
'professional advice first.' | 0:06:28 | 0:06:30 | |
Unless you've been tested and diagnosed by a medical professional and then | 0:06:31 | 0:06:37 | |
supported with a dietician, we wouldn't recommend exclusion diets. | 0:06:37 | 0:06:43 | |
However, if you choose to do that for lifestyle reasons, | 0:06:43 | 0:06:47 | |
it is really important that you seek the support of a dietician. | 0:06:47 | 0:06:53 | |
While Dimple takes a dim view of exclusion diets, | 0:06:53 | 0:06:56 | |
other experts are less critical. | 0:06:56 | 0:06:58 | |
Nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston says some of her clients do say they | 0:06:58 | 0:07:03 | |
feel better after excluding certain foods, | 0:07:03 | 0:07:06 | |
so we asked her to help Rebecca and John through their month-long | 0:07:06 | 0:07:09 | |
experiment. She is paying the couple and Natasha a visit for a pre-diet checkup. | 0:07:09 | 0:07:14 | |
So, how has dinner been going? | 0:07:14 | 0:07:16 | |
To see whether the diets do have the positive effects that Rebecca and | 0:07:16 | 0:07:19 | |
John are hoping, Yvonne is getting them to rate out of ten how | 0:07:19 | 0:07:23 | |
they feel now, and she will do the same at the end of the experiment. | 0:07:23 | 0:07:26 | |
First, marks for how tired they feel, with one being not at all and ten | 0:07:27 | 0:07:31 | |
being exhausted. | 0:07:31 | 0:07:33 | |
Are you able to give that a number? | 0:07:33 | 0:07:36 | |
-Four. -Thank you. What about you? | 0:07:36 | 0:07:38 | |
When it gets to mid morning I'm like, "I'm really tired". | 0:07:38 | 0:07:41 | |
And if I'm here I really want a nap and sometimes I do. | 0:07:41 | 0:07:44 | |
So Rebecca gives her tiredness levels as seven, | 0:07:44 | 0:07:47 | |
but both she and John say their biggest concern is with their digestion. | 0:07:47 | 0:07:51 | |
Rebecca, what would you say are your key digestive symptoms? | 0:07:52 | 0:07:55 | |
Sometimes I can just get quite bloated. | 0:07:55 | 0:07:57 | |
Sometimes I go to bed and I'll be like, "I feel really full". | 0:07:57 | 0:08:00 | |
What about you, John? There were a few things that you marked down | 0:08:00 | 0:08:03 | |
on your digestive system. Now, this is not a competition. | 0:08:03 | 0:08:06 | |
-I know. -You don't have to beat her numbers. | 0:08:06 | 0:08:08 | |
It is a competition. | 0:08:08 | 0:08:09 | |
THEY LAUGH | 0:08:09 | 0:08:11 | |
Rebecca gives herself a six for bloatedness and John gives himself a seven. | 0:08:11 | 0:08:16 | |
He also rates his digestive troubles a three, | 0:08:16 | 0:08:19 | |
but Rebecca has other ideas. | 0:08:19 | 0:08:21 | |
-That is... -Gassy. | 0:08:23 | 0:08:24 | |
LAUGHTER | 0:08:24 | 0:08:27 | |
Should we ask? Should we put gas, as reported by Rebecca? | 0:08:27 | 0:08:31 | |
It's bad, it's like a seven. | 0:08:31 | 0:08:34 | |
John's greatest hope for the diet is that he will lose some body fat. | 0:08:34 | 0:08:38 | |
83.4. | 0:08:38 | 0:08:40 | |
So Yvonne takes a whole range of other measurements... | 0:08:40 | 0:08:42 | |
Suck in. | 0:08:44 | 0:08:45 | |
So, I've got some food diaries here for you. | 0:08:47 | 0:08:50 | |
..before leaving them, | 0:08:50 | 0:08:51 | |
ready to start their month-long diets the next morning. | 0:08:51 | 0:08:55 | |
It will be really interesting to come back to these scores, | 0:08:55 | 0:08:58 | |
-back to these symptoms, in a month's time, and see if we've found any changes. -Yeah, excited. | 0:08:58 | 0:09:02 | |
Yvonne will keep an eye on the couple's diets over the next | 0:09:02 | 0:09:06 | |
month and is optimistic they could both feel healthier. | 0:09:06 | 0:09:10 | |
I am expecting if gluten is an issue for Rebecca to see a change in her | 0:09:11 | 0:09:16 | |
waist. Not her level of body fat, but her level of bloating. | 0:09:16 | 0:09:20 | |
I think with John it's going to be harder to work out whether it's made | 0:09:20 | 0:09:22 | |
a difference or not. He is interested in looking at a change in body fat | 0:09:22 | 0:09:25 | |
percentage, but his body fat percentage is already really good. | 0:09:25 | 0:09:28 | |
Yvonne will be back in four weeks' time to see how they got on. | 0:09:28 | 0:09:32 | |
But according to some headlines Rebecca and John could end up less healthy, | 0:09:32 | 0:09:36 | |
depending on the foods they choose to replace all that gluten and dairy | 0:09:36 | 0:09:40 | |
they would otherwise be eating. | 0:09:40 | 0:09:42 | |
For someone with coeliac disease, like my wife, | 0:09:42 | 0:09:44 | |
there is no option but to go gluten free. | 0:09:44 | 0:09:47 | |
But while only one in every 100 people are coeliac, | 0:09:47 | 0:09:50 | |
one in five have bought or eaten gluten-free products and they have done it | 0:09:50 | 0:09:55 | |
mainly because they believe that gluten may be bad for them, | 0:09:55 | 0:09:59 | |
'and though that means more choice, | 0:09:59 | 0:10:00 | |
'dietician Dimple Thakrar says not everything available will be as healthy | 0:10:00 | 0:10:05 | |
'as it might appear.' | 0:10:05 | 0:10:06 | |
-So, my wife's a coeliac, so she can't eat gluten. -Yeah. | 0:10:06 | 0:10:10 | |
I've noticed that the "free from" range of products available has grown | 0:10:10 | 0:10:15 | |
-exponentially. -Yes. -How do you think they stack up? | 0:10:15 | 0:10:19 | |
If we look at the fat content, | 0:10:19 | 0:10:21 | |
there's probably two to three times more fat in the gluten-free bread | 0:10:21 | 0:10:24 | |
than there is in a normal slice of bread. | 0:10:24 | 0:10:28 | |
-So... -So people... Some people, | 0:10:28 | 0:10:30 | |
-could be cutting out gluten... -And thinking they are doing the right thing... | 0:10:30 | 0:10:34 | |
Whereas actually they could be increasing their fat. | 0:10:34 | 0:10:37 | |
And therefore increasing their risk of heart disease and weight gain. | 0:10:37 | 0:10:41 | |
Back in Woking, | 0:10:42 | 0:10:43 | |
John and Rebecca are getting to grips with the reality of their exclusion diet. | 0:10:43 | 0:10:48 | |
John has cut dairy and Rebecca has cut gluten. | 0:10:48 | 0:10:50 | |
But as their video diaries show, things aren't as easy as they'd hoped. | 0:10:50 | 0:10:54 | |
So I'm feeling pretty annoyed today | 0:10:54 | 0:10:56 | |
and it's all because of coffee shops. | 0:10:56 | 0:10:58 | |
They don't really have many options | 0:10:58 | 0:11:01 | |
at all available to anyone that is | 0:11:01 | 0:11:03 | |
"free from". | 0:11:03 | 0:11:05 | |
Pastries, butter in the sandwiches, | 0:11:05 | 0:11:08 | |
just dairy in everything. | 0:11:08 | 0:11:11 | |
I went to a cafe with some friends we all got | 0:11:11 | 0:11:14 | |
bacon rolls. My little | 0:11:14 | 0:11:15 | |
gluten-free roll was half the size and I had to pay more for it. | 0:11:15 | 0:11:21 | |
Blooming ridiculous. | 0:11:21 | 0:11:22 | |
I did have to steal a few tomatoes off the cocktail sticks and a few | 0:11:22 | 0:11:25 | |
lettuce leaves. But that was that it. | 0:11:25 | 0:11:27 | |
I kind of felt a bit like a rabbit. | 0:11:27 | 0:11:28 | |
Well, later in the programme we'll see if things got any easier for John | 0:11:28 | 0:11:32 | |
and Rebecca and if, after a month, | 0:11:32 | 0:11:34 | |
their exclusion diets have made any difference whatsoever to how they feel. | 0:11:34 | 0:11:39 | |
Now, excluding whole food groups from your diet is one way that lots of | 0:11:46 | 0:11:49 | |
people are choosing to lose weight. | 0:11:49 | 0:11:51 | |
But if that's a bit extreme and you'd prefer just to cut down, | 0:11:51 | 0:11:55 | |
rather than cutting something out completely then you might go for one of | 0:11:55 | 0:11:58 | |
the more tried and tested ways to lose weight. | 0:11:58 | 0:12:00 | |
So, for example, Chris, if you decide to lose weight, | 0:12:00 | 0:12:03 | |
not that you need to, of course, how would you choose to do it? | 0:12:03 | 0:12:05 | |
Oh, I don't know. Low fat foods, I suppose. | 0:12:07 | 0:12:08 | |
-Why low-fat? -Low-fat foods help you lose weight, don't they? | 0:12:08 | 0:12:11 | |
You see, that's what we've always been told, | 0:12:12 | 0:12:15 | |
but I've been on the trail of the story that said exactly the opposite | 0:12:15 | 0:12:19 | |
and told us to forget everything we thought we knew about weight loss. | 0:12:19 | 0:12:22 | |
For decades fat, particularly saturated fat, | 0:12:25 | 0:12:29 | |
has been public health enemy number one, | 0:12:29 | 0:12:31 | |
as indeed so many of us are aware. | 0:12:31 | 0:12:33 | |
It's going to clog your arteries up sooner or later if you keep eating saturated fat. | 0:12:33 | 0:12:38 | |
Well, every time I've joined Weight Watchers I've been told to eat less | 0:12:38 | 0:12:42 | |
saturated fat. | 0:12:42 | 0:12:43 | |
Saturated fats, you have to get them in there because it's part of your | 0:12:43 | 0:12:46 | |
diet, but too much I don't think would be right for you. | 0:12:46 | 0:12:48 | |
We've reported on the confusion around the role of saturated fat | 0:12:50 | 0:12:53 | |
in our diet before. But last spring, | 0:12:53 | 0:12:56 | |
it looked like decades of official advice had been overturned when a | 0:12:56 | 0:13:00 | |
raft of new headlines suddenly announced that, | 0:13:00 | 0:13:02 | |
far from being the enemy we'd long been told it was, | 0:13:02 | 0:13:06 | |
that fat could be a friend for anyone trying to slim down. | 0:13:06 | 0:13:10 | |
Unsurprisingly, such a unexpected and controversial message | 0:13:10 | 0:13:14 | |
made a very big splash in the papers. | 0:13:14 | 0:13:16 | |
Now, many, many newspapers reported roughly the same thing. | 0:13:16 | 0:13:21 | |
They had rather similar headlines, | 0:13:21 | 0:13:23 | |
and all of them saying that this particular study or report says that all of | 0:13:23 | 0:13:28 | |
the traditional views we have had of trying to lose weight in the past are wrong, | 0:13:28 | 0:13:32 | |
and what we should be doing instead of swapping high-fat foods for | 0:13:32 | 0:13:36 | |
low-fat foods, it should be the other way round. | 0:13:36 | 0:13:39 | |
We should be eating a lot of high-fat foods, even saturated fats. | 0:13:39 | 0:13:44 | |
Now, while it might sound extraordinary, | 0:13:46 | 0:13:48 | |
the report the headlines were based on came from some members of the | 0:13:48 | 0:13:51 | |
health charity the National Obesity Forum. | 0:13:51 | 0:13:54 | |
And it said the Government's advice to reduce the amount of saturated fat | 0:13:54 | 0:13:58 | |
we eat to help control our weight and avoid conditions like heart disease | 0:13:58 | 0:14:02 | |
was wrong. | 0:14:02 | 0:14:03 | |
It's such a big sort of wide subject, isn't it? | 0:14:05 | 0:14:07 | |
Trudi Deakin is one of the authors of the report. | 0:14:08 | 0:14:11 | |
She says when the nation turned to low-fat foods we replaced the fat with | 0:14:11 | 0:14:15 | |
carbohydrates and sugar and, as far as she is concerned, | 0:14:15 | 0:14:19 | |
far from helping us to lose weight that's contributed to the highest levels | 0:14:19 | 0:14:23 | |
of obesity ever. | 0:14:23 | 0:14:24 | |
So, Trudi, practically as far as I can remember back, | 0:14:27 | 0:14:29 | |
the message has always been no fat, low fat, light everything. | 0:14:29 | 0:14:34 | |
We live in a fat-phobic nation, don't we? | 0:14:34 | 0:14:37 | |
And the science came out in the 1950s and 1960s | 0:14:37 | 0:14:41 | |
and it was bad science, | 0:14:41 | 0:14:43 | |
unfortunately. And at that time there was not one clinical trial | 0:14:43 | 0:14:49 | |
that showed that reducing total fat | 0:14:49 | 0:14:54 | |
and reducing saturated fat in the diet | 0:14:54 | 0:14:56 | |
would improve health outcomes at all. | 0:14:56 | 0:14:59 | |
While Trudi might consider it bad science, | 0:15:00 | 0:15:03 | |
those studies were the basis for the Government's first official | 0:15:03 | 0:15:06 | |
guidelines for what we should eat, published in 1983. | 0:15:06 | 0:15:10 | |
But Trudi doesn't think they've had the intended effect on the nation's health. | 0:15:10 | 0:15:15 | |
When the dietary guidelines were published in 1983, | 0:15:15 | 0:15:20 | |
then the prevalence of diabetes was 1.4%, it's now 6%. | 0:15:20 | 0:15:24 | |
-Wow. -Prevalence of obesity was 6% - 8%, it is now 25%. | 0:15:24 | 0:15:31 | |
-That's scary, isn't it? -So two thirds of the population were overweight. | 0:15:31 | 0:15:34 | |
So people don't get up in the morning and say, | 0:15:34 | 0:15:38 | |
"I want to get fat," but they are following the guidelines and they're | 0:15:38 | 0:15:42 | |
having a low-fat, high carbohydrate diet and it's not working. | 0:15:42 | 0:15:46 | |
Eating fat doesn't make you fat. | 0:15:46 | 0:15:49 | |
'Instead, Trudi says it's a combination of carbohydrates and processed fats | 0:15:49 | 0:15:54 | |
'that lead to obesity.' | 0:15:54 | 0:15:55 | |
So, where do you stand on what's good fat and what's really bad fat? | 0:15:56 | 0:15:59 | |
The healthy fats are the natural fats. | 0:15:59 | 0:16:02 | |
So avoid the fake foods, avoid the junk foods, avoid the processed foods, | 0:16:02 | 0:16:07 | |
let's kind of base our meals on real foods. | 0:16:07 | 0:16:10 | |
Oily fish, butter, lard. | 0:16:10 | 0:16:13 | |
If you turn around and look at the ingredients of butter, | 0:16:13 | 0:16:16 | |
you will see buttermilk. | 0:16:16 | 0:16:18 | |
If you pick up a low-fat spread and look at the ingredients, | 0:16:18 | 0:16:22 | |
how long are they? I mean, they're really long, | 0:16:22 | 0:16:24 | |
full of processed and artificial ingredients. | 0:16:24 | 0:16:27 | |
'And while I can see that that makes sense,' | 0:16:27 | 0:16:30 | |
I worry that headlines declaring that fat is good go against everything we've | 0:16:30 | 0:16:35 | |
been told, not least because four years ago my husband, Stephen, | 0:16:35 | 0:16:38 | |
had a small heart attack, | 0:16:38 | 0:16:40 | |
and most experts would agree that saturated fat | 0:16:40 | 0:16:43 | |
is one of the causes of heart disease. | 0:16:43 | 0:16:45 | |
'But Trudi stands by her report.' | 0:16:45 | 0:16:48 | |
I don't mean this unkindly, but are you right? | 0:16:48 | 0:16:51 | |
Absolutely, yes. | 0:16:51 | 0:16:52 | |
I mean, the evidence is there. | 0:16:52 | 0:16:54 | |
Last year a systematic review was published on this very subject and what | 0:16:54 | 0:16:59 | |
they concluded is that reducing saturated fat in the diet does not reduce | 0:16:59 | 0:17:05 | |
cardiovascular disease or heart attacks and does not reduce strokes and | 0:17:05 | 0:17:10 | |
does not reduce diabetes diagnoses. | 0:17:10 | 0:17:12 | |
'I have to say, I find some parts of Trudi's argument quite convincing' | 0:17:14 | 0:17:18 | |
but I can't shake all that long-standing medical advice about | 0:17:18 | 0:17:22 | |
saturated fat and its link to heart disease. | 0:17:22 | 0:17:25 | |
So I can understand why, when the study hit the papers last year, | 0:17:25 | 0:17:29 | |
it was met with huge criticism, | 0:17:29 | 0:17:31 | |
not least from the Government body responsible for protecting the nation's health. | 0:17:31 | 0:17:36 | |
'Dr Alison Tedstone is chief nutritionist for Public Health England.' | 0:17:36 | 0:17:41 | |
Well, Alison, presumably you've had a look at this report. | 0:17:41 | 0:17:43 | |
-Yes. -And what's your immediate reaction to it? | 0:17:43 | 0:17:45 | |
Well, it's an opinion piece. | 0:17:45 | 0:17:47 | |
It's setting out the opinion of individuals and they've chosen studies to | 0:17:47 | 0:17:51 | |
illustrate their opinion. | 0:17:51 | 0:17:52 | |
So it's not a complete assessment of the evidence. | 0:17:52 | 0:17:55 | |
Do you think it's irresponsible? | 0:17:55 | 0:17:57 | |
Yes, we do think it's irresponsible. | 0:17:57 | 0:17:59 | |
There is evidence to show if you increase your saturated fat intake | 0:17:59 | 0:18:03 | |
you increase your blood levels of cholesterol and that will increase your risk | 0:18:03 | 0:18:06 | |
of having a heart attack. | 0:18:06 | 0:18:07 | |
Do you subscribe to the fact that there are any good fats? | 0:18:07 | 0:18:10 | |
The advice is as it is for now and that is that all saturated fats | 0:18:10 | 0:18:15 | |
should be lower within the diet. | 0:18:15 | 0:18:17 | |
When you're choosing dairy products, for example, | 0:18:17 | 0:18:19 | |
choose lower fat dairy products, don't choose full fat, | 0:18:19 | 0:18:23 | |
go for the lower fat products. | 0:18:23 | 0:18:26 | |
And there are many who share Alison's concerns about the National Obesity Forum report, | 0:18:26 | 0:18:30 | |
pointing to what appears to be overwhelming evidence that | 0:18:30 | 0:18:34 | |
saturated fats in particular are very bad for us. | 0:18:34 | 0:18:37 | |
So, the report is actually quite misleading | 0:18:39 | 0:18:41 | |
and actually that could have | 0:18:41 | 0:18:43 | |
quite damaging and detrimental effects on public health. | 0:18:43 | 0:18:45 | |
So it's not something I would recommend. | 0:18:45 | 0:18:48 | |
Many years of research and also very recent research published in November 2016 | 0:18:48 | 0:18:54 | |
has linked saturated fat with a higher risk of heart disease. | 0:18:54 | 0:19:00 | |
'And while Trudi might say the Government's decades of nutritional advice | 0:19:00 | 0:19:04 | |
'is one of the contributing factors for record levels of obesity and' | 0:19:04 | 0:19:08 | |
type 2 diabetes, Charlotte believes that is unfair because very few of us | 0:19:08 | 0:19:13 | |
actually follow that advice. | 0:19:13 | 0:19:15 | |
I think it's important for the public to be aware that actually only about | 0:19:15 | 0:19:19 | |
1% of the population actually adheres to our current dietary recommendations. | 0:19:19 | 0:19:24 | |
So if you look at the fact that around 60% of adults are overweight | 0:19:24 | 0:19:29 | |
or obese and only 1% of people are following the dietary guidelines, | 0:19:29 | 0:19:34 | |
it doesn't really make sense that they are causing overweight and obesity. | 0:19:34 | 0:19:39 | |
Well, with both sides arguing their evidence is the most convincing, | 0:19:39 | 0:19:43 | |
clearly this is a disagreement set to rage on and on. | 0:19:43 | 0:19:47 | |
And unless the rest of us study in detail what they are really saying | 0:19:47 | 0:19:51 | |
it's all too easy to latch onto just one part of the argument, | 0:19:51 | 0:19:55 | |
as perhaps was the case with how the papers reacted to this particular report. | 0:19:55 | 0:19:59 | |
The newspaper will take this document and it will go, "Eat fat, | 0:20:01 | 0:20:05 | |
"get thin," and that's what the public look at. | 0:20:05 | 0:20:07 | |
It has to start somewhere. | 0:20:07 | 0:20:09 | |
It's not easy, but what else can we do? | 0:20:09 | 0:20:12 | |
Ignore the evidence? | 0:20:12 | 0:20:14 | |
But as far as Alison is concerned, the evidence Trudi is pointing to simply | 0:20:14 | 0:20:18 | |
-doesn't stand up. -It's quite difficult. | 0:20:18 | 0:20:21 | |
We could spend the whole of Public Health England's resources on talking | 0:20:21 | 0:20:25 | |
about articles that come up within the press, and we do what we can, | 0:20:25 | 0:20:29 | |
but we also have a job to do, to check the evidence is correct and so on | 0:20:29 | 0:20:33 | |
and so forth. I think the full dietary advice has changed. | 0:20:33 | 0:20:36 | |
It's very important that evidence is looked at in a rounded and consistent and | 0:20:36 | 0:20:41 | |
scientific way. | 0:20:41 | 0:20:43 | |
So the official advice that we should cut down on fats remains the same. | 0:20:43 | 0:20:48 | |
And in the meantime, perhaps the most worrying factor in all of this is how | 0:20:48 | 0:20:51 | |
easy it might be for people to take an oversimplified message from a bold headline | 0:20:51 | 0:20:56 | |
claiming that you can "eat fat to get thin". | 0:20:56 | 0:20:59 | |
Still to come, we'll find out if our volunteers Rebecca and John feel any | 0:21:06 | 0:21:10 | |
different after a month of cutting certain foods from their diet. | 0:21:10 | 0:21:14 | |
I was in a town the other day and I went to three cafes, | 0:21:15 | 0:21:17 | |
and no-one could feed me. | 0:21:17 | 0:21:19 | |
Now, Gloria, whatever the theory is about either healthy eating or diets, | 0:21:24 | 0:21:28 | |
there's one thing that for many of us stands in the way, | 0:21:28 | 0:21:30 | |
and that's our appetites, isn't it? | 0:21:30 | 0:21:32 | |
We've all had those days, haven't we, | 0:21:32 | 0:21:34 | |
no matter how much you eat you never quite feel full, | 0:21:34 | 0:21:36 | |
and when one or two biscuits quickly becomes the packet? | 0:21:36 | 0:21:39 | |
I've been there myself, I have to tell you. | 0:21:39 | 0:21:41 | |
And sometimes I'm filming all day and there is no food available, | 0:21:41 | 0:21:44 | |
and at times I get so hungry that I could eat the table or those papers or | 0:21:44 | 0:21:49 | |
anything at all just to get something. | 0:21:49 | 0:21:51 | |
If you could refrain from eating the table and papers till the | 0:21:51 | 0:21:53 | |
-end of the show... -I'll do my best. | 0:21:53 | 0:21:55 | |
..that would be fantastic. | 0:21:55 | 0:21:56 | |
Well, Paralympian Danny Crates is another one who just can't say no when | 0:21:56 | 0:22:01 | |
it comes to certain foods, | 0:22:01 | 0:22:02 | |
so we sent Danny to see if he could find an off switch for his appetite. | 0:22:02 | 0:22:06 | |
'This is one of my favourite rooms in the house. | 0:22:10 | 0:22:12 | |
'I'm always cooking, snacking and nibbling on something as I cook.' | 0:22:12 | 0:22:17 | |
Just testing! | 0:22:17 | 0:22:18 | |
'All my life I've had what you might call a big appetite. | 0:22:18 | 0:22:22 | |
'As a kid, I used to steal whole packets of biscuits from the kitchen | 0:22:22 | 0:22:25 | |
'cupboards, and these days, when I finish my dinner, | 0:22:25 | 0:22:28 | |
'I'll hoover up anything left on the kids' plates.' | 0:22:28 | 0:22:31 | |
-Do you know what? -What? | 0:22:32 | 0:22:34 | |
Because I only had a little bowl I might have to have a little bit more. | 0:22:34 | 0:22:37 | |
'I have a constant appetite, and it doesn't go unnoticed in my house.' | 0:22:37 | 0:22:41 | |
At night-time he sneaks in some cheese and crackers | 0:22:41 | 0:22:46 | |
and oranges, but we know - whenever we come down, | 0:22:46 | 0:22:48 | |
he leaves it all over the floor. | 0:22:48 | 0:22:51 | |
-Hello! -Just a little bit extra. | 0:22:52 | 0:22:54 | |
'I want to know what controls my appetite and whether anything is going to | 0:22:56 | 0:22:59 | |
'stop me finishing off my kids' leftovers, | 0:22:59 | 0:23:02 | |
'because even when I'm full I just keep on going.' | 0:23:02 | 0:23:04 | |
For me, just like my boys, there's some foods I can't resist, | 0:23:07 | 0:23:11 | |
even when I've had a massive meal. | 0:23:11 | 0:23:14 | |
I know I don't need to eat any more but I can always find a little bit of room. | 0:23:14 | 0:23:17 | |
And apparently, I'm not the only one who's affected by this. | 0:23:17 | 0:23:21 | |
'Last autumn, this headline hit the papers, and it confirmed everything | 0:23:23 | 0:23:27 | |
'I've always suspected. | 0:23:27 | 0:23:29 | |
'Even when it feels like there's no room left in our stomachs, | 0:23:29 | 0:23:32 | |
'lots of us can always sneak in an extra treat. | 0:23:32 | 0:23:36 | |
'The man who was behind the study being reported is Dr Bernard Corfe, | 0:23:36 | 0:23:40 | |
'who says that our brains find it | 0:23:40 | 0:23:42 | |
'all too tempting to override our stomachs.' | 0:23:42 | 0:23:45 | |
I don't seem to ever be able to stop eating. | 0:23:45 | 0:23:48 | |
Is there any reason for that? | 0:23:48 | 0:23:50 | |
Appetite is only part of the equation. | 0:23:50 | 0:23:51 | |
There's all sorts of overrides that come from being presented with our | 0:23:51 | 0:23:55 | |
favourite foods, even the smell of food or the thought of food, | 0:23:55 | 0:23:58 | |
or being in a social setting and eating together. | 0:23:58 | 0:24:01 | |
If you're amongst people who are continuing to eat you will continue to | 0:24:01 | 0:24:05 | |
eat, too. So there's all sorts of | 0:24:05 | 0:24:06 | |
overrides that come from your environment. | 0:24:06 | 0:24:08 | |
'And those overrides can be anything from how tired we're | 0:24:08 | 0:24:11 | |
'feeling to how happy we are. | 0:24:11 | 0:24:13 | |
'It can also be about where we are or who we're with or simply just how much we | 0:24:13 | 0:24:18 | |
'love the taste of the food in front of us. | 0:24:18 | 0:24:21 | |
'Bernard says willpower can help overcome those temptations. | 0:24:21 | 0:24:25 | |
'But, as I know all too well, that isn't easy.' | 0:24:25 | 0:24:28 | |
Obviously, some people are much better at saying no than others. | 0:24:28 | 0:24:31 | |
Is there a quick fix for those that can't say no? | 0:24:31 | 0:24:34 | |
There are some people who are cutter-downers, | 0:24:34 | 0:24:36 | |
and there are some people who are cutter-outers. | 0:24:36 | 0:24:38 | |
And I know, for me, if I open a packet of biscuits the whole lot goes, | 0:24:38 | 0:24:41 | |
but I can stop myself opening the packet of biscuits in the first place. | 0:24:41 | 0:24:44 | |
And so, knowing yourself, | 0:24:44 | 0:24:46 | |
knowing whether you're better just to avoid getting started helps you to | 0:24:46 | 0:24:49 | |
sort of get a sense of what's going to work for you as an individual. | 0:24:49 | 0:24:53 | |
'But in my house, temptation is everywhere.' | 0:24:53 | 0:24:56 | |
So I guess hoovering up my children's leftovers is bad? | 0:24:56 | 0:24:59 | |
I've been there. | 0:24:59 | 0:25:01 | |
There is definitely calories in children's leftovers. | 0:25:01 | 0:25:03 | |
'So it seems that controlling my appetite's off switch is not going to be | 0:25:03 | 0:25:07 | |
'as simple as I first thought. | 0:25:07 | 0:25:09 | |
'But all is not lost, | 0:25:09 | 0:25:10 | |
'because according to dietician Linia Patel I'm far less likely to overeat | 0:25:10 | 0:25:14 | |
'after meals if I eat foods that | 0:25:14 | 0:25:16 | |
'will properly fill me up in the first place.' | 0:25:16 | 0:25:18 | |
We need to look at the type of foods you're eating. | 0:25:18 | 0:25:22 | |
The first thing that you need to do to help you fill up, | 0:25:22 | 0:25:24 | |
you need to put lots of fibre on your plate. | 0:25:24 | 0:25:26 | |
So, fibre would be things like vegetables and fruit or even beans. | 0:25:26 | 0:25:30 | |
So what you might do is when you cook your next Bolognese is actually chop up | 0:25:30 | 0:25:33 | |
lots of carrots and celery and mushrooms and peppers and also put | 0:25:33 | 0:25:37 | |
a can of beans in there, because that fills you up instantly. | 0:25:37 | 0:25:41 | |
Then you need to make sure you've | 0:25:41 | 0:25:42 | |
got enough protein, because that keeps you fuller for longer. | 0:25:42 | 0:25:45 | |
'So to test out whether Linia's right | 0:25:45 | 0:25:47 | |
'and feeling full with the right foods CAN help overcome temptation, | 0:25:47 | 0:25:51 | |
'I've recruited two self-confessed big eaters, | 0:25:51 | 0:25:54 | |
'Rick and Mark from Basingstoke, who, like me, | 0:25:54 | 0:25:57 | |
'can't resist tucking into more than they need.' | 0:25:57 | 0:26:01 | |
Crisps are a big vice for me. | 0:26:01 | 0:26:03 | |
I've got a real savoury tooth, so I really, really like crisps, | 0:26:03 | 0:26:07 | |
so once I start picking I usually can't stop. | 0:26:07 | 0:26:09 | |
Chocolate's my vice. So that's the unhealthy side of things. | 0:26:09 | 0:26:14 | |
'He's probably a bit more...he's more of a grazer with those type of things,' | 0:26:14 | 0:26:18 | |
whereas I tend to sort of binge-eat crisps. | 0:26:18 | 0:26:20 | |
So we sort of... complement each other like that. | 0:26:20 | 0:26:23 | |
'To see if they're reaching for snacks out of habit, | 0:26:25 | 0:26:28 | |
'because they can't resist temptation or because the rest of their diet | 0:26:28 | 0:26:32 | |
'isn't filling them up, Linia's going to analyse what they eat, | 0:26:32 | 0:26:35 | |
'and for the last week Rick and Mark have each been keeping a food diary.' | 0:26:35 | 0:26:39 | |
So, Linia, the food diaries are in, Richard and Mark's. | 0:26:41 | 0:26:44 | |
-Yeah. -We'll look at Richard's first. Is there anything glaringly | 0:26:44 | 0:26:47 | |
obvious to you? | 0:26:47 | 0:26:48 | |
Well, what's happening here is he loves his sweet stuff. | 0:26:48 | 0:26:51 | |
So very much a sweet tooth. | 0:26:51 | 0:26:53 | |
So a lot of the foods coming through are going to be high in sugar, | 0:26:53 | 0:26:56 | |
which is not going to help him feel full. | 0:26:56 | 0:26:58 | |
Actually, it's just going to make him feel even hungrier and wanting to eat more. | 0:26:58 | 0:27:01 | |
Mark doesn't eat as regularly, but he seems to eat large portions. | 0:27:01 | 0:27:06 | |
So obviously he's eating because he's hungry, but he's eating beyond that. | 0:27:06 | 0:27:09 | |
The other thing is that Mark drinks alcohol, and what alcohol does is it | 0:27:09 | 0:27:14 | |
actually gives you an additional hunger. | 0:27:14 | 0:27:16 | |
So you're much more likely to, you know, give in to | 0:27:16 | 0:27:19 | |
the second packet of chips or have dessert because, you know, | 0:27:19 | 0:27:23 | |
you don't care as much. | 0:27:23 | 0:27:25 | |
'Linia wants to help Rick and Mark stop eating when they don't need to, | 0:27:27 | 0:27:30 | |
'so she's come up with a menu she thinks should do just that | 0:27:30 | 0:27:34 | |
'by keeping them full all day. | 0:27:34 | 0:27:36 | |
'And it starts with their own individual protein-packed breakfast, | 0:27:36 | 0:27:39 | |
'which Linia says should really fill them up.' | 0:27:39 | 0:27:44 | |
This is breakfast this morning. | 0:27:44 | 0:27:46 | |
This is my poached eggs. | 0:27:46 | 0:27:49 | |
So, breakfast is two slices of wholemeal toast and some baked beans. | 0:27:49 | 0:27:54 | |
'Linia's confident these combinations of protein and fibre will have a | 0:27:55 | 0:27:59 | |
'longer-lasting satisfying effect and stop Rick and Mark's usual | 0:27:59 | 0:28:03 | |
'mid-morning cravings.' | 0:28:03 | 0:28:05 | |
I did enjoy something different for breakfast... | 0:28:05 | 0:28:08 | |
..and I do feel a bit fuller than I normally would. | 0:28:09 | 0:28:13 | |
So, I ate that quite slowly. | 0:28:13 | 0:28:14 | |
I am quite full, so I'm going to stop eating. | 0:28:16 | 0:28:18 | |
I'm going to save my apple for my mid-morning break and see how I get on. | 0:28:18 | 0:28:23 | |
'So far, so good. | 0:28:24 | 0:28:26 | |
'A healthy bit of fruit for a snack, | 0:28:26 | 0:28:28 | |
'and four hours later it's time for lunch.' | 0:28:28 | 0:28:31 | |
So, lunch today. | 0:28:31 | 0:28:32 | |
And this is for me and Rick. | 0:28:32 | 0:28:34 | |
'Lunch is a veg-packed salad with avocado, | 0:28:34 | 0:28:36 | |
'tomato and salad leaves mixed with | 0:28:36 | 0:28:39 | |
'some dressing and topped off with salmon.' | 0:28:39 | 0:28:42 | |
Lunch has arrived. It's something different to what I'd normally have. | 0:28:42 | 0:28:46 | |
'Gone are the sandwiches, crisps and sweets. | 0:28:46 | 0:28:48 | |
'This looks good to me.' | 0:28:48 | 0:28:50 | |
That was very nice and I am full. | 0:28:50 | 0:28:52 | |
'Both of them admit to snacking most afternoons, | 0:28:52 | 0:28:54 | |
'but Linia says their favourite crisps and chocolate aren't just unhealthy | 0:28:54 | 0:28:58 | |
'but could send their blood sugar soaring. | 0:28:58 | 0:29:00 | |
'And the crash likely to follow will make them even hungrier, | 0:29:01 | 0:29:05 | |
'so instead she's advised healthier snacks - carrot sticks and hummus - | 0:29:05 | 0:29:09 | |
'which shouldn't have the same effect. | 0:29:09 | 0:29:11 | |
'And it's done the trick for Rick.' | 0:29:11 | 0:29:13 | |
I'd normally reach for something sweet after lunch, but I didn't really | 0:29:15 | 0:29:18 | |
need them. I really did fancy | 0:29:18 | 0:29:20 | |
something sweet but I wasn't hungry for anything. | 0:29:20 | 0:29:23 | |
'However, later on Mark did confess to sneaking in a few cheeky crisps | 0:29:23 | 0:29:27 | |
'mid-afternoon. And for dinner, it's chicken, lentils and lots of veg, | 0:29:27 | 0:29:32 | |
'which is so filling there's no room for pudding.' | 0:29:32 | 0:29:35 | |
-I am a bit stuffed. -I would normally have ice cream or some chocolate, but | 0:29:36 | 0:29:42 | |
I'm just full. | 0:29:42 | 0:29:44 | |
I'm done, I think, for tonight. | 0:29:44 | 0:29:46 | |
'Now, it was probably habit, not hunger, | 0:29:47 | 0:29:49 | |
'that drove Mark to reach for those crisps earlier on, | 0:29:49 | 0:29:52 | |
'but Rick was sufficiently satisfied | 0:29:52 | 0:29:54 | |
'by Linia's meals to avoid any extra temptation.' | 0:29:54 | 0:29:58 | |
Looking at what we've eaten today | 0:29:59 | 0:30:01 | |
I think has changed my perspective on what I should be eating during | 0:30:01 | 0:30:06 | |
the day to try and stop the snacking. | 0:30:06 | 0:30:08 | |
'And even with Mark's crisps, | 0:30:08 | 0:30:10 | |
'both of them have eaten less food than they normally would on a typical | 0:30:10 | 0:30:13 | |
'day and consumed fewer calories. | 0:30:13 | 0:30:16 | |
'And Linia says anyone can do the same by following three simple rules.' | 0:30:16 | 0:30:20 | |
Fill up on fibre, so make sure you're getting some vegetables and fruit | 0:30:22 | 0:30:24 | |
and beans and wholegrains onto your plate. | 0:30:24 | 0:30:27 | |
Have protein on your plate, | 0:30:27 | 0:30:28 | |
so include protein, like your meats and your dairy and your nuts, | 0:30:28 | 0:30:33 | |
in your main meals and also your snacks. | 0:30:33 | 0:30:35 | |
And then the third is include some fat in your diet, as well, because that | 0:30:35 | 0:30:38 | |
really helps your body feely fully satisfied. | 0:30:38 | 0:30:41 | |
'But, as Mark found, food alone can't always beat habit or temptation. | 0:30:41 | 0:30:46 | |
'Most of us are thought to eat an average of 300 calories a day more than | 0:30:46 | 0:30:50 | |
'we need. So, as Dr Bernard Corfe says, | 0:30:50 | 0:30:53 | |
'the key to switching your appetite off is about more than simply what you | 0:30:53 | 0:30:57 | |
'eat, and it's different for everyone.' | 0:30:57 | 0:31:00 | |
What people need to do is keep a diary of food, | 0:31:00 | 0:31:02 | |
keep a diary of physical exercise and understand, for them as an | 0:31:02 | 0:31:06 | |
individual, that calorie excess is starting to creep in. | 0:31:06 | 0:31:09 | |
And it's by understanding that and then starting to try to change that that you | 0:31:09 | 0:31:13 | |
can get control of your diet again. | 0:31:13 | 0:31:16 | |
It's about finding that balance? | 0:31:16 | 0:31:17 | |
Absolutely. It's about the whole of your lifestyle. | 0:31:17 | 0:31:20 | |
It's about identifying how you can expend more energy, perhaps, as well as | 0:31:20 | 0:31:24 | |
taking in more energy, and many people go running or cycling or whatever | 0:31:24 | 0:31:28 | |
so they can eat their favourite foods, | 0:31:28 | 0:31:29 | |
and I'm sure there's lots of examples of that. | 0:31:29 | 0:31:32 | |
'And I'm one of them. | 0:31:32 | 0:31:34 | |
'Though I've retired from professional sport, I'm still active. | 0:31:34 | 0:31:37 | |
'So perhaps I shouldn't be so worried about controlling appetite, | 0:31:37 | 0:31:40 | |
'as long as I'm burning it off... | 0:31:40 | 0:31:42 | |
'..which with any luck means I don't need to feel quite so guilty about | 0:31:43 | 0:31:47 | |
'mealtimes with the kids.' | 0:31:47 | 0:31:48 | |
That's all right, that one. | 0:31:50 | 0:31:52 | |
For a host of quick and easy ideas | 0:32:00 | 0:32:03 | |
to help you stay full for longer, go to: | 0:32:03 | 0:32:06 | |
..where you'll also find plenty of other recipes on some of the topics | 0:32:07 | 0:32:11 | |
we're covering in this series. | 0:32:11 | 0:32:13 | |
Earlier in the programme, we left Rebecca and John in the middle of their | 0:32:18 | 0:32:21 | |
exclusion diet, and I think it's fair to say neither of them were | 0:32:21 | 0:32:24 | |
finding it as easy as they would have hoped. | 0:32:24 | 0:32:26 | |
But cutting out entire food groups is part of a new healthy-eating | 0:32:26 | 0:32:30 | |
movement that's gained a lot of column inches lately, | 0:32:30 | 0:32:33 | |
clean eating. While fans say it's a no-diet diet, | 0:32:33 | 0:32:37 | |
critics are saying that it's not only unnecessary but could be dangerous. | 0:32:37 | 0:32:41 | |
So while Rebecca and John get used to their new regime, | 0:32:41 | 0:32:44 | |
I want to find out whether clean eating's all it's cracked up to be. | 0:32:44 | 0:32:47 | |
Two weeks into their month-long experiment with exclusion diets, | 0:32:49 | 0:32:52 | |
dairy-free John and gluten-free Rebecca are off on a night out. | 0:32:52 | 0:32:57 | |
Where have you decided to take me, John? | 0:32:57 | 0:32:59 | |
A lovely Italian restaurant near Woking. | 0:32:59 | 0:33:02 | |
The only problem is that I can't eat anything on the menu. | 0:33:02 | 0:33:07 | |
Interesting, John. | 0:33:07 | 0:33:08 | |
We could be moving restaurants. | 0:33:08 | 0:33:10 | |
Exclusion diets involve cutting whole food groups from your diet to improve | 0:33:11 | 0:33:15 | |
your health, and these two started theirs because Rebecca wants to know if | 0:33:15 | 0:33:19 | |
gluten is making her tired and causing digestive problems... | 0:33:19 | 0:33:22 | |
..while sports coach John wonders if going dairy-free will help his | 0:33:23 | 0:33:27 | |
digestion and lower his body fat. | 0:33:27 | 0:33:30 | |
Now they're at the halfway point, | 0:33:31 | 0:33:33 | |
they're checking in with nutritionist Yvonne Bishop-Weston. | 0:33:33 | 0:33:35 | |
-Hi! -Hi, Yvonne. -Hello! Tell me, what's been happening? | 0:33:37 | 0:33:41 | |
It's a bit of a challenge at lunchtime at school. All the hot dishes | 0:33:41 | 0:33:44 | |
with the meat in tend to have butter in or cream in, | 0:33:44 | 0:33:47 | |
so I'm struggling a bit on that side. | 0:33:47 | 0:33:49 | |
I've been finding it all right. It's very challenging when I'm out and about. | 0:33:49 | 0:33:52 | |
I was in a town the other day and I went to three cafes, and no-one | 0:33:52 | 0:33:55 | |
-could feed me. -How's that affecting your health? | 0:33:55 | 0:33:58 | |
How are you feeling with these long gaps between meals? | 0:33:58 | 0:34:02 | |
Well, I'm actually feeling pretty great. | 0:34:02 | 0:34:04 | |
I think I'm sleeping a tiny bit better. | 0:34:04 | 0:34:06 | |
I'm not sure if it's a slightly deeper sleep. | 0:34:06 | 0:34:08 | |
I'm waking up a bit more refreshed. | 0:34:08 | 0:34:10 | |
Despite the challenges, | 0:34:10 | 0:34:11 | |
overall Rebecca and John are still feeling positive. | 0:34:11 | 0:34:14 | |
But to see if their confidence lasts, | 0:34:14 | 0:34:16 | |
Yvonne and I will catch up with them at the end of the month. | 0:34:16 | 0:34:19 | |
-So, speak soon. -Yes. -Any questions, get in touch. | 0:34:20 | 0:34:23 | |
And if not, we'll speak again in two weeks. | 0:34:23 | 0:34:26 | |
-Thank you very much, Yvonne. -Thank you. -You're welcome. | 0:34:26 | 0:34:29 | |
But if exclusion diets have proved hugely popular, | 0:34:29 | 0:34:32 | |
hot on their heels has come perhaps the ultimate example of the idea, | 0:34:32 | 0:34:36 | |
a food regime that takes even more commitment, so-called clean eating. | 0:34:36 | 0:34:40 | |
It's less a diet, more a way of life, | 0:34:41 | 0:34:44 | |
championed by celebrity health gurus, | 0:34:44 | 0:34:46 | |
driven by social media and all over the papers. | 0:34:46 | 0:34:51 | |
But for every headline saying it's the key to a healthy and wholesome | 0:34:51 | 0:34:54 | |
life, there's another dismissing it as an unnecessary and dangerous fad. | 0:34:54 | 0:34:59 | |
Among those who have taken clean eating to heart are Christine Sutton | 0:34:59 | 0:35:03 | |
and her husband, Thomas. | 0:35:03 | 0:35:05 | |
When I'm clean eating, I would normally cut out bad starch, | 0:35:05 | 0:35:09 | |
so high-GI-content foods like white bread, most breads, pasta, | 0:35:09 | 0:35:13 | |
and just stick with meats, fruits, veg, nuts, things like that. | 0:35:13 | 0:35:17 | |
Along with those, | 0:35:19 | 0:35:20 | |
the couple also avoid almost all artificial ingredients and of course | 0:35:20 | 0:35:24 | |
processed meats, even the ones they secretly love. | 0:35:24 | 0:35:27 | |
Unfortunately, bacon is absolutely delicious, | 0:35:29 | 0:35:31 | |
but it's not really conducive to that clean-eating mentality and clean-eating | 0:35:31 | 0:35:35 | |
diet and feeling really good about the food that you're putting | 0:35:35 | 0:35:38 | |
into your body. | 0:35:38 | 0:35:40 | |
Thomas says he adopts clean eating when he wants to lose weight, | 0:35:40 | 0:35:44 | |
but Christine tries to stick to the diet as much as possible and says she | 0:35:44 | 0:35:47 | |
can really feel the difference to her health. | 0:35:47 | 0:35:51 | |
I think that clean eating generally makes me feel a bit better, just | 0:35:51 | 0:35:56 | |
generally in life. So I've got more energy, | 0:35:56 | 0:35:59 | |
I'm less tired during the day at work. | 0:35:59 | 0:36:02 | |
-Mm! -Really good. | 0:36:02 | 0:36:03 | |
'But not all experts are persuaded on this one, | 0:36:04 | 0:36:07 | |
'and food writer and journalist Bee Wilson doesn't believe | 0:36:07 | 0:36:10 | |
'the idea has any genuine benefit.' | 0:36:10 | 0:36:13 | |
Can you tell me a little bit about clean eating? | 0:36:13 | 0:36:16 | |
-What is it? -Well, it's this phrase that's started to pop up over the past | 0:36:16 | 0:36:20 | |
five years, and it's associated with these bestselling food books that | 0:36:20 | 0:36:23 | |
promise that if only you can cut out loads of different food groups from | 0:36:23 | 0:36:27 | |
your diet you will glow, you will be thinner, | 0:36:27 | 0:36:29 | |
you'll be happier, you'll be able to do incredibly bendy, | 0:36:29 | 0:36:32 | |
stretchy yoga moves. | 0:36:32 | 0:36:34 | |
So do we have clean food and do we have dirty food? | 0:36:34 | 0:36:39 | |
Is that the insinuation with this? | 0:36:39 | 0:36:41 | |
Well, that's the suggestion. | 0:36:41 | 0:36:44 | |
The idea is that somehow food is moral in some way and that there are | 0:36:44 | 0:36:48 | |
these ingredients, which include anything from kale to avocado to coconut oil, | 0:36:48 | 0:36:53 | |
that are somehow virtuous and pure, and if you can just put enough of | 0:36:53 | 0:36:57 | |
those in your body you're going to be on some kind of higher plane. | 0:36:57 | 0:37:01 | |
But what I really don't like about it is there is an assumption in that | 0:37:01 | 0:37:04 | |
that somehow there must be other foods which are dirty. | 0:37:04 | 0:37:07 | |
So clean eating includes taking out food groups, | 0:37:07 | 0:37:12 | |
not just certain products but whole groups of food, is that correct? | 0:37:12 | 0:37:16 | |
Yes, so they might say avoid all dairy, avoid all foods with wheat, | 0:37:16 | 0:37:20 | |
avoid all gluten. And if I was offering that kind of dietary advice, I'd | 0:37:20 | 0:37:23 | |
want to have really good backing and evidence behind it. | 0:37:23 | 0:37:27 | |
But there isn't any. It's founded on kind of bad science at best. | 0:37:27 | 0:37:31 | |
It's not generally great dietary advice to just tell people to cut out | 0:37:31 | 0:37:35 | |
entire nourishing groups of food for no good reason. | 0:37:35 | 0:37:40 | |
I just read in a clean-eating book recently that a lettuce leaf makes a | 0:37:40 | 0:37:43 | |
great substitute for bread! | 0:37:43 | 0:37:45 | |
'Back in Woking, | 0:37:46 | 0:37:48 | |
'John and Rebecca are nearing the end of their exclusion diets. | 0:37:48 | 0:37:51 | |
'Rebecca has cut out gluten and John has cut out dairy. | 0:37:51 | 0:37:54 | |
'Now is the final weigh-in with Yvonne. | 0:37:55 | 0:37:57 | |
'And it's clear Rebecca didn't find as many gluten-free choices as she'd | 0:37:57 | 0:38:01 | |
'have liked.' | 0:38:01 | 0:38:03 | |
So, how did it go? | 0:38:03 | 0:38:05 | |
Yeah, it was good. It was a challenging month. | 0:38:05 | 0:38:07 | |
I do travel around a lot due to my work. | 0:38:07 | 0:38:10 | |
I was just so frustrated that there weren't options available, because it is | 0:38:10 | 0:38:14 | |
such a big problem. And I think that's where my frustration was coming | 0:38:14 | 0:38:17 | |
from, was "Why don't you have the options?" | 0:38:17 | 0:38:19 | |
Or if you do have the options, why am I paying double the price for it and | 0:38:19 | 0:38:23 | |
why am I paying so much extra for it? It really just made me mad. | 0:38:23 | 0:38:27 | |
-I got very passionate about it. -Right, OK. So, excluding dairy, | 0:38:27 | 0:38:31 | |
you think you had a better diet as a result or ate more healthily? | 0:38:31 | 0:38:35 | |
I think so. At the beginning not so much, | 0:38:35 | 0:38:37 | |
but when I started to prepare my food a bit more I realised a lot of dairy | 0:38:37 | 0:38:40 | |
was incorporated into naughty, what I call treat food. | 0:38:40 | 0:38:44 | |
I had a high level of fat and sugar. | 0:38:44 | 0:38:46 | |
I actually had to turn them away, so I ended up taking healthier options, | 0:38:46 | 0:38:50 | |
like a bit of fruit rather than the cake that was on display. | 0:38:50 | 0:38:54 | |
'A month ago, Yvonne asked John and Rebecca to choose a number out of ten to | 0:38:54 | 0:38:58 | |
'describe how they felt about key areas such as tiredness and digestion. | 0:38:58 | 0:39:02 | |
'Now, after a month of eating differently, | 0:39:02 | 0:39:05 | |
'she's asking them to do the same. | 0:39:05 | 0:39:06 | |
'So, will any of those numbers have changed?' | 0:39:06 | 0:39:09 | |
Rebecca, before, | 0:39:09 | 0:39:11 | |
you said in terms of your digestive system that the wind and the bloating | 0:39:11 | 0:39:15 | |
was a six out of ten, and you've now given that a score of one. | 0:39:15 | 0:39:18 | |
-Yes. -Wow. -So that's a huge difference. | 0:39:18 | 0:39:21 | |
I was amazed. I didn't really know what to expect, but it really did | 0:39:21 | 0:39:24 | |
improve, so I haven't had any problems. | 0:39:24 | 0:39:27 | |
'Rebecca had also complained about her energy levels, | 0:39:27 | 0:39:30 | |
'not least because she'd frequently need extra sleeps during the day.' | 0:39:30 | 0:39:33 | |
Well, the energy was interesting, because at the huge old age of 24 | 0:39:33 | 0:39:38 | |
you were napping in the day! | 0:39:38 | 0:39:40 | |
It would be weird. I'd be doing something and I'd have this | 0:39:40 | 0:39:42 | |
overwhelming feeling of tiredness. | 0:39:42 | 0:39:44 | |
It wasn't a long nap, it was about half an hour. | 0:39:44 | 0:39:47 | |
But you still shouldn't need that. | 0:39:47 | 0:39:48 | |
-But I needed it. Yeah, I needed it. -That's quite long. -I know. | 0:39:48 | 0:39:52 | |
And, amazingly, that's completely gone. | 0:39:52 | 0:39:54 | |
Yeah. I haven't napped at all. | 0:39:54 | 0:39:55 | |
Like, at all. Can I clarify this? No naps! | 0:39:55 | 0:39:59 | |
'So Rebecca's confident she has felt an improvement since giving up | 0:39:59 | 0:40:03 | |
'gluten. And John, too, reckons he's feeling better.' | 0:40:03 | 0:40:07 | |
So, for you, John, the things that really came up for you was the bloating, | 0:40:07 | 0:40:11 | |
which was a seven out of ten. | 0:40:11 | 0:40:13 | |
And that's reduced right down to a two, | 0:40:13 | 0:40:16 | |
so again a really significant difference there. | 0:40:16 | 0:40:18 | |
'But John's biggest aim for the diet was to cut his body fat, | 0:40:19 | 0:40:23 | |
'and Yvonne's weigh-in shows he has lost four pounds. | 0:40:23 | 0:40:26 | |
'He also says he has more energy and is sleeping better. | 0:40:26 | 0:40:30 | |
'But while it would be easy to assume that means the exclusion diets have | 0:40:30 | 0:40:33 | |
'worked, Yvonne says in fact often simply keeping a food diary is enough to | 0:40:33 | 0:40:38 | |
'help you improve your diet. | 0:40:38 | 0:40:40 | |
'So, in this case, which was the key factor, the dairy or the diary?' | 0:40:40 | 0:40:45 | |
How much of this improvement do you think is down to, actually, your focusing | 0:40:46 | 0:40:51 | |
on your diet more and how much of it do you think is actually due to the | 0:40:51 | 0:40:54 | |
-lack of dairy? -I think 60% focus and maybe 40% dairy. | 0:40:54 | 0:40:58 | |
Taking dairy out just made you a bit stricter. | 0:40:58 | 0:41:01 | |
So could you do it indefinitely, | 0:41:01 | 0:41:03 | |
"No more dairy for me permanently for the rest of my life"? | 0:41:03 | 0:41:06 | |
No. I think life's too short to, you know, | 0:41:06 | 0:41:09 | |
say no to the really good things in life. | 0:41:09 | 0:41:11 | |
But 90% of the time I reckon I could. | 0:41:11 | 0:41:14 | |
'Remember, John and Rebecca only did | 0:41:15 | 0:41:17 | |
'this exclusion diet under the watchful eye of Yvonne.' | 0:41:17 | 0:41:20 | |
If anybody else is looking at this and thinks, "Maybe I would | 0:41:20 | 0:41:23 | |
-"benefit from cutting out gluten or dairy"... -Yeah. | 0:41:23 | 0:41:27 | |
-..what would you say to them? -Well, | 0:41:27 | 0:41:28 | |
the first stop is always check it out with your GP. | 0:41:28 | 0:41:30 | |
If you've been having symptoms for some time, talk them through, | 0:41:30 | 0:41:33 | |
make sure there's nothing medically wrong. | 0:41:33 | 0:41:35 | |
Once the GP says, "No, nothing medically wrong, on you go," | 0:41:35 | 0:41:38 | |
then it's looking at what might be causing the symptoms and only taking | 0:41:38 | 0:41:43 | |
-out one food group at a time... -Yes! | 0:41:43 | 0:41:45 | |
..because otherwise it can get REALLY complicated, | 0:41:45 | 0:41:47 | |
and then to do what we've been doing here - to score, | 0:41:47 | 0:41:51 | |
to have a look at the symptoms that you're looking at improving | 0:41:51 | 0:41:54 | |
and see what number out of ten you would give those. | 0:41:54 | 0:41:57 | |
Keep a food diary so that you can look back and say, "Well, actually, | 0:41:57 | 0:42:00 | |
"was it the lack of dairy or was it just I ate better?" | 0:42:00 | 0:42:03 | |
If I'm honest, I still think exclusion diets are a bit of a fad. | 0:42:05 | 0:42:09 | |
But after seeing Rebecca and John so positive about how they feel, | 0:42:09 | 0:42:13 | |
perhaps I'm not quite as sceptical as I was before. | 0:42:13 | 0:42:15 | |
That said, I'd still draw the line at clean eating. | 0:42:16 | 0:42:20 | |
There's no way I'm swapping my | 0:42:20 | 0:42:21 | |
piece of toast at breakfast for a bit of lettuce. | 0:42:21 | 0:42:25 | |
The papers just love a quick-fix weight-loss plan, don't they? | 0:42:33 | 0:42:36 | |
Especially if it's something they can turn into a snappy headline followed | 0:42:36 | 0:42:41 | |
by a list of tricks to tame your appetite or secrets to shed the pounds. | 0:42:41 | 0:42:45 | |
We've all been there once or twice. But, as we've heard today, | 0:42:45 | 0:42:48 | |
taking on board some of those headlines without finding out the bigger | 0:42:48 | 0:42:52 | |
picture too could mean that you're making drastic changes to your diet | 0:42:52 | 0:42:55 | |
that, in the worst cases, could even be dangerous. | 0:42:55 | 0:42:58 | |
You can, of course, | 0:42:58 | 0:42:59 | |
find recipes and ideas related to some of the things we've been talking | 0:42:59 | 0:43:03 | |
about today and, indeed, all of this series at... | 0:43:03 | 0:43:05 | |
And on that note, I'm afraid that's where we have to leave it for | 0:43:08 | 0:43:10 | |
today. So until next time, thank you very much for your company | 0:43:10 | 0:43:13 | |
-and from both of us, bye-bye. -Goodbye. | 0:43:13 | 0:43:16 |