Episode 1 Food: Truth or Scare

Every day, we are bombarded with conflicting

information about our favourite foods.

One minute, we're told something is good for us, the next it's not,

and we are left feeling guilty about what we are eating.

So we've been wading through the confusion,

to separate the scare stories from the truth,

so that you can choose your food with confidence.

Hello, and welcome to the series that goes behind the headlines

to ask whether what we're eating is as good or as bad for us

as some reports might lead us to believe.

And today's programme is all about how powerful our food can be.

If you think of it as fuel for your body, then what's

the difference between how you should fill it up

if you're going to do something active, or when you've got to get your

head around something complicated and you need to give your brain a boost?

But we'll also get to the bottom of whether your normal diet will give you the nutrients you need, or

if you should be topping it up with extra vitamins and supplements.

It can be very hard to keep up with the latest advice on that,

and not all claims necessarily stack up.

So, as we make all of that a little bit clearer,

we'll find out which foods are the ones to eat and when,

and how the wrong choice can make a real difference to your performance.

-I hope you've taken the right choices today, then!

-Well, I'm sure we'll find out.

SHE LAUGHS

Coming up on the programme today, some reports say they're

essential for our health, others that they're a waste of money.

We'll find out the truth about whether we really need

vitamin supplements.

I wouldn't necessarily look at a multivitamin as being anything that gives you significant amounts.

It just fills in one or two cracks.

We referee a milk bottle battle to see

how good old-fashioned milk stacks up against

the alternatives it's been claimed might be better for us.

They're not necessarily a healthier choice,

and I think that's important to know.

And which foods are the best to power you through the day or to

help you sleep? We have a test to find out.

Now, first, a subject that really does divide opinion - vitamin

supplements. The question is, do we need them? What do you think, Chris?

Well, I'm not convinced these little bottles of vitamins you pick

up in a chemist or supermarket, saying they've got this, that

or the other in it, actually work.

Now, I love you madly, but here we agree to disagree,

and you're going to be a bit shocked at this, because I am...

-I would say I'm almost addicted to vitamins and supplements.

-OK.

-This is my daily bag of supplements.

-Wow.

Everything in this I take in the morning or the evening,

-because I am convinced about it.

-And you feel better for taking them?

I take them as a kind of insurance policy.

Even if it is a panacea, so what? I feel better on it.

But you see, the point is, there is an awful lot of disagreement

over the whole subject, and even within the newspapers. Look at this

one. "Taking vitamin D," which I do, "can help to slow mental decline."

But look, in exactly the same newspaper,

"Vitamin pills offer no benefits and may even cause harm,

"a study finds." So, again, more contradiction.

And in this series we're always talking about confusion,

because you read one thing one week and a different thing the next, so what is the real truth?

Well, I've been trying my best to find out.

Vitamins and minerals are essential for keeping our bodies in tip-top

condition, but not all of us are convinced that we're getting all

the nutrients we need from our food, so we turn to supplements instead.

I have to be honest and say I have used vitamins and supplements since I was 17.

And I think that's because I used to go to the movies a lot

and I used to read all my film books, which told me about all these

film stars that took all these vitamins and they looked fantastic

and lived long, and so I decided that I would take a multivitamin

when I was about 17, and I tell you what, I've been on them ever since.

As you've heard, I've been quite an advocate for the vitamin business.

Some say I'm wasting my money,

but I'm really struck by the number of stories in the press

loudly declaring these pills aren't necessary and that a good

diet can provide everything I need.

And that those extra vitamins could even do me some harm.

But I'm in good company.

Almost a third of people in the UK take vitamin pills every day.

-I do.

-What do you take?

Vitamin C, vitamin D.

I take glucosamine and that sort of thing.

-And why do you take that?

-Just to keep me healthy, really.

Because I've got osteoarthritis in my knees.

-And was that advised to you by a doctor?

-Yes, it was.

There seems to be a supplement for every occasion and condition,

but meanwhile, the debate continues to rage as to

whether we actually need supplements at all.

A 2013 study concluded that well-nourished adults DO get

the nutrients they need simply from diet.

So I was interested to know how many of us

have any idea of the amount of vitamins we get from our food.

What do you buy for vitamin C?

Oh, I don't know. I don't know what's in them, no.

-Would you know where to get vitamin D?

-No.

Would you know where you would get vitamin D in food?

Erm, no, not really, no, to be honest, no.

-Or magnesium?

-Er, no.

How about calcium?

Erm...

-Oh, that's like milk and stuff, isn't it?

-Mm-hm.

The multi-million pound advertising campaigns selling

supplements are highly effective at making us

feel that we need to buy their pills to make us healthier.

But nutritional therapist Ian Marber thinks we forget just how

easy it is to get our vitamins from good old-fashioned fruit and veg.

Let's just talk about some of the nutrients in some of the common vegetables we buy day in, day out.

All fruit and vegetables are going to be good sources of nutrients.

Anything that is going to be dark green is going to have a

lot of magnesium in it, and also probably a lot of calcium.

Brussels sprouts are a bit like broccoli, because they contain

that bitter taste that comes from something called glucosinolates,

which actually have potential to combat some forms of cancer.

-What about carrots?

-Carrots give a lot of vitamin A, and beta-Carotene in there.

Anything that's going to be bright orange or bright red,

you're going to get beta-Carotene and also antioxidants as well.

Then we come to one of my favourites,

because I find that a banana with me in the car or in my bag or something

is a really good standby, so is it really a good source of everything?

It is a good source of minerals, especially potassium.

You often see tennis players eating bananas, partly because they're

portable and the fact the potassium is needed to ease sore muscles.

Again, good value, portable,

one of your five a day. Why wouldn't you have them?

With all this wonderful food around us, it's sometimes

hard to understand why it is that we need supplements at all.

Because Ian says the typical multivitamin could be

replicated to some degree by a surprisingly small amount of food.

A bowl of vegetable soup.

A chicken breast with two servings of vegetables,

preferably one green and one orange,

with some brown rice.

And for pudding, some low-fat and low-sugar yoghurt and an apple.

Have a meal like this every day and Ian says you

could probably do away with a multivitamin pill altogether.

Multivitamins are not necessary for the majority of people.

That said, a multivitamin contains obviously the vast

majority of the minerals and the vitamins that we need.

Effectively, you probably would get most of those from having a decent diet.

It's quite a useful thing to take,

but I wouldn't necessarily look at a multivitamin as being anything

that gives you significant amounts, it just fills in one or two cracks.

A large number of experts would agree with Ian

that in the UK, our diets are generally sufficient

to get the vitamins we need. Although, like many people,

the vitamins I take are recommended by a doctor.

And it is a good idea to check with your doctor what you're actually taking,

if only because some supplements may interfere with other medications.

Like me, Carolyn Maloney from Leicester is a fan of vitamin

supplements. She regularly takes fish oils, vitamin D

and magnesium, as well as an effervescent vitamin C and zinc.

I probably spend about £10 a month on supplements.

I take cod liver oil.

I have a propensity to arthritis. I find that helps me.

Magnesium. I take the vitamin D.

The vitamin C we tend to take, my husband and I,

during the winter, when there is a lot more coughs and colds around.

Carolyn goes to the gym and tries to eat healthily,

but she still worries her diet doesn't give her

enough of the essential vitamins her body needs.

She takes supplements to make up any shortfall, but even so,

she's not entirely sure she's getting it right.

So we've asked Carolyn to keep a food diary so that Ian can see

whether what she eats means those supplements just aren't necessary.

I'll be interested to find out

whether or not the effort that I'm making, in terms of choosing

the right foods to eat, is actually making a difference,

or whether or not I've just been a victim of hype.

Ian quickly spots one widely-taken vitamin that

he thinks Carolyn could be taking too much of.

I understand that you take an effervescent vitamin C as well.

-Why do you do that?

-That's right, we do.

Both my husband and I tend to take that in the winter.

We both work in the health service, surrounded by sick people, so

therefore we try to enhance our immunity.

The evidence to support vitamin C and sort of avoiding coughs

and colds is not quite robust.

Carolyn's supplement contains more than 20 times the recommended

daily intake of vitamin C.

And most of that will be wasted because her body will only

use the vitamin C it needs and then get rid of the rest.

You're having an awful lot there,

but in a way it sort of compensates the fact you're not

having much in the way of fruit and vegetables, and obviously not

having potatoes and sweet potatoes, which are good sources.

The same effervescent tablet contains 15 milligrams of zinc,

which helps to boost the immune system, but Carolyn's diet is already rich

in poultry, nuts and seeds, which are naturally good sources of zinc.

It's not just Carolyn's jumbo-sized supplements that might not be necessary.

Some other effervescent vitamins also give the sort of doses

-that many of us just don't need.

-For instance, your typical,

one of the better known ones has got 900%.

So that's nine times more of the RDA recommended daily allowance

of vitamin B1, vitamin B2, it's got 500% of vitamin B6.

So, significantly more than you need.

As well as the vitamins you know you're getting when you buy

an effervescent supplement, there are other ingredients that might

come as a bit of a surprise,

including very high levels of sodium and salt.

Too much salt can raise the blood pressure

and lead to heart attacks and strokes, so if you're taking

an effervescent every day, it's crucial you know how much is inside.

A closer look at Carolyn's diet

reveals there are other supplements Ian thinks she's taking too much of.

She's taking 500mg of magnesium before sleep.

That's a lot of magnesium,

and certainly magnesium does help with relaxing muscles,

which is important. However, it relaxes all muscles, including the digestive system,

so that's certainly more than I would recommend.

There's no particular harm in taking that level,

but I wouldn't recommending anyone started anywhere near that.

Carolyn says she uses magnesium to help relax after exercise -

but Ian says that a banana would do the job just as well.

There is, however, one key vitamin that Ian agrees

Carolyn should be getting through a supplement, and that's Vitamin D,

-which we get mostly from sunshine.

-You're taking vitamin D. I think you're taking the right amount

there, that's something that I would suggest you keep doing.

Would there be anything I could perhaps eat naturally

to enhance my vitamin D?

There is, in fact. If you had some oily fish, that would help.

Vitamin D is hard to get from food,

so taking it in a supplement is recommended for anyone over 65

and those who aren't exposed to the sun very often.

And last year, a group of government health advisors recommended

that everyone should increase their vitamin D intake,

because most of us only get half the vitamin D we actually need.

As a result, it's the one supplement that is generally believed

lots of us could benefit from. But as with all of them,

do get your GP's advice first.

And there's no doubt that when it is possible to get

nutrients from food, that's always going to be the best choice.

When you get nutrients from natural sources, you're getting

everything else that goes alongside it, and also things like fibre,

you're getting fat, you're getting protein, carbohydrate.

So everything else that works with that nutrient.

Vitamin supplements can be useful to plug the gaps in our diet

because, as you'll see later on, there are essential

nutrients like selenium, which is no longer easy to get from food.

But the official government advice is that eating a balanced

diet is the best way for most people to get their essential vitamins.

That said, supplements are recommended for some

particular groups. For example,

it's advised that children under five are given vitamins A, C and D.

And pregnant women will benefit from extra folic acid.

But for the rest of us,

before rushing to spend money on supplements we might not need,

the best advice is to take a closer look at what we're actually

eating, because chances are you're getting those nutrients already.

The chance of being deficient in this country is thankfully

really, really low.

That doesn't mean we couldn't benefit from taking some more, or having some more in our food.

But unless you've got a really, really appalling diet,

or are on a very low-calorie diet or, alternatively,

are in a situation where you're really not eating very much,

then you don't need supplements.

Now, there are some foods that really boost your energy

and make you feel ready to take on the world. That's why

so many of us start the morning with a cup of coffee.

But you know, other foods can make you feel drowsy or even make

the whole body feel a bit sluggish.

We've probably all got our own foods we swear by -

not necessarily backed up by proof or science -

but there are foods that really do have tried and tested powers.

So we wanted to see how different foods affect your exercise, your

sleep, or even how you'll get through a long, hard day.

The food we eat has a crucial impact on how we feel,

so being able to predict the effects a particular meal will

have on your body could make all the difference.

I'd love to know which foods would most help MY working day.

But when the papers just don't seem to agree on which

foods are the right ones for the job, it's not easy knowing

whether your lunch is going to send you to sleep, your dinner's going

to keep you up all night, or your snacks will stop you in your tracks.

I buy and sell fruit and veg for a living.

On the one hand, that means I've got access to plenty of healthy

food, but it also means lots of early mornings.

That would be fine if I could get to bed early, but a young family

and my other job on the telly don't always make that easy.

So, to find out how the food I eat can help me conquer a busy day,

I've called in nutritionist Charlotte Stirling-Reed.

-So, Charlotte, are you a firm believer that food is fuel?

-Yep.

I guess the food that we eat every day is what gives us our energy.

It gives us the ability for us to be able to get up and go to work

and do all of the things we need to every day.

So, without a doubt, food is our fuel, yes.

Tomorrow, I'll be up and about for 18 hours,

so I've asked Charlotte to come up with a meal plan full

of foods that will most effectively fuel my body and my brain.

But first, she needs to knock some bad habits on the head.

Like a lot of people, when you're tired,

when your sugar levels start to dip a little bit, I'm guilty of

grabbing an energy drink, having a coffee or maybe a bar of chocolate.

What you're suggesting is very, very common.

Actually, those aren't necessarily healthy food options.

'So the meal plan Charlotte's put together is packed with things that

'ARE good for me and will help me power me through my busy day tomorrow.'

I'll be up at 3am, then straight off to the wholesale market for work.

I'd normally just have a coffee to kick off the day.

When I get to the office around six, it's normally cereal

and toast for breakfast, followed by a sandwich for lunch at about 12.

Then, when I finish work at four, it's peak snacking time for me.

Perhaps an energy drink or a chocolate bar.

But not tomorrow!

After I finish in the office, I need to drive into London to do

some work for my other job with the BBC.

That should take two or three hours. Then I'll finally be home around nine or ten at night.

Charlotte's meal plan has a LOT resting on it!

What I've decided, because I know you don't normally have

breakfast until about seven o'clock, is to try and encourage you to eat some fruit.

So something like a banana is a really good option for you to

have in the morning, just to give you a little bit of a boost

of energy to get you through that first part of the morning.

OK, that's nice and easy. I can do that. You can do that on the run,

I can do that in the car on my way to the market.

OK, brilliant. I've then got a really nice, hearty

-breakfast for you, which is going to be...

-Bacon and eggs?

No, afraid not, not this time.

-It's going to be porridge oats.

-OK.

It's high in energy, lots of B vitamins and also fibre,

which should help keep you a bit fuller for longer.

Hopefully you won't have that need to graze or have any other foods,

really, until lunch.

Charlotte's meal plan is all about foods that will

release their energy slowly to keep me going all day long.

OK, so it's three o'clock in the morning, I've got a really busy day.

I wouldn't ordinarily have anything to eat at this time,

but Charlotte suggested having a banana, just to kick start

things and take me through to breakfast, so...here goes.

Over the next few hours, the banana does seem to do its stuff,

helped of course by a few sneaky samples at the market, too.

But it's not just ME testing out a different meal plan.

200 miles away from MY working day, there's a group

of Manchester footballers that need a hand to power them on the pitch.

Because at the moment,

this trio from the Ashton Panthers don't exactly eat like champions.

Rachel, Kay and Charlotte's typical pre-match snack is a quick fix

that can make them feel sluggish on the pitch.

Normally, I just have takeaways on training days, which makes me

feel really heavy when I'm running round.

Usually just like a sandwich from... Like a meal deal sandwich.

-Maybe a chocolate bar.

-To be honest, it's just pure laziness.

At a push, I cook myself some noodles,

but it is just usually like, some toast.

-By noodles, do you mean instant noodles?

-Yeah, chicken Super Noodles.

So, just like me, the girls are getting their own meal

plan from Charlotte so they can better utilise their food as fuel.

But in their case, it's full of foods that should help them up their game.

Something their current diets definitely don't do.

Their diets are quite high in junk.

What we want them to be doing is choosing healthier options which are going to help

to fuel their bodies, provide nutrients,

and hopefully help them to feel better, more motivated and might

actually help them to perform better during their football training.

For breakfast, Charlotte's giving the girls porridge with seeds

and berries, followed by a mid-morning snack of fruit.

For lunch it will be salmon and a quinoa salad with greens.

And for dinner, chicken, potatoes

and veg, with a healthy desert of low-fat Greek yoghurt and dried fruit.

I would never eat any of that stuff!

I would eat a ham sandwich at a push. Yeah, never.

I wouldn't even know how to cook half of it.

Something like fish and salmon contains plenty of protein.

Again, really good for replenishing muscle stores

and also for helping to keep people full for a little bit longer.

Also, the fish contains healthy fats, which is

a really important element that we need to get throughout the day.

And there's more protein-packed muscle-fuelling foods after training

to help their bodies quickly recover.

It's a radical change to their usual diet - but they're up for the challenge.

It sounds interesting, to say the least. They say, like, fruit and veg does energise you, but

I'm not sure how much it will impact my performance.

To help us monitor the results, we've recorded how many

calories football captain Charlotte would typically

burn on a training session, fuelled by her normal diet.

And we'll measure what she burns after trying the new

diet to see what difference it's made to her game.

Back in London, I've left the market

and I'm just about to start my day in the office.

Normally, I might not have had anything to eat all morning,

but I've got to admit, I'm feeling better after that 3am banana.

I can't say I'm excited about what's coming up for breakfast, though.

Ordinarily, I'd have cereal and some toast, but Charlotte suggested

I have porridge, she said it would keep me fuller for longer.

I put some raisins and nuts and seeds in it, like she suggested.

Not the tastiest thing I've ever had,

but if it keeps me full till lunch, that's great.

And with some snacks that Charlotte recommended on hand by my desk,

some nuts and some plain popcorn, I've been able to keep my energy

levels up without turning to the bad snacks

that Charlotte warned me about.

So I'm already starting to see how even the small changes

to my usual routine can make a difference to how I feel.

But will our footballers get the same benefit?

After their last training session, nutritionist Charlotte swapped the girls' takeaways

and treats for some fresh fruit, fish and complex carbohydrates.

It was a lot compared to what I usually eat,

because I'd just eat one big meal at lunch. It was a lot healthier.

I don't feel bloated like I usually... If I just eat a sandwich

or something before training,

I usually feel a bit bloated off the bread,

which hopefully will impact my training, but we'll find out.

But the true test will be what happens as their next

training session gets underway.

And at half-time, our nutritionist is armed with bananas to give

the girls a quick boost of energy.

-How are you guys all feeling? Tired?

-Tired!

THEY LAUGH

Might be all right after this.

With their blood sugars boosted,

the girls all felt they played better than they usually would.

I felt a lot lighter, so I felt like I could run a little bit more.

-Towards the second half, I think I felt I had more energy than usual.

-OK, that's really good.

-I think the banana helped in between, actually.

-Yeah.

I think that gave me a little second wind to carry on.

They might say they performed better, but we'll only know for sure

after measuring how many calories team-captain Charlotte burned off.

If it's more than last time, it's a

good indicator that the new food plan gave her more energy,

increased her stamina and made her play harder on the pitch.

So, last week, we had you expending 298 calories.

This week, we've got you expending 381.

So it seems like perhaps you were running a little bit more, but

generally you've expended more calories this week than you did last week.

I'm made up with that, yeah. Because I did doubt your diet plan, to be honest, I'm not going to lie!

I didn't know how beneficial it was going to be,

but it seems to have paid off, so I will try and keep up with it.

So that's nearly 100 extra calories burnt on the pitch.

And while it's not the most scientific test around,

nutritionist Charlotte is pretty convinced any improvement is

down to what they ate.

What do you think about trying to get the rest of your team to

maybe join in, make a couple of the changes that you've found

have been beneficial to you guys?

I think they'd all go for a banana at half-time, for definite.

-We'll be on banana duty from now on.

-THEY LAUGH

-You might see yourselves...

-Top of the league!

THEY LAUGH

But it's not just when you're being active that you might see

a benefit from rethinking what you choose to eat.

Later in the programme, we'll see how changing their diet could

help these night shift workers sleep better on their nights off.

And find out if I was able to stick to MY diet plan

for the rest of that busy working day, or

if in the end, my usual bad habits got the better of me.

Still to come, full-fat, semi-skimmed, almond or soya.

Which milk will win the battle of the bottles?

The food we eat has amazing powers

and can help our bodies conquer all sorts of common conditions.

Everyday, GP doctor Rangan Chatterjee sees patients whose

problems could be helped - or even solved - by changing their diet.

So we asked him to share some of his secrets.

Today, we're looking at foods that can affect arguably

the most vital organ in the body - the brain.

You may have heard that omega-3 and oily fish can be

good for your brain, but there's other foods that can help as well.

First up, foods that can make us feel happy, and they're

a lot more than the go-to treats that we normally use

to lift our moods.

Serotonin is a chemical you have probably already heard of.

It's famous for actually helping to cheer us up.

You may know it as one of the chemicals that's

found in chocolates.

It's dark chocolate that increases serotonin levels -

with products containing 85% cocoa being the most effective -

although this temporary brain boost

typically only lasts one or two hours.

However, serotonin levels can also be boosted by eating foods

such as eggs or cheese,

fruits such as pineapple, or even meats such as turkey.

There are also feel-good foods that can help our brains cope with

the daily stresses of life, including one you'd probably

never have guessed would lighten your mood.

First of all, there's spinach.

Now, spinach may not be your normal go-to food when you're

feeling stressed, but actually it's rich in something called magnesium.

Magnesium can really help us

feel a greater sense of wellbeing, it can help us relax,

because it helps regulate the master stress hormone cortisol.

Other magnesium-rich foods include dark leafy greens such as kale,

but also nuts, avocados, eggs and salmon.

As well as influencing how we feel,

our diet plays a significant role in keeping the brain healthy.

And a whole host of foods can help ward off what remains to be

one of the biggest killers in the UK.

Strokes affect over 100,000 people in the UK

every single year, and the commonest type of stroke is where we

get a blockage in blood flow to a particular part of your brain.

Those who are obese or overweight are at a greater risk from strokes.

As a GP, I'd always say that your best way of reducing

the likelihood of getting a stroke

is by cutting down unhealthy, processed, fatty foods

such as processed bacon, processed sausages, sugary drinks.

And instead of those, concentrating on fresh fruit and veg.

You know, berries, broccoli, spinach, bananas, but also

a more Mediterranean-type diet.

So, oily fish such as salmon, and things such as avocado

and olives, as well as lots of olive oil.

Shaun Lloyd, a former HGV driver from Lincolnshire,

had a stroke in 2012.

At the time of my stroke, I was 28st. Basically, what

I was eating was the all-day breakfast, don't forget, I'll have

some of that, and loads of chocolate,

which was no way to carry on.

We have proper meals now, one at breakfast, dinner and tea.

Yeah? And we have loads and loads of vegetables.

I managed to lose 12st and I'm now down to 16.

And hopefully that is where I'm going to be.

And just to show you how things are, I used to wear this all the time.

Yeah? At 28st.

-And as you can see, I have lost a bit.

-Good man.

There's no shortage of other foods that can give your brain

a quick fix.

Rich in vitamin C are blackcurrants, red peppers

and kiwis. They are very good for increasing mental agility, while broccoli

is a great source of vitamin K, known to enhance brain function.

And if you can't remember where you left your keys, like me,

foods that can help with short-term memory include zinc-rich

pumpkin seeds, blueberries and the herb sage.

But sadly, it's not true that there's any miracle food that

boosts your brain to such an extent that you'll end up even more clever.

Now, there's a myth that actually eating certain

kinds of food are going to increase your intelligence.

Now, the foods people generally are talking about are omega-3s,

and they're fats that you often find in fish such as tuna and mackerel.

Now, look, eating them long-term may well have an

impact on your brain health, but actually in the short-term,

they're not going to help you ace your test this afternoon.

Now, if there's one food we've known about for a very long time

that has some pretty impressive powers, it's milk.

It's high in calcium, loaded with nutrients - and it's natural.

But there are those who've given it up completely, turning to

alternatives like soya, almond or rice milk instead.

And reading some headlines, it's no wonder. This headline, it says,

"Milk may not protect bones and increases risk of heart disease."

Confusion reigns, and it seems modern day milk isn't

quite as nutritious as the kind I had as a girl growing up.

But can those alternatives really match the white stuff we've

all grown up with?

There's a Lancashire football team that,

frustratingly for its management, is still best known to some not for

its performance on the pitch, but for its namecheck in this 1980s ad.

-Milk?! Urgh!

-It's what Ian Rush drinks.

Ian Rush?!

Yeah, and he said if I didn't drink lots of milk, when I grow up,

I'll only be good enough to play for Accrington Stanley.

Accrington Stanley?! Who are they?!

Exactly!

Completely natural, and packed with nutrients, milk has for generations

been considered essential for almost everyone, from cradle to grave.

And for many, that's a message that's stuck.

-We love cow's milk, so...

-Yeah. Nothing wrong with cow's milk.

I like full-fat milk, um...

But milk's milk, you know, it's calcium.

-She drinks green top.

-Green top, I drink.

Yeah, green top.

I just use semi-skimmed. I don't have full-fat.

A bit of full-fat milk's not really going to hurt you, I don't think.

If it's part of a well-balanced diet.

But there's been a spate of headlines questioning

if that's really true.

Reports raising fears of milk's apparent dangers, or asking

if we should be worried about drinking it may be one

reason why sales of the traditional white stuff are at an all-time low.

Now, all the experts we've spoken to have dismissed those

scare mongering headlines, which were based on one small

piece of research.

Even so, four out of ten households now buy

one of the host of alternatives that, these days, are on our supermarket shelves.

And the main reason is that they've gained

a reputation for being healthier than cow's milk.

I have my porridge, and I make that with soya milk.

That's all I have at home, is soya milk.

It tastes nicer than full-fat milk, it's healthier than full-fat milk.

Lowers your cholesterol, less calories in it.

Soya milk, I believe, is probably pretty good.

It's quite low-fat, it's quite high-protein as well,

I think, actually, I think it probably is better for you.

For anyone with an allergy or intolerance to cow's milk,

these alternatives are great news.

But to see if they really are any healthier for the rest of us,

we asked nutritionist Linia Patel to referee a battle of the bottles.

And she's kicking off with a breakdown of the benefits

of the traditional style.

Milk is a very, very nutritious food, it's got lots of calcium,

lots of protein and lots of minerals that are actually important for us.

And if you ARE sticking with cow's milk, let's settle an old argument -

whether it's better to go full-fat or skimmed.

Now, full-fat milk contains around 3.5% fat.

Semi-skimmed, the nation's best-selling milk has around 1.7%

fat, and skimmed has virtually no fat at all with just 0.1%.

But that doesn't mean it's necessarily the best choice.

If you're browsing aisles and thinking, "I'm going to be healthy,

"I'm going to opt for the skimmed milk instead of the full-cream milk,

then actually, in terms of fat, you are probably

only looking at a teaspoon's difference

between your skimmed milk and your full-cream milk, which is not

that many calories. So the calcium is going to be the same, the protein is going

to be the same, so it's literally just the difference in fat.

And the fat is actually a crucial component of the milk,

because it helps the body digest some of the nutrients found inside.

You actually need some fat to get the goodness from the milk.

For example, Vitamin D. Vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin,

so skimmed milk and full-fat milk

both contain vitamin D, but the vitamin D in the full-cream milk,

or the full-fat milk, will be better absorbed than in the skimmed milk.

But there's one key component that remains the same

whether you opt for full-fat or skimmed...and that's calcium -

a nutrient so great for growing bones, that it's the reason

it's given out free in primary schools - like this one here in Cheshire.

From the 1940s, all schoolchildren were given a small

bottle of milk every day.

But in 1968, the Labour government cut free milk for secondary pupils.

And in 1971, the then Education Secretary,

Margaret Thatcher, scrapped it for all children over seven,

a decision that meant she was haunted

by the title of "Milk Snatcher" for the rest of her political career.

There have inevitably, madam chairman, been some

comments about the milk policy.

Today, all under-fives are given free milk at school,

and since last year, some older children get it as well.

I like drinking milk in school because it always keeps me

healthy, erm, and it's tasty.

It makes me stronger.

So, like, I can... I can become better at sports.

It makes your bones stronger and it makes you feel healthier.

She's right, of course, but actually

the milk children drink in schools and at home today doesn't

have quite the same nutritional value as it did in the past.

Milk should also be a really good source of selenium,

but nowadays, our milk is not as rich in selenium as it should be.

Selenium is a vital nutrient found in soil that

makes its way into the body through products like milk.

It keeps the human body healthy, boosting our metabolism

and protecting us from infection.

Trouble is, selenium levels in soil have dropped dramatically,

which ultimately, of course, has an impact on our milk.

The cows feed on the grass,

the grass doesn't have as much selenium, so as a result

the milk that the cows produce doesn't have as much selenium.

According to some studies, we now consume less than half

the amount of selenium that we did back in the 1970s.

But to counter that, some farmers are now adding

the nutrient into cows' food.

It's very, very simple. We use a totally natural, organic

selenium in the diet, which replaces the natural selenium

that has now been eroded from our soils.

With selenium being good for cows as well, everyone's a winner.

A healthier herd makes better milk which, it's reckoned, will

contain around 30% extra selenium.

And it's this selenium-enriched milk that the pupils at this

school are given every day.

I'm really proud that our milk is in 300 schools and, you know,

I'm hopeful more children and more schools will take it on board

and increase their health.

I think milk's really important and undervalued.

We used to know, when we were children,

"Drink a glass of milk, it's really good for you."

And it's still really good for you.

But if good old-fashioned cow's milk is so good for us,

why are so many consumers turning to these alternatives,

which are selling better than ever before?

Well, it's time now for the second round of our milk bottle battle.

And this time, it's the big one.

There are so many different milks out there at the moment, and we have

some of them here. So you have almond milk, you have rice milk and you have soya milk.

Now, some people might choose to go for these plant-based milks because

they feel, or they think, that cow's milk is not as healthy, or they're

intolerant to some of the sugars or the proteins within the milk.

But as far as Linia's concerned,

if you don't have an intolerance, then the idea that these

milks are better for you than dairy doesn't really stack up.

And if you're cutting back on cow's milk, you could be missing

out on a lot of nutrients.

The key is in the word.

They are alternatives to milk. They are not necessarily

a healthier choice, and I think that's important to know.

Yes, it's going to have less fat in it than your full-cream milk.

But it's not going to have as much calcium, or

it's not going to have as much protein.

And without the fat that you'll find in dairy milk,

what goodness there is can't be so effectively absorbed by the body.

Soya milk, for example, is a milk that

people think is very healthy, and

if it says on the label it's fortified with calcium, we think

that it's got as much calcium as there is in cow's milk.

With cow's milk, you are going to absorb about 30-35%, whereas in soya milk,

you only absorb about 20%,

and the reason for that is that there's compounds

within the soya milk that stop the absorption of the calcium.

It may be a poorer source of calcium,

but soya milk is high in protein and low in saturated fat.

It's important to know, though, that too much of it could be

toxic for anybody with thyroid problems.

Rice milk is low in fat and calories,

but it contains no protein, and it's not recommended for children

under five, as some products can contain small amounts of arsenic.

And almond milk, the best selling dairy-free milk in Britain,

while it's very low in calories, turns out to be low in lots of other

things, including protein, calcium and, surprisingly, almonds.

Some almond milks, believe it or not, contain just 2% almond,

so the antioxidants

and good fats normally found in almonds themselves aren't

necessarily found in the carton.

So before switching completely from cow's milk to an alternative,

you should really talk to your GP because, in some cases, dairy IS best.

Now, all of that does seem to put cow's milk on top, especially for children,

for whom its fats are crucial for growth.

But while Linia's not so quick to crown a winner, she's in no doubt that traditional

cow's milk is one of the healthiest foods you can find.

Milk contains so many key nutrients, like your protein,

like your calcium, which are fundamental for good health.

Earlier in the programme, I started trying to make sense of how

our choices of food affect the way we tackle different activities

every day. Whether that means getting an extra boost

if we're doing exercise, or simply

giving us enough energy for the working day.

I'm in the middle of a particularly intense one of those.

It'll last 18 hours, so I'll need all the help I can get.

Nutritionist Charlotte Stirling-Reed has come up with a meal plan

to power me through it better.

But I've been on the go since three this morning, so with

my energy levels starting to dip,

I'm well and truly ready for lunch.

I'm pretty hungry, I've been up for quite a while now.

Ordinarily, I'd just have a sandwich.

I wouldn't really pay too much attention to the ingredients

that are in it, other than what I sort of fancy to eat.

But today, Charlotte's given me everything

I need for a smoked salmon sandwich, with salad and fruit.

She says the wholegrains in the bread and the protein

in the salmon will release energy more slowly, over a longer period.

I'm fairly reassured by the fact that this isn't too far

away from what I would be having for lunch normally.

I notice she didn't give me any crisps, though.

This lunch has a lot of work to do.

I've a really busy afternoon ahead, and that's a danger zone for me.

Like a lot of people, I'll usually reach for something sweet.

But to replace those sugary snacks, Charlotte's given me nuts

and wholegrain popcorn. With no sugar rush,

my body shouldn't go through those

highs and lows of energy that I'm used to.

For me, Charlotte's meal plan is all about maintaining the right kind of

energy, but food doesn't just have to fuel our bodies while out and

about, it can also help us power down at the end of the day, too.

Bob Howe and Mick Moran both work nights as volunteers

for the Samaritans.

But because their shifts are only occasional, their bodies don't

have any kind of routine to get used to, meaning they find it hard to be

alert when they're on duty, and then hard to sleep when they get home.

PHONE RINGS

The Samaritans, can I help?

So I've asked Charlotte to pay them a visit

and find some foods that will help.

Hello. Come in.

Their shifts run from 1am until 7am, and throughout those six hours,

Bob and Mick usually only eat small snacks.

During the night, probably taken a pikelet or crumpet in,

something like that to pop in the toaster. If we get a chance to eat.

A couple of cups of tea during the night.

And then when we finish at seven, I'll come home. Generally, I'd have something

like a bacon sandwich or bacon and egg,

and then go to bed and again try and get two or three hours,

but that's about as much as I can manage.

And then when I get up, I really don't know where I am with food.

Bob and Mick also tend to graze on biscuits throughout the night,

but Charlotte recommends they ditch the sugary snacks and fuel up

properly with a meal that will keep their energy levels constant.

Try and have some kind of light lunch

in the middle of your work pattern.

So, even something small, like a sandwich helps to give you

a little bit of a boost of energy, a bit of motivation and stop

you from grazing and snacking on biscuits during your time.

Charlotte suggests a protein-packed omelette to keep Bob

and Mick's hunger pangs at bay.

There we go. Perfect.

Would you be happy to give that a go to see

if it helps with your routine, your eating routine?

-Yeah, yeah.

-I'll give that a go, yeah.

-Brilliant.

I would hope that I could go on duty

and feel that I've got the sort of energy and resources to get through

without feeling half asleep in the middle of the night.

-That lag, yeah.

-Absolutely.

Not being hungry is the key to keeping Bob and Mick alert on shift.

But they could help stay sharp by eating foods rich in omega-3 -

like salmon - or anything with lots of B vitamins such as wholegrains,

nuts and fish. That's the night shift sorted, but when Bob and Mick

want to get to sleep in the morning,

they've got a different battle ahead.

Research suggests that combining some protein-rich foods with

carbohydrates could help produce the hormones that help us

drift off to sleep.

So you could try having a small snack such as milk and crackers

or a turkey sandwich before heading up to bed.

So, Bob and Mick are armed with the secrets of a good night's sleep.

But back at the office, that's something I can only dream of

as I continue to motor through my day.

I've been genuinely surprised at how much more energised I've

felt thanks to Charlotte's meal plan.

After I finish work, I've got to drive into central London

for my other job. And as much as I love the BBC,

I think I'd rather be heading home.

At times like this, I'd normally grab some food on the go.

And Charlotte's given me some tips of what to look out for.

When you're getting dinner on the road, it's not always easy to

get the healthiest option. But I've followed Charlotte's advice to the letter. I've got some

nice chicken and a quinoa salad. That's certainly not what I'd

choose normally, but I'm pretty hungry,

so I'm looking forward to it.

Like everything else on my meal plan today, the salad is

full of things that will release their energy slowly, rather

than being loaded with the kind of carbs or sugars that will cause

my energy to crash in a couple of hours, right at the time I need it.

So, I'm coming to the last part of my day where I'm just about to record

a voiceover session, which should last about two hours. And for this,

you need to be able to concentrate and have decent levels of energy.

I've followed Charlotte's meal plan to the letter,

so hopefully I've got enough energy to see me through.

Chris, are you ready to go?

'Reassuringly, I'm able to get my words out

'and still sound surprisingly chipper'

OK, in tonight's show, we're looking at...

It's almost the end of the day

and I've been on my feet for over 18 hours, working, driving

and paying much closer attention to every single thing I eat.

Finally, I'm home.

So that's it, the end of a long day, and actually I'm pleasantly

surprised. Charlotte's diet really did work.

It just goes to show, by taking that little bit of extra care about

what you're eating really can have an impact on your energy levels.

I didn't feel hungry at all during the day

and I didn't feel my energy levels dipping, so that's brilliant.

But no diet in the world would stop me from going to bed now,

because I've definitely had enough. Night.

You know, I think that food can have so many different

effects on our bodies, and indeed our minds,

that news reports which just pick out one of those effects

on its own can actually do more harm than good.

I agree. There's a lot more to most stories

than the headlines often show.

But there's no doubt that choosing some foods

and avoiding others can make a big difference to your day.

Remember, you'll find information on some of the food we've been talking about today at...

Also on that website is a really, really useful guide to

more of the right foods you can eat to help you sleep.

I'll be looking at that one, so don't miss it.

For now, though, I'm afraid that's where we have to leave you,

but thank you very much for your company and we'll see you next time.

-Bye-bye.

-Goodbye.