Healthy Eating The Truth About...

Will eating these make me live longer?

Will drinking this cut my risk of cancer?

Can I get away with eating this if I also have a daily dose of these?

There's never been so much hype around foods and drinks

that are claimed to improve our health.

"Eat more of this, drink more of that

"and you'll live longer and better."

It's almost like taking medicine.

'I'm Fiona Phillips and, like most of us, I try to be a healthy eater.'

-I think I'm going to have a Super Green, please.

-OK.

So, if I'm told something's good for me, I'll go for it.

But although I part with my cash to buy these things,

I don't really know if they're all they're cracked up to be.

So I've teamed up with leading scientists to do some brand-new

experiments and find out how we can really

eat and drink our way to good health.

I'm going to show you why superfoods aren't always so super...

I feel that I've been conned a little bit.

..and which everyday basics are just as healthy

at a fraction of the price.

I'm going to be a human guinea pig and test some of

the top-selling health drinks and supplements on myself,

with shocking results.

You don't need it. There's no health benefits

and there might be some harm.

I'll find out why frying can be the healthiest way to cook...

The thing is, an egg doesn't absorb the fat.

..and why pricey detox products aren't worth the pain.

It's absolutely horrible.

We'll show you why you're better off with fresh foods

and a glass of wine.

I'm going to go behind the clever marketing and find out

what's really good for us, and what's a waste of money.

I want to get to the truth about healthy eating.

There are some foods we're told are so healthy for us,

they've been given their own special status.

Superfoods.

They're also super-expensive.

But despite the price, I find them hard to resist.

Goji berries.

Oh, and they're a fruit of magnificence, too!

I'm definitely having those.

Used in Chinese medicine for 6,000 years,

these exotic berries are claimed to boost the immune system.

Ah, chia seeds.

Now, these really are the buzzword of the moment.

These little seeds are claimed to protect against everything

from heart disease to ageing skin.

Oh, coconut oil.

Fair trade, raw, extra virgin, organic...

Got to have that.

Coconut oil - claimed to help us burn fat.

Oh, I've found some kale.

The wonder veg, kale,

said to protect us from cancer.

Oh, and some organic red quinoa -

the grain of the moment. That's going in.

These five so-called superfoods have cost me over £36.

But do I really need to spend so much?

'I've challenged nutrition expert Sian Porter

'to find me healthy alternatives at a fraction of the cost.'

I've got coconut oil - right on trend.

Quite expensive - £10, I paid for that.

-Whoa!

-So, have I been fooled?

I think, for everyday oil,

and something that's not going to be so pricey,

I would go for a rapeseed oil.

Rapeseed - £3 there, as opposed to my £10 I paid.

Even better, if we go right down here...

-This one...

-That's just vegetable oil.

That's pure vegetable oil.

If you buy pure vegetable oil,

always have a look what the ingredients is.

It's rapeseed oil.

And that's £1.10.

So, yep, for your everyday oil, keep your costs down.

-Right, here are the seeds, Sian.

-Yep.

So, what would be an alternative to my very expensive chia?

All seeds are a good source of omega-3.

Pumpkin seeds, sesame seeds,

er...sunflower seeds.

-They're all considerably cheaper, aren't they?

-They are.

We've got some linseed up there.

That's £1 a packet.

Instead of the pricey quinoa,

there's rice or pearl barley.

And for kale, good old cabbage or spring greens.

Finally, what about my goji berries?

So, goji berries are high in vitamin C,

but so are a lot of other fruit.

So, we've got a lovely pack of summer fruits here.

Counts as one of your five portions a day.

Again, a much more attractive price.

The everyday alternatives cost just under £6.

'That means I paid over six times more for my trendy superfoods.

'But are they worth their super price tag,

'or am I just wasting my money?'

To find out, we've teamed up with the University of Reading,

where Dr Gunter Kuhnle is going to help us set up

a head-to-head contest.

My five superfoods versus Sian's cheaper everyday alternatives.

To test some of the foods,

we've recruited a group of volunteers.

Some are superfood sceptics.

Not really my thing, to be honest.

I'm not really a fan of oaty kind of foods.

Fancy-pantsy food! Not natural.

Others, more like me, are superfood converts.

I bought coconut oil and I use it.

It's very expensive, which...

That's why you bought it in the first place.

Yes, because I'm told it's good for me,

and all good things are expensive.

I've given it a go without really knowing or understanding any of

the science about it, perhaps just going along with the hype.

Time to get testing.

First, my expensive goji berries

against the nation's favourite, strawberries.

Our volunteers will each be given

a measured portion of one of the fruits.

And Gunter will then test the levels of vitamins C in their bodies

throughout the day.

One of the claims for goji berries is, for example,

that they're so rich in vitamins C.

So, we can measure vitamin C either in the berries

or we can measure how much vitamin C

actually is taken up by the body when people eat them.

Next, it's a battle of the grains.

My trendy quinoa

against an old-fashioned favourite, pearl barley.

I have quinoa in my cupboard and I love quinoa.

I used to call it "quin-o-ah", but I know it's "keen-wah" now.

So, what is the buzz?

It releases carbohydrates much, much more slowly.

It has a lot of protein inside. It is a very interesting food.

It has been the food of the year 2013.

So, there are a lot of interesting properties

and the question's whether it has to be elevated

to some sort of superfood status.

Gunter will be testing our volunteers' blood

to find out if quinoa is really any better than barley

at giving us a slow and steady release of energy.

Back in the lab, he's also going to investigate the scientific data

on my three other superfoods,

and compare them with cheaper alternatives.

Coconut oil versus rapeseed oil.

Chia seeds versus cheap and cheerful linseeds.

And kale against good old white cabbage.

After two days of testing, it's time for the results.

First, the berries.

Which will win out in the vitamin C test?

So, guys, we've got the results.

-Gunter?

-We looked at the data,

and you can see here that there's not really any difference

between goji berries and strawberries.

Some a bit higher, some a bit lower.

As we would expect, there's some variation.

But there was not really any noticeable difference

between the two.

The strawberry readings are, on average, slightly higher.

Not enough, though, to claim a clear win.

But bad news for the gojis.

So, what you're saying is expensive -

very expensive - goji berries

are no more nutritionally super than strawberries?

If you look at vitamin C as a mark of that, no.

Gosh, I've spent so much money on goji berries.

What do you think, now you've heard that result?

I feel a little...

..silly, and that I've been conned a little bit

into buying something that isn't giving me what I thought it was.

So, I'll be sticking with strawberries.

You and me both. I'm dying to hear the results

for pearl barley versus quinoa.

The pearl barley versus quinoa was very interesting,

because it is difficult to say which is the healthiest.

I don't think the data is enough to really say

one is better than the other.

Once again, there's no significant difference in the readings.

Both grains released energy at a very similar rate

in the two hours after they were eaten.

I was quite surprised.

You hear a lot about quinoa being really good for you,

and, er...pearl barley, you kind of think of as a more basic ingredient.

So, it's interesting that, actually, they're kind of comparable.

And when Gunter analysed the scientific data

for our other superfoods,

he didn't find convincing evidence

they were any better for us than their everyday counterparts, either.

So, how has our match ended?

On health benefits, it's a score draw.

A very poor result for the superfoods.

For most of them, there's very little evidence.

We need to be careful to use this kind of superfood claim.

Superfood is something which is a great marketing term.

But, otherwise, I think from a health point of view,

it's not really this useful.

But on price, I've seen there's a clear winner.

The superfoods cost me £36.

The everyday foods, just £6 -

a huge six times cheaper.

In future, I'm going to save loads of money and eat just as healthily.

But of all the foods we buy,

there's one kind that pushes its healthy credentials like no other.

Breakfast cereals.

The boxes are plastered with healthy buzzwords

to persuade us they're the best way to start the day.

And it's working - we spend about £2 billion on them every year.

But is a bowl of cereal really the best way to kick-start our day,

or are we simply being taken in by clever marketing?

To find out, I've come to Liverpool,

where we're running our own big breakfast experiment.

We've recruited a group of willing volunteers, all students here,

to test three of our most popular breakfasts.

We want to find out which one really gives our bodies the best start

and keeps us feeling full until lunchtime.

First, the market-leading cereal brand,

a whole wheat variety.

Its box boasts a whole list of benefits.

We're going to pit it against the healthy option

on every breakfast menu - fresh fruit and yogurt.

And our traditional favourite with a healthy twist -

grilled bacon and boiled eggs.

To make sure it's a fair contest,

our volunteers are all of similar age and build.

And they'll eat the same number of calories of each breakfast -

about 300.

We're going to carry out a unique set of tests to discover how

our volunteers' bodies respond to these very different foods,

and find out which of them gives us the healthiest start.

Our tests will measure which breakfast is best

at supplying our bodies with the energy we need,

and at keeping us feeling full and satisfied through the day.

Dr James Brown, from Aston University,

is taking regular blood tests throughout the experiment.

He'll measure the levels of a sugar called glucose.

That's our body's main source of energy.

What we're measuring is, over a two-hour period,

how much glucose is being released into the blood.

Ideally, you would want a regular dose of glucose, wouldn't you?

Yeah, if you can make sure that you're slowly releasing energy,

you won't snack between meals,

or you're less likely to snack between meals,

and that's far healthier.

Dr Graeme Close is an exercise scientist

here at Liverpool John Moores University.

He's looking for any difference in how many calories

our bodies are burning after each breakfast -

both when our volunteers are exercising

and when they're at rest.

So, you can see we've got a hood over Sophie's face.

This is so we can collect all the expired gases.

So, you can tell just by the breath, what she's breathing out,

what's going on in her body?

Yeah, not only in terms of a total amount of calories

that she's expending, but also, we can look at,

is she using predominantly carbohydrate as her fuel,

or predominantly fat as her fuel?

'Graeme knows his stuff.

'He advises the England rugby team on how to eat for top performance.'

What would you be advising them to have on match day?

Do you know what? On a match day,

it's probably a combination of all three.

-It would probably be all three that you've just seen.

-Really?

They'd probably need a little bit more fuel.

For four hours after they've eaten,

our volunteers are also completing questionnaires

to say how full they feel through the morning,

and keeping a food diary to record how many calories they consume

for the rest of the day.

Oh, you're doing well there.

-Cheers.

-So, this is on a cereal breakfast?

-Yeah.

-How does that compare to, say, the yogurt and fruit one?

-Is it easier with the cereal breakfast, do you think?

-Yeah.

I'm fuller on the cereal breakfast than I was on the yogurt and fruit.

I'm not a massive cereal eater, anyway.

Carbohydrate-rich food, for me, just seems...

I seem to get hungry incredibly quick.

So my preference was, personally, the eggs and the bacon.

Er...the yogurts and banana, I felt like there was no change for me.

I was just so hungry.

But which breakfast is really the healthiest start to the day?

Graeme and James are crunching the numbers to find out.

Meanwhile, if there's one thing we're told makes our cereal healthy,

it's being wholegrain.

As the term suggests,

this means the whole grain is used, with nothing removed in processing.

The cereal we're testing in our experiment is 95% wholewheat.

This means it's rich in fibre,

a key healthy nutrient that releases energy slowly in our bodies.

This should mean it keeps us feeling fuller for longer.

But I've come across some intriguing research

that suggests it might not be that simple.

I've come to Nottingham University to meet Dr Giles Major,

an expert in digestion.

First, he's going to show me what happens

when we eat a food rich in fibre.

So, when you eat fibroidy foods, they go into your stomach

but they're not immediately digested.

What happens is they form a gel.

You can see that if you add some fibre to water,

what you get is this...

-Slow-moving, glutinous...

-Yeah, that's going to sit in your bowel.

I stress that's not happening to everybody, necessarily, inside,

to that degree - that's an extreme example.

But it gives you the idea that any food that's caught in there

isn't going to be as rapidly digested.

This looks pretty disgusting,

but it's the secret of why fibre is good for us.

The main benefit of fibre comes from the fact that we've evolved to work

for our energy and make an effort to break down those foods

and get the energy out.

We're not used to having all this food and energy

rapidly absorbed into our body.

What our body wants is to absorb it gradually over time,

and that will lead to a slow, steady energy release that gives you,

hopefully, energy throughout the day.

Wholegrain foods have long been known

as a good way to get these benefits.

But in some brand-new research,

Giles and his team have revealed that's not the full story.

Using an MRI scanner, they're measuring how quickly

different sizes of wholegrain pass through our gut.

So far, they've been testing oats,

comparing large, coarse grains with finely milled varieties,

like the ones in convenience porridge.

This is the porridge inside the stomach.

-So, this one is Ali's stomach.

-Gosh, yeah. Much bigger.

-This was slightly early on.

-Yeah.

-Remember how big the stomach was.

-Yeah, yeah.

-And look at it now. It's all gone.

-FIONA GASPS

Gosh. And what was the time lapse between...?

This was two hours after the first one that we showed you.

The team are finding a key difference.

The bigger, coarse oats pass through us more slowly

than the finely milled kind.

It seems that milling the oats starts to break the fibre down

before we eat it, so we lose some of the benefits,

even if it's still 100% wholegrain, with nothing taken away.

So I'm guessing that the bigger the oat, really...

Like, a jumbo oat would probably be the best porridge ever.

Well, in theory, the bigger the particles,

the longer it will take to break them down

and that will lead to slower energy release.

So, in theory, yes.

The bigger the oat, the better the oat,

in simple terms.

So far, oats are the only grains the team have studied like this

and more research is needed.

But these early results suggest that when wholegrains are processed,

you might not get all the benefits.

And as the cereals we buy are manufactured,

the grains have all been through some degree of processing

before they end up in the box.

Back with our own experiment,

we've been testing one such manufactured cereal

against two other popular breakfast choices...

Fruit and yogurt,

and bacon and eggs.

And it's time to see which of them gives our body the best start.

So, the results are in.

What do they show us, James?

-We've got the glucose...

-Some quite interesting things.

Firstly, what we saw, which I found interesting -

there was no difference in the total amount of glucose

that was delivered to the blood

between the three different breakfast types that we chose.

So, those that had fruit and yogurt didn't have significantly different

glucose to those that had cereal, or those that had eggs and bacon.

'There was also no change in the calories our volunteers burned

'after eating the different foods.

'So, on the energy measures,

'our breakfasts scored surprisingly evenly.

'But in our other tests, there was a significant difference.'

What we saw is the individuals that had eggs and bacon

were significantly fuller four hours after breakfast

than the individuals that had either fruit and yogurt or cereal.

So eating eggs and bacon for breakfast

will help to keep you fuller for longer.

And if we put that into some context of a working day -

maybe having breakfast at 7am -

by 11am, that's maybe when people go running for that snack

that perhaps isn't the best option

and contributes to maybe overeating throughout the day.

The food diaries also showed

that our volunteers consumed fewer calories at lunchtime

after the bacon and eggs than after the other two breakfasts.

So, what's made the difference?

It turns out it isn't just the fibre.

The key factor between all the meals is the protein.

So, there was around about 25 to 30g of protein in the eggs and bacon,

compared with only around 10g in the other two meals.

Because the other meals were lower in protein,

would be one of the main reasons why you're feeling hungry much quicker.

So, James, we started this off today

by looking for the healthiest breakfast.

To my uneducated eyes, looking at those graphs,

it looks as though the eggs and bacon might well be that.

I think you're probably right.

If we had to say there was one breakfast that had an added benefit,

it would be eggs and bacon.

What worries me about it is a lot of the stories that have been in

the papers very recently, actually, linking processed meat -

ie bacon - with stomach and bowel cancers.

There is some evidence to suggest there is an increased risk of

those cancers if you consume processed meat.

However, the risk is very small compared to other risks

like driving a car every day or drinking alcohol.

So, the odd bacon breakfast probably isn't going to do you any harm.

When our experiment started,

I thought the cereal was the surefire winner.

But who'd have thought that bacon and eggs turns out to be healthiest

in terms of staving off hunger, and blood sugar levels,

and keeping people fuller, too?

Who knows? The great British breakfast could be back!

Oh, as long as you grill the bacon and boil the eggs.

Of course, we all assume that frying would have made our breakfast

much less healthy, loaded with fat.

But is that true?

How much difference does the way we cook our food really make

to how healthy it is?

-We are in the middle of a market.

-We're in a market.

'Nutritionist Amanda Ursell has come to show us some tricks,

'starting with eggs.'

There are many ways of cooking them

and I guess that affects how healthy they are or not.

-Definitely. Definitely.

-Yeah.

And number one, I think, where we can make a mistake

is scrambled eggs.

So, I'll put the pan on the heat

and I guess you're going to put some butter in to cook it.

I'm going to put some butter in, melt that down.

-OK.

-OK? Pop it in.

-In it goes.

OK, so, there we are. I'm going to make my scrambled egg.

And in an instant, you're not going to see any of that butter.

It's just going to be incorporated into the scrambled egg.

I've got a naked egg here.

What if I fry the egg?

I think the impression is, "Oh, fried egg's bad for you."

That's what you think, isn't it?

Just sizzling sounds as though it should be bad for you.

But the thing is, an egg doesn't absorb the fat.

-A piece of bread, yes.

-SHE SLURPS

Soaks up the oil - really does - like a sponge.

But the egg isn't going to actually absorb the fat.

So, here's my fried egg.

-And if I drain it...

-The fat's coming off.

So, fried or scrambled, you would go for...

I would go for the fried, every day of the week.

So, a big surprise.

I always thought scrambled eggs were healthy

but it turns out we can more than double the fat

by cooking with butter and milk.

Frying is actually a healthier way to cook eggs,

because the egg isn't absorbing the fat.

And it turns out the same is true of lean meat and fish.

But what about veg?

We've got some broccoli

and four different cooking methods on the go -

boiling, stir-frying, steaming and microwaving.

So, which is the worst for our healthy veg?

My guess is the microwave.

I know not everybody likes to microwave,

but actually, it's a very good method of cooking

for retaining vitamins.

The key is to use as little water as you can

and do it for the shortest amount of time.

'Turns out that vitamin C dissolves in water and is damaged by heat.

'So the microwave is a surprisingly healthy option,

'because you don't use much water and the cooking time is short.

'That's also true of stir-frying.'

We just going to stir-fry it quickly

and you're doing it for short, sharp cooking time.

So, although it's a hot temperature, it's just for a short time.

And, of course, the one we've all heard is healthy, steaming.

Steaming is absolutely numero uno.

It's the best way of doing your greens because it hasn't got...

-There's no water in it.

-Yep.

It's for a short time. It keeps the vitamins in.

Best way of doing it.

-I think most people would probably boil broccoli, wouldn't they?

-Yeah.

So, how does that compare?

Boiling is the worst way of cooking the broccoli.

The vitamins C is going to leach out and be affected by the heat.

So, there we are - there's our boiled broccoli.

Poor old boiled broccoli - it's looking a bit sad, isn't it?

It is looking a bit sad.

It seems to have shed half of itself in the saucepan.

And a lot of the vitamin C will actually be in that water.

So, for the healthiest veg, fry, microwave or steam.

But whatever you do, don't boil.

Come on, four for £5.

-Hi, there.

-Hi.

-I think I'm going to have a Super Green, please.

-OK.

When it comes to looking for a health boost,

just as important as what we eat is what we drink.

'The market in fruit juices and smoothies has exploded

'over the past decade.'

-Mm, that looks good.

-Sure is.

-Mm!

Thank you. Mm!

'And I, for one, can't get enough of them.'

Oh, that's lovely. Thank you.

One of the main reasons we think drinks like this are so good for us

is cos they're packed full of natural chemicals

called antioxidants.

There's a real buzz about antioxidants at the moment

because they supposedly mop up substances which can be harmful

to the cells in our bodies and are linked with cancer and ageing.

But I'm wondering if drinking this is going to give me

the antioxidant boost I'm hoping for.

It's a message more and more of us are buying.

We now spend £250 million a year on smoothies -

and lots of us are blitzing up our own, too.

But are we really getting the health hit we think we are?

To get to the truth, I've come to Dundee.

I'm at the James Hutton Institute to meet biochemist Dr Gordon McDougall.

He's going to demonstrate what happens to the antioxidants from

a fruit juice or smoothie when they get inside us.

How does this work in our bodies, Gordon?

That's one of the interesting things -

we can measure antioxidants very easily,

using all sorts of chemical tests.

And, for example, in the fruit,

the levels of antioxidants are very high.

If you look at, for example, blueberries...

Oh, high in antioxidants, so I'm told.

Very high in antioxidants.

And one of the main antioxidants in there

is a compound which gives it the characteristic colour.

To show me what happens when we consume these antioxidants,

Gordon's going to put some blueberry juice into a tube of chemicals

that mimic the ones in our stomach.

So, for example, you take blueberry juice.

-Yeah.

-And if you put that into conditions which mimic

the conditions in the stomach, which is slightly acidic,

so it's the start of digestion,

you see that these antioxidants are really quite happy.

So, in the stomach, they're stable

and therefore they could act as antioxidants.

So far, so good.

But to show me what happens next,

Gordon's going to put the juice into a second tube of chemicals

that mimic the ones in my intestine.

So, as these antioxidants would move from the stomach into the intestine,

conditions change, and suddenly,

those antioxidants are not quite so stable.

No, they're not, are they? Crikey!

It darkens and, as you can see,

these components are starting to break up,

which leads to low levels actually getting into the body,

where they can be effective.

The colour has disappeared before my eyes.

So these antioxidants will never make it into my bloodstream.

When you take them into the body,

what you find is these compounds do not get into the bloodstream

at anything like the levels you have present in the original berries.

-So, SOME do.

-Only about 1% of the original amounts

will get into your bloodstream.

I'm really shocked that only a small fraction

of the antioxidants I consume

actually make it into my bloodstream.

But what about the ones that do?

Do they give us the antioxidant boost we think?

To find out, I'm going to use my own body as a live experiment.

First, we need to establish

my body's natural level of antioxidants,

without taking in extra from my diet.

So, for 48 hours, I need to avoid foods that contain antioxidants.

That means no fruit, no veg, no wholegrain foods

and, hardest of all, no coffee.

Instead, white pasta and rice, potatoes, white bread and milk.

And, by day two, I'm thoroughly sick of it.

That's your milk, madam.

-Oh, milk!

-Thank you.

-I really, really want a coffee.

Thank you.

After two days, I have a blood test to record the baseline level

of antioxidants naturally present in my body.

Next, time for a big hit of extra antioxidants

in the form of a smoothie.

Here it is, packed full of antioxidants.

There are lots of smoothies like it on the market and, er, here we go.

Let's see what it's like.

I'll have several blood samples taken over the next eight hours,

to test whether drinking the smoothie really does boost

the level of antioxidants in my body.

To get my results, I've come to Newcastle,

where scientists at the university

have been analysing my blood samples.

I'm meeting Dr Kirsten Brandt.

So, what were the results, Kirsten?

What was going on in my blood?

Well, when you had the smoothie,

the antioxidants went up quite a lot,

because of all those antioxidants in your smoothie

coming into your blood.

So, at the same time, the body is trying to get these antioxidants

out of your body again, cos they are not...

They don't belong in your body - they're foreign molecules.

What happens is, it actually ends up going down below

what it was to begin with, and over eight hours,

you don't actually manage to get back to the baseline.

So, those antioxidant-drenched smoothies,

like the one I consumed -

are they actually harmful, would you say?

Well, I don't think it's harmful, but there's not any benefit, either.

So, for those people who would try to sell you a smoothie and tell you

that it will increase your antioxidants,

it's just about as silly as if they were going to sell you a warm drink

and say, "This will increase your body temperature."

I mean, the point is that the whole concept

is misunderstanding how the body is regulated.

Cos your body regulates it anyway back to its base level.

Whichever you change it - if you change it up or you change it down,

the body will go back to the normal level.

So, it seems our own bodies keep our antioxidant levels

just where they should be, and get rid of any excess.

So, while we all know antioxidants naturally present in fruit and veg

are a key part of a healthy diet,

buying products that claim to boost your antioxidant levels

is a waste of money.

Beyond the foods and drinks we buy,

more and more of us are choosing to add to our diet with supplements.

We cram in the vitamin pills, believing they'll boost our health,

fend off illnesses

and make up for us not eating the perfect balanced diet.

We now spend over £300 million a year on vitamins and fish oils.

That's more than we spend on carrots.

And the biggest money-spinners are these, multivitamins.

But do they really do us any good?

To find out, I'm going to do another experiment on myself.

Every day for two weeks,

I'm taking the maximum allowed dose of multivitamin pills.

After a fortnight popping pills,

and some blood tests, it's time for my results.

Well, I've been on these for, ooh, about two weeks now

and I have to say, as far as I'm concerned,

they have made no difference whatsoever.

I don't feel full of vim, full of vigour.

So I'll be very interested to see

if they have raised my vitamin levels or not.

Naveed Sattar,

professor of metabolic medicine at Glasgow University,

has been looking at the levels of vitamins in my blood,

before and after my two-week regime.

I can't wait to find out my results.

So, first of all, before I took the multivitamins...

They're all within the normal range.

There's no levels here that suggest any levels of deficiency and,

as I would expect for someone like you,

all the levels are perfectly healthy.

-No problems.

-Oh, good. OK.

So the only things that multivitamins could do

is increase my healthiness, hopefully.

Well, yes, your results afterwards -

can I say some things have increased?

I cannot. They're broadly in line with your original results

and I think the other thing that you should recognise -

and I think this is the most important point -

multivitamin trials, which are the best evidence,

have not shown any clear benefits...

-Really?

-..in preventing heart disease, cancer

or other chronic diseases.

In fact, some people might think,

"Well, I'll just take the multivitamins anyway."

Mm. As a safeguard or an assurance-type thing.

Exactly. Because people think,

"Well, maybe they provide a boost to my defence mechanisms

"and safeguard me against diseases."

But...I would say that would be fine,

except for three of these trials we've seen,

there's been increased risk taking the multivitamins

-for certain conditions.

-Actual harm?

Actual harm, and that includes lung cancer and skin cancers.

So, we're in a position where actually taking these vitamins

doesn't seem to give us any clear benefits

and might actually, in some individuals, cause harm.

That's quite shocking.

Multivitamins, I often say to people, for most people,

are a way to make expensive urine.

Yeah. Because you pee it out if you don't use it?

You pee it out. You don't need it.

And, actually, there's no health benefits

and there might be some harm, so I think...

That is the best-quality evidence we have from randomised trials

in hundreds of thousands of people.

So my course of multivitamins was a complete waste of time and money.

They've not increased my vitamin levels by one jot.

Even worse, it appears that these pills

can sometimes actually cause harm.

From cereals to smoothies to supplements,

I've seen how clever marketing can make us think something

is so much healthier than it really is.

So, what are the tricks being used to make us part with our cash?

I've come to London.

I'm here to create a fictitious product.

'I'm teaming up with marketing creative Will Audrey

'to help me turn a bottle of ordinary tap water

'into something a bit more special.

'First thing I'll need is a good name.'

We've started, obviously, with "water",

played about with it a bit and our candidate is Wetter.

Oh! That suggests it's even more hydrating

than a normal mineral water, to me.

Wetter is better.

You might have just written your own headline there.

Next, Will's come up with

three possible bottle designs

that each give a different message.

The first one suggests natural goodness.

Wow! That is a gorgeous bottle.

I would buy that just for the bottle.

It looks brilliant.

The second - boosting performance.

There are plenty of other competitive brands out there

who use health and performance and fitness and outdoors life.

-Mm-hm.

-That's where we went to next.

I can't swim, so it's making me feel rather intimidated.

The third bottle goes for science.

Playing games with H2O.

And it just sort of says "sciencey".

You're right - the science convinces me that it is good for me,

but I already knew that.

Which one would you lean towards?

It's the H2O one that I'd go for.

That's... I've really been sold by that.

So now it's time to test my new product on the public.

I've come to Glasgow.

Well, here it is.

My bottle of Wetter water.

I have to say, I'm delighted with that.

It's looks stylish, it's got all the scientific information on it.

All the claims - it hydrates you really well.

It's essential for human health.

Full of electrolytes, PH balance, which, of course,

is all true of ordinary tap water.

But will all this really persuade people that Wetter is better?

To find out, I've come to a place full of thirsty customers -

a music and fitness class.

Thank you so much for letting us intrude on your class.

We won't interfere too much.

In fact, hopefully, we will be of some benefit to you,

because we've been working on a new product that we've come up with.

Scientifically tested.

It is a beautiful bottle of water called Wetter.

It is going to hydrate you like nothing you've ever drunk before.

After a vigorous session of music and movement,

our exercisers are going to get their first taste of Wetter.

I do like the bottle.

It is very stylish.

It's very nice, it's very refreshing.

There's almost a kind of saltiness in it.

So, there's a wee bit of flavour.

It's a lovely bottle, I have to say.

Well, you see! So, would that make you buy it?

-The bottle?

-Yeah, if I wasn't near a tap I would, yeah, go and buy some.

We've asked the women to fill in a questionnaire,

using a rating scale to say how well they felt

Wetter refreshed and hydrated them,

compared to their usual water, and how much they'd pay for it.

So, now, the moment of truth.

On average, you found it 12% more refreshing than your usual water.

Thank you very much.

It hydrates you better by 6%, you thought.

You thought it was 20% healthier than your usual water,

which I feel very proud of - thank you.

On average, you'd pay 95 pence per bottle,

which is more than 2½ times the price of equivalent-sized

supermarket own brands.

'Now it's time to reveal the source of our Wetter water.'

It's full of electrolytes, we said.

It's PH balanced.

It's essential for human health.

Erm...and that is true of Glasgow tap water.

THEY LAUGH AND APPLAUD

Which, in fact, is what our lovely bottle of Wetter is.

There's nowt as fine as Glasgow tap water and...

THEY EXCLAIM

Thank you!

Well, it just goes to show, doesn't it,

how easily we can be bamboozled by science and health claims,

even though this is just tap water.

I, for one, would have been sucked in by all the claims on this bottle.

It's looks good, it apparently does you good.

So does ordinary water, but, hey, I'd have bought it

and it seems a lot of other people would have, too.

But though you'll never see my Wetter brand in the shops,

we do buy a colossal amount of bottled water -

2.6 billion litres a year.

We know that to be healthy, we need to keep our bodies hydrated.

For as long as I can remember, I've heeded the advice to drink six,

maybe eight, glasses of water every day.

But I couldn't tell you where that advice comes from.

I mean, do we really need to drink one of these every day?

This bottle contains two litres,

the amount most of us think we need in a day.

But there's actually no real evidence for this.

In fact, research suggests that one litre is enough.

But what I want to know is, does it really have to be water,

or will other drinks hydrate us just as well?

To satisfy my thirst for knowledge, I've come to Cardiff,

where we're going to run an experiment.

Here at this British Gas call centre,

we've recruited 24 volunteers.

We've divided them into four groups.

Six people will drink plain old water.

Another six, fresh orange juice.

The third group will have coffee.

And the rest will be drinking fresh milk.

Our volunteers will consume precisely a litre

of their particular drink in 60 minutes.

Dr Stuart Galloway, from Stirling University,

will measure how well hydrated they are over the next three hours,

in a particularly charming way.

So, we have a little pot that we need you to pee in at the start.

OK? You need to empty your bladder,

and then every hour during the experiment.

That's right - this experiment is all about measuring urine output.

The more hydrated they are, the more they'll pee.

Looking forward to that.

I wonder how long before there's a queue for the loo!

While our volunteers are on their drinking binge,

Stuart's going to show me the secret of good hydration.

Stuart, I think most people, like me,

would think that water is the best hydrator.

Yeah, well, water is good in many situations.

But if you want something that's better than water,

you have to add some other ingredients.

We have a few sitting here.

So we have some glucose.

The sugar in a drink will help with water absorption in the intestine.

So it's actually getting the water around the body better that all these magic ingredients do?

Yeah, and then here we have normal salt.

So the sodium in here is important

-for helping to retain the water in the body water pool.

-OK.

In a drink that's designed to be very good at hydrating,

you'll have a reasonable amount of salt in there.

Then probably a bit of flavouring - add some of that to make it...

What's that, lemon?

Yeah, lemon juice to make it taste a bit nicer.

And then if we add...

-It doesn't sound very nice!

-We add the water.

We're making up about 500mls.

So...that would be a rough mix of a solution

that would be good for hydration.

That solution will help the water be delivered

to the circulation rapidly,

but also help you to hold on to that water

for a bit longer than you normally would.

You're not going to make me try that, are you?

Yeah, why not? Oh, I could put one of these in.

Oh, thank you. Thank you very much.

So, my ultimate hydration cocktail.

Thank you very much.

Actually, I don't mind that.

Tastes a bit like a margarita.

It's actually all right.

'I'm beginning to get the idea that water might not be the best drink

'to hydrate us after all.

'Back out in the office,

'how are our volunteers getting on with the other everyday drinks

'we're testing - coffee, fresh orange juice and milk?'

Hey, guys.

-How's it going?

-Good.

I didn't expect to see you all sitting here.

I thought you'd all be in the loo.

-Laura, oh, gosh!

-I know - milk.

That must be the worst - warm milk.

-How's it going?

-It's not the best, I have to admit.

The aftertaste is not very pleasant.

No. It takes me back to school days, warm milk.

Horrible, claggy. What about the loo?

Because with milk, I wouldn't have thought

that would've gone through you quite as quickly.

I thought it would fill me up.

But, no, I do actually really need to go right now.

Right, I'd better leave you alone, now.

Jamilla, I can see by your glorious little vessel here

that you're on water.

-Yes.

-So, how's it going, and have you been going?

I've been going,

and I probably think that's the best one to have had.

-Jennifer, how's it going?

-It's not too bad, actually.

I've got orange juice, so... Fills you up quite a lot.

Do you think it's a good hydrator?

I'd probably say water's better. I prefer water.

But it does go through you quite quickly, so...

So, how are you feeling around the bladder region at the moment,

after four large coffees?

Bursting to go to the toilet at the moment. I need to go.

Yes, go, go. I don't want you bursting over me.

I'll let you go. Thank you. Don't take your coffee!

And, after three hours and umpteen trips to the loo,

it's time to see which of our four groups is the best hydrated.

This figure shows an overview of, really,

the urine output in relation to water.

And we can see, if we call water 100%,

that drinking coffee wasn't any different from water.

Drinking the orange juice really wasn't any different from water, either,

even though it looks like it's going up slightly.

But drinking milk seems to be the best

for helping to retain body water over the time we studied.

So, milk is a better hydrator than water?

Yes, well, it's for two reasons.

One is that the delivery of fluid is a bit slower

because of the protein in the milk.

It slows the delivery of water to the circulation.

Secondly, it has quite high sodium and potassium content,

which helps to hold the water in your body.

Wow! My, my. I can believe I'm saying this

but for sustained all-round hydration,

milk in all its forms - skimmed, semi-skimmed, full-fat -

is the best hydrator?

Yes, that's how it seems.

The previous study, we looked at skimmed milk and full-fat milk.

Today we've looked at semi-skimmed milk,

and they're all coming out very similar.

I'd never have thought milk would hydrate me better than water,

and that fruit juice and even coffee can do the job, too.

From now on, I'll feel less guilty about my morning coffee

with a splash of milk.

For years, I've been avoiding cow's milk,

thinking that the saturated fat in it must be bad for me.

But the latest research suggests

that most saturated fat in dairy milk does us no harm,

and might even be good for us.

But despite this, more and more of us are turning to alternatives

we think are healthier, like soya and almond milk.

To find out how they really compare with dairy,

I've come to Surrey University to see Margaret Rayman,

professor of nutritional medicine.

So, Margaret, what is in good old milk?

Well, it's carbohydrate, fat, protein.

It's a good food source.

-And vitamins, minerals?

-Yes, vitamins.

It's a very good source of B vitamins.

One in particular that I should mention is vitamin B12.

So, although meat and liver and things like that have a lot

of B12 in them, we can't absorb it as well.

So, this is the pre-eminent source of B12.

It's really good in terms of avoiding dementia.

So, you do need B12, especially as you get older.

Most importantly, in terms of my research,

is that it's a source of...

It's a very good source of iodine.

OK, and what part does that play in our bodies?

-I know it's linked to the thyroid in some way.

-Yes, it is.

Iodine is the unique constituent of thyroid hormones.

Thyroid hormones are important in terms of, er,

your whole body metabolism, growth and development,

particularly in the foetus and young child.

It's recommended you get 150 micrograms of iodine every day,

and twice that if you're pregnant.

Margaret's team has been comparing the levels of iodine

in dairy, soya and almond milk.

Regular cow's milk contains around 400 micrograms a litre.

Organic, a little less.

But both soya and almond milk have only a tiny fraction of this amount.

So while a glass of dairy milk will give you all the iodine you need,

soya and almond will leave you well short.

Perhaps we should be worrying a bit less about the fat in our milk

and stick with dairy for a healthy hit of vitamins and minerals.

Now, in recent years, a whole new craze

has burst on to the scene,

claiming there is another way we can keep our bodies

at the peak of healthiness - detoxing.

The idea is that our fast-food, fast-living culture

can cause toxins to build up in our bodies,

and it's claimed there are some foods and some drinks

that can get rid of them and give our bodies a deep cleanse.

From detox teas to coconut water to maple syrup,

we've been persuaded that these products can somehow

flush out the nasties and make us healthier.

But does any of this stuff actually work?

We're going to put detoxing to the test.

There are all sorts of detoxifying diets you can go on. What about...

'Dr Justin Roberts from Anglia Ruskin University

'is a nutrition scientist.'

What toxins are we actually detoxing ourselves from?

As humans, we are exposed to many different types of toxins,

from the world around us, the environment, to pollutants,

to the food we eat.

And, of course, if we overload on certain foods,

such as caffeine, sugar, alcohol,

these will add to the toxic load, or toxin load, that we endure.

The question is whether diet would make a big difference to that.

To find out, we've recruited six students

who say their bodies could do with a healthy reboot.

We're splitting them into two groups.

Each will follow a different diet for a week.

For Kehinde, Ben and Leanne,

it's a traditional balanced diet that includes meat and fish,

pasta and rice, fruit and veg,

eggs, dairy and wholemeal bread.

They're even allowed the odd coffee and alcoholic drink.

The others - Enrique, Gigi and Carly -

will be on our detox diet.

For them, most of what's on the regular menu is banned.

They'll mainly eat raw and steamed veg,

just one daily portion of wholegrain rice or quinoa,

and steamed fish every other day.

Twice a day, they'll drink detox tea or coconut water,

claimed to boost the liver, our body's own built-in detoxifier.

And they'll have a daily dose of hot water, lemon juice,

maple syrup and cayenne pepper,

supposed to cleanse the digestive system.

How happy are you to be on a detox, Enrique?

It looks very interesting, very challenging, maybe.

-And Gigi?

-It's so different from what I usually eat.

I mean, there's nothing in common except for the fish.

What we've tried to do is keep the diets comparable,

but one's focusing on detoxing

and the other one's focusing on creating this natural, healthy diet.

We're trying to see which one's actually going to give you better results.

Over the next week, the students will follow their diet plans

and Justin will run a series of tests.

He'll compare their liver function, heart rate, weight, skin health,

appetite and general wellbeing,

to look for any evidence that the detox diet is doing any good.

This is it.

Three days in, the detox group are finding their diet

a bit of a struggle.

HE COUGHS

My roommate is laughing.

It's horrible. It's absolutely horrible.

As are the side effects...

I started feeling really tired and I had these mood swings.

I'm definitely peeing a lot more.

But for the students following the simple, healthy diet,

it's a different story.

I have more energy in the morning, when I wake up, especially.

I'll be drinking my green tea.

In the future, I am definitely going to continue with the healthy eating.

After a week, our volunteers are back for the results.

So, what has Justin discovered?

What we found was that, in fact, the results favoured

the healthy diet group.

Well...

So the detoxing diet doesn't actually really detox?

There was no real benefit from doing the detox diet.

The regular, healthy diet group had better results

on nearly all the measures -

liver, heart, weight and general wellbeing.

The detox group fared better only on skin health

and struggled with nasty side effects.

What's also interesting, without being too personal,

-is your bowel movements...

-THEY CHUCKLE

..were twice as much as the healthy diet group,

which probably explains why you weren't feeling as good, as well.

It's not nice to hear that you sacrificed a week

and you haven't come out healthier than the guys

eating some normal food.

I found the result really surprising.

Kind of disappointing, in a way.

I thought it would be the other way round, honestly.

So I think the conclusion, Justin,

is that as long as you're eating a balanced, healthy diet,

-then that is the optimum diet.

-Absolutely.

You poor things.

I actually feel sorry. I apologise for making you do that.

-It's unexpected.

-Yeah.

I started this programme as someone

who'd go for every new fad and superfood,

believing it would make me healthier.

But I've learned to see beyond the hype,

the labels and the expensive price tags.

You know, there aren't any quick fixes, magical formulas,

wonder foods or miracle pills,

and it needn't cost a fortune to eat really well.

As long as you're eating a range of everyday foods -

fruit, veg, lean meat, fish, wholegrains -

you're really getting all your body needs to remain in tiptop condition,

because the truth about healthy eating is

it's food that's been on our plates all this time.