Food for thought

Unless you’ve been living under a rock recently you’ll know that meat has been making headlines on both the health, animal welfare and sustainability fronts. With new research being released weekly, apps available for download encouraging plant based eating and documentaries being aired on Netflix claiming meat to be a group one carcinogen – are we in danger of meat the general public being left completely confused?

The Evidence

There’s truckloads of research on the benefits of reducing meat consumption for human health. One of the main nutrients likely to the rise with a reduction in meat and increase in plants is fibre. This means your digestive system reaps the benefits and your body loads up on essential vitamins and minerals.

There are also potential environmental benefits, with beef and lamb topping the UK list of food related greenhouse gas emissions. Beef comes in at 35kg of CO2 per kilo, versus vegetables at 2.5kg (1). In 2012, WRAP (Waste and Resources Action Programme) reported that categorised by cost, meat and fish is the largest group of avoidable food waste, totalling to a whopping £2.1billion (2). These are numbers that we can clearly improve on.

Technology may pose some answers to the above, helping us gather statistics to ensure we know exactly what’s going on, but sadly that is not always enough. Knowledge is one thing, but it is not always sufficient to create real behaviour change. At a recent nutrition conference Professor James Stubbs drew me into his thought provoking conversation about the psychological barriers of decreasing our meat consumption. I was intrigued, mainly because it was so true.

Global meat consumption has almost doubled in the last 50 years from 63g per person per day in 1961 to 115g per person per day in 2009 (3). Even today, meat is still linked with wealth, status and luxury and a massive cultural shift is needed before we will witness large scale reduction. For us, changing non-food related behaviours is preferred, more acceptable and seen as a greater priority for climate change (4). We’d rather recycle and use eco-friendly plastic forks than sacrifice our Sunday roast. Behaviour change is complicated and takes long term investment to see a real difference, but the rewards can be hugely positive, especially when it comes to food.

Within the UK, 60% of men and 40% of women exceed government advice to consume no more than 70g red & processed meat per day (5). 70 grams is the equivalent of 2 slices of roast beef or 1 large lamb chop daily, and yet we are over consuming. At the same time, we have other important nutrients such as fibre, where we are way off the mark. If we could only decrease consumption of some of the food groups we have a little too much of and replace them with those that we struggle to get enough, we may just be on the way to achieving a more rounded picture of health.

The argument should not be about a few of us completely cutting meat out – I would never advocate removing food groups from the human diet – but about everyone making a few small changes. After all, if we don’t start making some soon, there won’t be a planet left for the generations after us to enjoy.

So maybe swap the beef burger for a veggie pattie occasionally, enjoy the parmigiana with aubergine now and again and perhaps try a lentil dahl instead of your chicken tikka.

And on a side note, for all those ‘High Fat Low Carb’ advocates out there, I believe the contribution to our planet may be something that’s not been heavily discussed yet? Might be worth adding to the agenda at Ketofest….

References:

1. Green R, Milner J, Dangour A, et al. The potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the UK through healthy and realistic dietary change. Climatic change. 2015; 129:253-265
2. WRAP, Household food and drink waste in the United Kingdom, 2012
3. FAOSTAT, 2013
4. Macdiarmid J, Douglas F, Campbell J. Eating like there’s no tomorrow: Public awareness of the environmental impact of food and reluctance to eat less meat as part of a sustainable diet. Appetite. 2016; 96:487-93
5. Westland & Crawley, Healthy & Sustainable Diets in the Early Years 2012

Working not only as a nutritionist, but also as a fitness coach means my exposure to the misinformed is way above average. And protein ranks high on the agenda.

The challenge that has faced us for some time now is how to ensure that fitness professionals approach nutrition with their clients in the right way. Currently exercise professionals have the choice to complete additional training in the area of nutrition, which in the majority of cases is a course run face to face or via e learning. With nutrition being a constantly changing area of scientific research, this is barely enough time to cover the basics, and even with a three-year degree under my belt, endless learning is still part and parcel of keeping up to date. But with the fitness world being ultimately responsible for building beautiful bodies, surely this is ample qualifications and knowledge to advise clients on how to eat well…isn’t it?

No….it’s not, and I question whether we are putting consumers at risk by not having enough nutrition support within the fitness bubble?

Walk into any exercise establishment and you’ll spot a protein shake in someone’s hands within seconds, followed by a vending machine stocking more of the same and a selection of brightly coloured, poorly branded protein bars. The new circuit of boutique gyms (particularly in London) all sell protein shakes post workout at anywhere between £5 and £8 a go. Many contain protein powder, nut milk and some form of nut butter, and it’s likely that your protein intake from this alone is well up there with the total daily recommendations (55g for men and 45g for women for the average person). And then there’s the huge number of calories that these contain, with many people then going on to eat breakfast straight after.

The fact of the matter is that most people who consume a balanced diet don’t need protein supplementation, or any additional protein intake. The problem lies in a lack of understanding as to what a balanced diet actually is. With restriction of some foods (especially carbohydrates) being so common, there is a tendency to over compensate by increasing our consumption of others. Add to this our innate nature and want for something new, and the protein market has had the opportunity to boom in recent years. After all it doesn’t look or sound as good to go home and mix up a post workout shake, than order one at the gym to have in your hand as you finish you final set or bicep curls.

And when it comes to marketing protein, the use of elite athletes for promotion may be impacting the general public’s perception of its effects. I am still constantly advising clients of mine that after their 45-minute gym session they don’t need a “sports drink”, even though some of their favourite athletes, footballers, runners and F1 drivers can be seen drinking them on television. This is years after the sugar content in sports drinks has been high on the agenda, so how long will it be until the true effects of protein supplementation will be experienced by the general public?

The main thing to remember is about protein is that it simply cannot be stored, so what your body doesn’t use for cell building and repair will be lost the next time you go to the loo. If you want to find out if you are consuming adequate protein, then speak to a qualified nutritionist or dietitian, they’ll give you the low down. And as for your personal trainer, general eating healthy eating advice is within their remit, but anything further is not. After all you wouldn’t get legal advice from your mechanic would you?

Want a simple alternative to your gyms £8 protein shake? A smoothie made up of the ingredients below will provide you with a perfectly adequate 20g of protein, as well as being a good source of fibre, carbs and one of your 5 a day. And more than that, it also makes a great breakfast.

2 tsp flax seeds, 200ml semi skimmed milk, 100g of Greek yoghurt, 1 x medium banana, 2 tsp of chia seeds and 2 tsp of desiccated coconut and a handful of spinach.

Sugar – the demon? Well not really…

“I’m off sugar” – my bestie said to me one day on the phone. I sarcastically rolled my eyes and thought here we go……So she’s only living off meat, fish, water and not much else. And here lies the problem.

It’s currently fashionable not to consume sugar. Apparently everyone is doing it, yet not understanding that it’s physically impossible for us, as humans, to live without. While most people are aware of the dangers of the “white stuff” (coined media term), headlines such as it being as addictive as cocaine aren’t doing us any favours (see the link there, white stuff, cocaine, addiction…….sigh)

Let’s get the sciency bit done and dusted first shall we. I’ll make it as simple as possible. The human body uses the food and beverages we consume as energy for us to live. The food we eat is made up of three macro nutrients known as carbohydrates, fats and protein, (there is also alcohol but let’s leave that to the side for now) and the body uses them as energy in that order. Carbs are energy source number one. Carbs come in two forms – starches and sugars and the body is only able to store a very small amount of them in the form of glycogen, so they are used up straight away. Unlike fat and protein, sugars can readily be used as energy, almost as soon as we consume them. During intense exercise like running, we usually have enough sugar to keep us going for about 90 minutes before we need to re-fuel, or our body will start trying to convert stored fat into energy.

It’s kind of complicated, as sugar has many different forms and therefore many different names – sucrose (table sugar), fructose (found in fruit), lactose (found in dairy). There is also glucose, which is sugar in its simplest form and all of the aforementioned sugars break down into it. Starches are also broken down into glucose to be used immediately, or if they are to be stored they will be converted into glycogen. Once the body has used up all its glucose, and converted the small amount of glycogen back into glucose to be used, it will then start using fat as an energy source. This usually happens at very low intensity and over long periods of time. Once that’s been used, it will then do the same thing with protein, although this is a very last resort. I’m hoping by now you are all still with me? Point in question, we need sugar, fact!

Let’s be frank here, too much “white stuff” is likely to rot your teeth. The NHS report just under 43,000 UK tooth removals in those under 18 in the last year alone, up from 37,000 in 2012. It’s just like too many cigarettes may impact your breathing capacity and too much sitting on your arse will impact your mobility. But teetotal isn’t the answer. In fact it’s physically impossible and will result in far more health problems than teeth removal alone. So how about rather than focusing on sugar alone, we look at the overall quality of the food the sugar is found in. As an example – fruit, whilst high in sugar has many other benefits, fibre, vitamins and minerals as well as a decent water content. Sweets or cake are a brilliant energy source and often provide social and emotional happiness but nutritionally there tends not to be too many other benefits. Now, I am not for a second here insinuating you should swap cake for fruit. Never in a million years. It’s more about how often you consume the cake and the size of the portion. It’s about educating yourself to know this. The age old moderation stance just doesn’t sell as well as “sugar is addictive”, however that’s the point I’m trying to make here. Mostly, try to consume foods which provide you lots of nutritional benefit, and some which you simply enjoy (and may not be that nutritious). That’s life, that’s how it works.

Oh and another thing, I hate to break it to you, but sugar is sugar, whether it’s white table sugar, demerara, coconut sugar, honey etc etc your body processes it in the same way. From a taste perspective however, there is definitely a difference.

And back to my bestie. What she really means is, she trying to adopt a more nutritious lifestyle and educate herself about food. It just doesn’t have the same ring to it though, shame.