Food and nutrition issue continues to confuse the layperson
Friday, 29 June 2012
Food and nutrition is currently a complex and contentious area in the UK as we are presently a nation of people where, on average, a quarter of us are the size of a Fiat Punto car. Carrying extra weight makes you more susceptible to a whole host of different terrifying health problems such as heart disease and diabetes and this makes it an issue for the UK government who are trying to cut costs in the NHS. The media in the UK is always quick to point the finger at people classified as morbidly obese, claiming that they lack willpower and that the responsibility for the problem solely resides with them. However, there are industry experts who are attempting to explain that food companies and supermarkets are acting irresponsibly and that the general public are misinformed when it comes to dieting.
There is a documentary series currently running on the BBC which is titled ‘The Men Who Made Us Fat’ and features Jacques Peretti who is attempting to shed light on why Britons are on average 3 stones heavier than they were in the 1960s. Peretti explains that it not completely our fault as key political decision makers and commercial organisations have sought to change our mentality about what we desire to eat in our diets. The documentary explains that we have been profoundly affected by the supersize concept with more and more food outlets serving meals of this size, and Britons happily consuming them with gusto.
Food has rapidly developed to become a hot topic and the government has had to respond by encouraging us all to eat healthier. One such measure implemented by the government was the launch of the traffic light scheme which seeks to inform consumers about the nutritional content of the food they are buying. This scheme seeks to help us avoid food that is high in fat, salt and sugar, and warns us about a high content with a red designation for that particular category. Unfortunately though, dieting consumers appear to be misinformed as they flock to eat low calorie or foods branded as ‘diet’. Nutritional studies have shown that these types of foods are often deceptively high in sugar and other undesired nutrients such as carbohydrates.
Celebrity personal trainer James Duigan has spoken recently of how the majority of dieters do not possess the necessary knowledge required to successfully eat healthier and decrease their waistlines. It would be easy to assume that a low fat salad would be the healthiest option for a dieter – not so in fact, according to the Clean & Lean author. A salad with a little bit of fat, such as olive oil or nuts, will in fact enable your body to absorb the nutrients from the vegetables quicker. Duigan even points the finger at fruit, complaining that dieters should be eating a higher proportion of vegetables in their diet instead of fruit, and not vice versa. Based on all of this information in the news it’s easy to draw one conclusion online bingo heads: food and nutrition is a highly complex issue.
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