It might just save your life
‘My Doctor sent me to a nutritionist …as I walked in to speak with the nutritionist there sat an almost 300 lb. person telling me to eat white bread, white rice & occasional pudding along with… ‘zero’ soft drinks. I absolutely walked out.’
This is a quote from a comment on a YouTube video between Dr Ken Berry [a family physician], and Calley Means, an ex- consultant for food and pharma companies and who is now exposing practices they use to weaponize our institutions of trust. He is a graduate of Stanford and Harvard Business School.
‘Confessions of a Big-food/Big-pharma Insider with Calley Means’
The point they make in their online discussion is how our society is rigged to suit the food and pharmaceutical industries who pay money [we could say bribes] to institutions and governments to change decisions in their favour.
It left me both flabbergasted [I love that word] and unsurprised.
I have to add an obvious disclaimer here. I do not believe that ALL nutritionists give bad advice.
It is worth bearing in mind, though, that when I was at University our lecturer in nutrition advised us to reduce saturated fat in patients’ diets to avoid cardiovascular disease. This has now been revealed as inaccurate advice.
And it indicates a problem with the changing ‘fashion’ of most dietary advice.
I don’t think I need to describe the problem, as anybody who has not noticed repeated dietary advice taking U turns must have been living with no TV or internet connection.
And yet, there is one important takeaway from the multitude of documentaries and podcasts on the subject [of which one of the most popular was Dr Chris Van Tulleken’s ‘What are we feeding our kids?’ on BBC 1 May 2021]. The conclusion of this programme was that Ultra Processed Foods [UPF] causes obesity in kids, and that UPF are addictive.
One could say ‘Doh!’.
One might think this was something that was as clear as day, but no. To change public opinion, and/or government guidelines, there always seems to be an insistence on providing data, proving what some of us might see as blindingly obvious.
Do we really need a TV documentary to reveal to us that UPF is not nutritious, may cause people to get fat, or even damage their thinking?
Yes, UPF can change thinking…
One of the results of the experiment that Chris van Tulleken undertook was that scans of his brain indicated detrimental changes after eating 80% UPF for a month which is what was the estimate of a normal child’s diet in the UK.
His experiment was overseen by UCLH consultant Prof Rachel Batterham, [Obesity Theme Lead for the NIHR UCLH Biomedical Research Centre].
At the end of the 4 weeks she said this;
‘Hormones made in the gut play a key role in regulating appetite and body weight. The UPF diet changed these hormones so Chris felt hungrier and therefore ate more and gained weight. After four weeks of UPF diet Chris’ brain connection changed. This could be due to the UPF diet itself or the altered hormones. These changes are likely to have increased his desire to eat more UPF food and also altered his mood.’
One could ask, if we know that UPF damages health even after so short a time as 4 weeks, why is there so much of it in vending machines IN HOSPITALS and SCHOOLS?
I really don’t want to rant. I really, really don’t. And I am aware of the argument that nutritious food is not so accessible to those in the lower income bracket because it is more expensive. I am aware that some mothers have claimed it is cheaper to buy their kids a happy meal from McDonald’s [or similar] for their dinner after school because of the increasing costs of buying fresh food and the cost of electricity or gas to cook it.
The whole area is complex, I know that. But you would think that in a civilised country there should be a way to subsidise ‘proper’ food/ farmers instead of spending absolute millions on pharmaceuticals instead of prevention? Oh, wait. I forgot about the food lobby. As it came out in the discussion between Dr Ken Berry and Callie Means that I mentioned at the beginning, there is big money involved which steers research, government policy and advertising.
I have become one of those people I used to think were a little OTT. But I now avoid UPF where I can. I eat more simply. I don’t buy coca cola. I make my own bread. I cook from scratch. But not everybody can do this, I know.
I can understand why people feel like giving up. Yet it feels like we are sleepwalking into a mammoth health disaster. Maybe we are already there…
If you ever hear a qualified person encourage you to have a ‘balance’ in your diet by not avoiding refined carbs [and there are some], just stop and think for yourself. Massive amounts of money has been poured into medical research, but populations are not getting healthier. I do not consider ‘not dying’ [i.e. life span increases] as an indication of health btw. So, instead of spending money on trying to find a pill to treat the symptoms of metabolic diseases, for example, we should spend money on prevention.
Talking of metabolic disorders; if you google the term you will get some sort of answer like this
‘A metabolic disorder is a disorder that negatively alters the body’s processing and distribution of macronutrients, such as proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. Metabolic disorders can happen when abnormal chemical reactions in the body alter the normal metabolic process [Wiki].’
Chemical reactions in the body are what makes our body ‘run’. Anything that alters that negatively will lead to ill health. What we eat affects metabolic processes. And UPF contain many chemicals that are foreign to the body and can disrupt metabolism. [Flavourings, preservatives, colourings etc.].
Could this have serious consequences?
One study estimated that the majority of adult COVID19 admissions in the US were due to four ‘cardiometabolic’ conditions.
‘Study Estimates Two-Thirds of COVID-19 Hospitalizations Due to Four Conditions
A study suggests a majority of adult COVID-19 hospitalizations nationwide are attributable to at least one of four pre-existing conditions: obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and heart failure, in that order.
“Medical providers should educate patients who may be at risk for severe COVID-19 and consider promoting preventive lifestyle measures, such as improved dietary quality and physical activity, to improve overall cardiometabolic health. It’s also important for providers to be aware of the health disparities people with these conditions often face,” said first author Meghan O’Hearn, a doctoral candidate at the Friedman School.’
I heard that in the USA school dinners had restrictions on the amount of fat that a meal contained, but no restrictions on sugar, and that some ‘official’ dietary guidelines indicate that commercial puffed oat cereal is a better breakfast for your child than an egg fried in butter. Is this true, American readers?
If it is not the case here in the UK, it soon will be.
Something has to change. And I am afraid it won’t be government policy.
