How is our nutrition adding to our waistlines? iVillage investigates food, product labelling and the way we eat
With an increase in the accessibility and variety of palatable foods in the UK, coupled with our couch potato mentality, it seems that the odds of becoming obese are stacked against us. Growing rates of obesity are linked to unhealthy food choices; an increased consumption of refined grains, fat and added sugars.
As countries become more affluent, there is an increased tendency to have a lower consumption of fruit and vegetables and for a higher value to be placed on meat and dairy foods. This can have serious negative consequences on our health.
The problem with fat
Around 35 per cent of energy comes from fat in the UK diet. International organisations such as the Department of Health, World Health Organisation, and the World Cancer Research Fund agree that eating too much fat, particularly saturated fat, can increase our risk of developing heart disease, diabetes and some cancers.
How has our diet evolved from being low-fat, high-fibre containing plenty of fruit and vegetables to one that is high-fat and low in refined grains? Fat as a concentrated energy source is often valued higher than healthier options despite the availablity of fresh produce. Plus, fattier food is cheaper in comparison. It hasn't been clearly established that humans actually have an innate preference for fat; the only known inborn taste preference is for sweetness.
According to research by Birch, an American psychologist, preferences are learned during childhood by seeing what adults eat. It is also known that repeated consumption of high-fat foods can reinforce our liking for them and cause us to overeat. Plus, we eat more calories than we can burn off as a result of our sedentary lifestyles because high-fat foods are energy dense.
Energy density
Fat is energy-dense: weight-for-weight it contains twice as many calories (9 kcal per gram) as carbohydrates or protein (4 kcal per gram). Our appetite control systems can't seem to differentiate between eating high-fat and low-fat foods.
Studies in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition published in the 1990's have demonstrated this phenomenon of bingeing on fatty food. When volunteers are offered foods that had been secretly manipulated to alter their fat content, they serve themselves the same amount of foods whether they're offered a low- or high-fat meal. So volunteers consumed more energy per forkful without realising it.
The impact of added sugars
Added sugars come from foods such as confectionery, soft drinks, and preserves. An article in the Journal of Pediatrics published in 2003 suggests that the increase in consumption of sugary soft drinks may be stoking the rise in obesity.
Studies published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition between the 1990 and 2002 have shown that when volunteers are offered either sugar-rich, artificially sweetened drinks or water they still eat the same amount of foods at a subsequent meal. With the result that the group consuming sugar rich drinks took in more calories per day than the other two groups.
King-sized foods and BOGOF
Portion sizes of foods have been increasing steadily: there are now larger - even king sizes - available for various foods.
Individual bags of crisps used to be available in small packs of 25g, now there are packs that are more than double that. These larger portions are proportionately cheaper than standard packs. Buy one get one free (BOGOF) offers also add to the increasing risk of us eating more than we need.
Food labelling: cause for confusion?
There are three areas you need to look at if you're going to get any useful information from food labels.
- Serving size: Look at the number of calories or fat in each serving. For example, nutritional information is often only given per 100g, and a portion will often be more than that. For example, a ready meal may be labelled as containing 168kcal and 8g fat per 100g but a serving will often be around 260g and so you'll actually be consuming 437kcal and 21g fat!
- Fat-free: A product can be labelled as 'fat-free' if it contains less than 0.5g of fat per sizing. Many people will be duped into thinking fat-free means they simply can eat more so they end up eating double the amount and hence more calories and fat. Also, fat-free doesn't mean sugar-free, often these foods are high in added sugars.
- Sugar-free: Sugar-free products often contain higher amounts of fat.
Processed foods and trans fats?
Like saturated fats, trans fats can raise the amount of 'bad' or low-density lipoprotein cholesterol, in the blood and lower the amount of 'good' high-density lipoprotein, or 'good' cholesterol.
Trans fats increases the risk of people developing heart disease, diabetes and strokes. Trans fats are formed when liquid oils are changed into solids in order to increase the shelf life of foods and stabilise the flavour. They are also found naturally in beef and dairy products.
Trans fats are contained in processed snack foods and baked goods like biscuits, pies and cakes. On food labels, they are labelled as partially hydrogenated (vegetable) oils.
What should we eat?
To maintain a healthy weight, we need to be more active, reduce our consumption of fat and added sugars and eat less. Most of us know this already so why isn't it music to people's ears?
We live such hectic and stressful lives that it's often hard to eat structured and planned meals; rather we grab snacks and takeaways as meal substitutes and hope for the best.
Unfortunately, these takeaways and ready meals are high in fat, high in added sugar, low in unrefined carbohydrates and energy dense.
We almost need to make an appointment with ourselves to catch up on how to enjoy life and food. If the scenario sounds like your life right now, you need to take some time out and plan for your future health.
- Make time to have at least two structured sit-down meals a day, it's often hard to organise a breakfast on weekday mornings, but that doesn't mean you can skip it altogether. A hurried bowl of high-fibre cereal and some skimmed milk is quick and easy as well as filling and nutritious.
- Lunch for most of us is often another hurried meal either in front of a computer screen or grabbed snack in a rush to finish tasks before the school run. Have fruit on hand for snacks and take five minutes in the morning to prepare a healthy lunch.
- Remember this: 'think before you buy'. Scrutinize your sandwich, make sure that it contains more salad than a lettuce leaf and is not loaded with high-fat mayonnaise. Ditch those high-fat pastries, pies and chips.
- Ready meals and takeaways are lifesavers once in a while, but try not to rely on these at every evening meal. It takes the same amount of time to microwave a ready meal as it does to boil some pasta and pour some tomato sauce over it.