Our food choices are simply the most important factor and opportunity for better health. We know that if you have a healthier diet you can add healthy years to your life. Despite this the latest evidence shows that two thirds of our diet is now ultra-processed. Our practice has extremely high prevalence levels of diabetes, obesity, cancer, heart disease and strokes. We are attempting to reduce these levels more than ever before; I seem to discuss statins with every other patient, yet the biggest trick we are continuing to miss is the science of our diets. I understand this is complex. It is integrated with our physical activity, sleep and stress levels and all of these affect eachother.
Recently the team of scientists at Zoe published seven useful tips to improve our diets and I felt it might be helpful to share the research to support us:
- Reduce ultra processed foods – these are groups of foods that are typically prepackaged, have additives and emulsifiers and don’t look like the original food source i.e. snack bars, crisps, frozen pizzas, ice cream, fast foods (they typically contain more sugar and saturated fats and additives). If you reduce ultra processed foods by 50% you reduce your risk of death by 12%.
- Reduce the window that you eat – give your gut more time to rest – either by having a later breakfast, or an earlier evening meal, and avoid snacks in the evening. Even a 12 hour window can improve your energy, mental health and reduce your hunger.
- Calorie counting is a waste of time – if you restrict calories your body alter its metabolism and compensates by making you hungrier.
- Be mindful of choosing what you are drinking – 18% of our calories come in the form of drinks – often full of artificial sweeteners. Half of the hidden sugars in our diet is in the form of drinks. Try to drink more tea/coffee, or fermented drinks like kombucha and kefir. Three coffees a day reduce your risk of death by up to 18%.
- Eat more plants! They used to say eat 5 fruit or veg each day. This has changed now aiming for 30 different fruit or veg in a week. This includes, fruit, veg, seeds, nuts. These are particularly important for your gut health. Plants contain the most important nutrients and fibres.
- Stop worrying about getting enough protein. It is much more common to be fibre deficient than protein deficient. Most of us eat twice as much protein that we actually need.
- Snack smarter – 25% of our energy comes from snacks. Most of these are poor quality snacks. Often people have relatively healthy meals but this is ruined by poor snacking! And definitely don’t snack in the evening!
If you need any extra support or motivation Gloji hampshire are commissioned to offer free support and advice with a holistic approach to your weight, nutrition and physical activity.