I'm going to do a trial where for 30 days all I consume is 100 litres of water a day. While I would not wish to pre-judge my highly scientific experiment, if it does by any chance lead to any negative consequences I will, naturally, call for the banning of all water. You can't argue with science...
"Opening a box of Coco Pops in front of a child who has only ever known porridge and then refusing to give her some before eating it yourself seems rather cruel to me, but apparently it is all Kellogg’s fault." reminds me of when Evelyn Waugh got a wartime ration of bananas for his whole family. The great man assembled his children in the dining room and then proceeded to scoff the lot himself, just to give them a lesson in good Catholic self-abnegation. It was a lesson Auberon remembered years after.
I eat a healthy diet with very little UPF - now. I used to eat quite a lot of ready meals. I don’t find it any more or less difficult to control my weight; I am your typical yo-yo dieter because I like food a little too much ! I’ve never been someone you would describe as fat but my weight range varies about 1.5 stones from lowest to highest and I don’t maintain lowest for long. I always put on weight on a holiday because I eat a lot, pretty much all freshly prepared food not UPF. Eating lovely food is part of holiday enjoyment for me, I fix the weight gain when I get back. I’ve never followed anyone else’s diet plan and I have had equally successful weight loss by eating Weight Watcher prepared ready meals or simply by cutting down and eating home prepared food with lots of fruit and vegetables. I’ve moved away from eating ready meals over recent years because I’ve become a more adventurous knowledgeable cook and I can create a tasty meal for myself in 10 - 15 minutes and I enjoy trying things out. I believe a good variety of foods is beneficial to gut health and has a knock on effect on general health and there is also a benefit to weight in eating a good mix of food types and making sure you have lots of protein - which the body expends more calories digesting so the net effect upon weight is good. However in general terms people (including me) are overweight because in our society with plentiful tempting food (and alcohol) most of us eat more calories than our body uses. Whilst not strictly addiction there is a hormone induced subconscious psychological effect which compels you to crave food if you have lost weight - because our primitive brain is programmed to compel us to seek food if it thinks we are in danger of starving and losing weight triggers this. So both because of this and the temptation of good food, maintaining a healthy weight is difficult and the only effective government intervention would be war time style stringent rationing which clearly isn’t going to happen. Food prices rising might help a bit, most people I see complaining on the news could do with eating a lot less.
One reason for the 2019 study to be so popular is presumably that it is one of the very few that has been conducted to a good standard. Nutritional epidemiology is notoriously bad for UPF (especially when using FFQs) - so any research needs intervention studies. And the 2019 study also shows why self-experimentations with little control can't work. It would be very easy to consume UPF for one month and be in a better state as before (a challenge I have suggested but that was conveniently ignored).
I'm going to do a trial where for 30 days all I consume is 100 litres of water a day. While I would not wish to pre-judge my highly scientific experiment, if it does by any chance lead to any negative consequences I will, naturally, call for the banning of all water. You can't argue with science...
The bit at the start where he says:
"Opening a box of Coco Pops in front of a child who has only ever known porridge and then refusing to give her some before eating it yourself seems rather cruel to me, but apparently it is all Kellogg’s fault." reminds me of when Evelyn Waugh got a wartime ration of bananas for his whole family. The great man assembled his children in the dining room and then proceeded to scoff the lot himself, just to give them a lesson in good Catholic self-abnegation. It was a lesson Auberon remembered years after.
Why would you say all the additives in food are safe ? They are barely regulated in the US. Many are certainly unsafe despite wide usage.
Very well written. Had me laughing out loud as you took his nonsense apart.
Hey even Chris Packham finds CVT's book "infuriating"! Must be really terrible, although it doesn't take much to get ol' Packo riled.
I eat a healthy diet with very little UPF - now. I used to eat quite a lot of ready meals. I don’t find it any more or less difficult to control my weight; I am your typical yo-yo dieter because I like food a little too much ! I’ve never been someone you would describe as fat but my weight range varies about 1.5 stones from lowest to highest and I don’t maintain lowest for long. I always put on weight on a holiday because I eat a lot, pretty much all freshly prepared food not UPF. Eating lovely food is part of holiday enjoyment for me, I fix the weight gain when I get back. I’ve never followed anyone else’s diet plan and I have had equally successful weight loss by eating Weight Watcher prepared ready meals or simply by cutting down and eating home prepared food with lots of fruit and vegetables. I’ve moved away from eating ready meals over recent years because I’ve become a more adventurous knowledgeable cook and I can create a tasty meal for myself in 10 - 15 minutes and I enjoy trying things out. I believe a good variety of foods is beneficial to gut health and has a knock on effect on general health and there is also a benefit to weight in eating a good mix of food types and making sure you have lots of protein - which the body expends more calories digesting so the net effect upon weight is good. However in general terms people (including me) are overweight because in our society with plentiful tempting food (and alcohol) most of us eat more calories than our body uses. Whilst not strictly addiction there is a hormone induced subconscious psychological effect which compels you to crave food if you have lost weight - because our primitive brain is programmed to compel us to seek food if it thinks we are in danger of starving and losing weight triggers this. So both because of this and the temptation of good food, maintaining a healthy weight is difficult and the only effective government intervention would be war time style stringent rationing which clearly isn’t going to happen. Food prices rising might help a bit, most people I see complaining on the news could do with eating a lot less.
Amusing to note that CvT's book is endorsed than none other than Michael Mosley, that well known purveyor of nutrition/healthy lifestyle quackery
One reason for the 2019 study to be so popular is presumably that it is one of the very few that has been conducted to a good standard. Nutritional epidemiology is notoriously bad for UPF (especially when using FFQs) - so any research needs intervention studies. And the 2019 study also shows why self-experimentations with little control can't work. It would be very easy to consume UPF for one month and be in a better state as before (a challenge I have suggested but that was conveniently ignored).