Sweet as sugar? Not always.
Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:34:43 GMT
I was so incensed whilst eating my cereal yesterday whilst watching BBC Breakfast, that a nutritionist so vehemently misled the public that I was shouting at the television - not the usual behaviour of the sane!
So, according to Dr Clare Leonard (sadly a bona fida public health nutritionist number RPHN475 registered with the UK Voluntary Register of Nutritionists), sugar doesn't turn into fat and there's no evidence of sugar leading to obesity. She was representing the cereal industry, in retaliation to a Which? Report on children's breakfast cereals still containing far too much sugar (see here for more information. This latest report is particularly damning as the same problems were highlighted three years ago and no substantial changes have been made.
As a nutritionist myself, I can tell you that Dr Leonard's so-called facts are blantantly untrue, and to make matters worse, she works for Nestle - manufacturer of some of the cereals highlighted in the Which? Report!
There is mounting evidence that added sugar in the diet, and in fact, sugars in processed foods are more likely to lead to obesity than fat! One of the many things that insulin does for example, is help your fat cells remove glucose from your blood and turn it into fatty acids (fat storage molecules) - this is a well documented metabolic process and is not up for dispute!
Worse still (and ignored by her), sugary cereals cause spikes in blood sugar levels, leading to increased snacking behaviour, leading to...yep, obesity!
Her comment that simple carbohydrates are necessary in the diet for energy is also dubious - yes, we need carbs, but of the complex variety ("starchy carbs"). You do get simple sugars in fruits which cannot be avoided, but refined sugars (i.e. those added to breakfast cereals and pre-prepared meals and sauces) should be avoided and can lead to other problems such as tooth decay, as well as obesity.
She did make a comment that you can't take one meal in isolation and have to look at the day's food to make balanced decisions which is true to an extent BUT you can look at your diet a meal at a time and work out how to improve it. All healthy eating advice, whether from a dietician, the government or your friendly blogging nutritionist (!) starts with increasing fibre and cut out all processed and added sugars.
Whilst having breakfast is better than skipping it, I heartily recommend parents to choose cereals with as little sugar content as possible - that will give their children a far better start to their day and their life!
For more information see here and here.
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