Welcome from the editor: do we know what we are we eating?
Welcome and thank you for joining me this weekend.
Unless we grow and make from scratch all the food we consume, do we truly know what we are eating?
The debate on processed and ultra-processed foods is heating up. The general consensus is that all UPFs are unhealthy and that we should eat natural, non-processed or minimally processed foods most of the time. Whilst this is sound advice, are we demonising all UPFs, grouping together those with a poor nutritional profile with the ones that actually contain healthy ingredients, independently of how they’ve been manufactured? Is it time to update the NOVA system? We investigate in Are all ultra-processed foods the same and are they really bad for you?
Sweeteners have been on the news recently and are seen as controversial ingredients. Some believe they are a good option for diabetics and those limiting their sugar intake, whilst others deem them unhealthy, and more and more studies are supporting this theory, such as the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC)’s, the WHO cancer research agency, who found aspartame to be a potential carcinogen.
The sweetener allulose is being touted as a better sugar alternative, but compared to others, it’s still underused and under commercialised (and incidentally not yet allowed in the EU). We spoke to Israeli biotech company Ambrosia Bio, who have developed an innovative way to produce the sweetener in greater quantities and drive its price down. Read all about it in How new tech is striving to lower the price of allulose and bring it to a larger market.
People often attribute their ability to lose or put on weight on on their metabolism, but do we truly comprehend how it works and how foods affect it? Professor Alexandra Johnstone, Nutrition Scientist, The Rowett Institute of Nutrition and Health, University of Aberdeen, and Dylan Thompson, Professor of Human Physiology, the Department for Health at the University of Bath, join the Food Matters Live podcast to talk about The truth about metabolism – and how to boost it.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend,
Stef
