I’d actually written today’s blog already.

 

But I got a message in our Facebook group yesterday that made me put it back a day.

 

Twas from Danny Scott, one of our ninjas at Buxton.

 

It read:

 

Jon/Matt, I was wondering if you could help me out??? I’ve just had a bit of a do with my manager at work about the shite that’s served in our canteen and why I don’t eat in there. Tomorrow I have a meeting with the HR manager who over sees the staff canteen to explain myself!!!! What I could basically do with is some facts etc about why breakfast cereals are not ideal as our first meal of the day, why processed foods are so shite etc. I need to educate these people but I am severely lacking in knowledge. I was even referred to as strange by my senior this morning for eating chicken for breakfast and told it’s not normal!!!!

 

We always like to take the questions that people ask us and share the answers / our opinions in this blog.

 

If one person is wondering it, then there’s bound to be others.

 

So, the following is a list of facts, ready for Danny to use tomorrow, but that more of you will probably find interesting.

 

Whether you’re looking to confirm your current choices, need a bit more convincing that you might want to change your eating habits or looking to educate someone who doesn’t agree with you.

 

No opinion or interpretation here – just a few actual facts with references..

 

There’s plenty more that we believe 100% to be the case, but, as with anything you could say about nutrition, health, etc there is room for disagreement, so I’ve left them out.

 

So, if anyone wants to disagree with them they need to actually pull apart what’s been said and offer some stronger counter evidence.

 

They need to be bothered to check the references and find the errors in them.

 

Not just say “I don’t agree”.

 

Fact 1: Carrying excess body fat is not good for your health:

 

Reference: Do I need this one? If so, see Reference 2 at the bottom of this article.

 

Fact 2: As a nation, we are getting more overweight:

 

References: As above, but have popped some in Reference 2 at the bottom.

 

Fact 3: Our increase in obesity IS NOT down to eating more food, more red meat, more general fat or more dietary fat:

 

References: All studies of the average western diet over the last few decades show these things to be going down, not up whilst obesity and related health issues still increase.

 

I’ve popped the main one in Reference 3.

 

Fact 4: We eat more sugars and processed starches than at any point in history.

 

References:

 

Again, I don’t think anyone will doubt this, but check out this infographic with it’s own references:

https://blogs-images.forbes.com/alicegwalton/files/2012/08/nursing-your-sweet-tooth4.jpg

 

Fact 5: NO ONE recommends a diet or a meal that is purely any one macro nutrient (proteins, fat and carbohydrates) or says that it is anything other than bad for your health.

 

Reference: Find me someone who does that isn’t an idiot

 

Fact 6: Most cereals are nearly all sugar and starches and are therefore, very imbalanced.

 

You can see some examples at https://www.acaloriecounter.com/breakfast-cereal.php  but most cereals are approximately 18 parts starches and sugar, 1 part protein, 1 part fat.

 

Not 1 part carbs, 1 part healthy fats and 1 part protein – you know, a balanced diet.

 

Fact 7: People generally don’t have stuff with a sugar laden cereal which will address this balance, ie: a steak

 

Reference: I’ve never heard of anyone who has Frosties and steak for breakfast.

 

Fact 8: There is no physiological reason that a breakfast need to be grain based and not include a good balance of healthy fats and proteins like other meals generally do

 

Reference: I’ve never seen any research or sensible theories that suggest otherwise

 

 

Put all of these together and what do you have?

 

Sugar filled breakfasts are not good for you, and contribute more to obesity and related health issues than a balanced breakfast does (one with a good mixture of natural carbs, healthy fats and proteins).

 

Any disagreement, please respond which which of these facts is wrong and why?

 

As I mentioned before, I could go into detail about how sugary cereals and highly processed starch based meals elevate insulin levels and reverse the body’s natural cortisol cycle, which leads to increased probability of weight gain and related health issues.

 

But such things are, like all other nutrional theories and approaches, open to discussions and not completely indisputable.

 

I could also talk about how an employer would be increasing the probability of their staff gaining body fat and becoming more unhealthy by only providing high sugar and processed starch based meals.

 

But I won’t go into that.

 

 

Much love,

 

Jon ‘Not had cereal for breakfast in over a decade’ Hall and Matt ‘Eggs and Salmon for the win’ Nicholson

 

 

Reference 1:

  • Obesity raises the risks of many chronic diseases including cardiovascular disease, certain cancers, osteoporosis, diabetes and liver disease. For young adults, the risk of an earlier death for someone with a BMI of 30 kg/m2 is about 50% higher than that for someone with a BMI in the range 20 to 25kg/m2.
  • The UK National Audit Office estimated that 7% of all deaths in England were attributable to obesity in 2002 (compared to about 10% due to smoking, and less than 1% from road accidents).

House of Commons Health Committee. Obesity: Third Report of Session 2003-04, Volume 1, Annex 1. London: The Stationery Office, 27 May 2004

  • Long-term studies by the Harvard School of Public Health have concluded that an optimally nutritious diet combined with regular exercise and not smoking can prevent 80% of heart disease, 90% of type 2 diabetes, 70% of stroke and some cancers, as well as substantially reduce the incidence of a host of other chronic diseases and health ailments.

World Health Report 2002. Reducing risks, promoting healthy life. Geneva, World Health Organization, 2002

 

 

Reference 2:

  • According to a 2008 report from the government’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN), the prevalence of obesity (Body Mass Index (BMI) above 30 kg/m2) or overweight (BMI above 25 kg/m2) increased from 45% of men and 36% of women who were obese or overweight in 1986/87 to 66% of men and 53% of women in 2000/01 – Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition. https://www.sacn.gov.uk/reports_position_statements/index.html

 

Reference 3:

  • According to four surveys conducted in the National Diet and Nutrition Survey programme between 1992 and 2001, over the last 15 years the average UK diet has changed in the following ways (amongst others):
    • A decrease in energy intakes
    • A fall in total fat and saturated fat intakes
    • A reduction in the consumption of red meat, processed meat and meat-based dishes
    • An increase in salt consumption
    • An increase in sugar consumption

 

  • Out of the 14 main recommendations that the government currently make on nutrition (calorie intake, fat intake, salt, red meat, fruit, veg, alcohol, vitamins, etc) the only two THAT WE DO MEET as a nation are calorie and general fat intake – meaning that we DO NOT eat more calories or fat than is generally advised.

Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition. Nutritional Health of the Population, Final Report, 2008. The Stationery Office.

 

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Jon Hall
Jon Hall

When not helping people to transform their lives and bodies, Jon can usually be found either playing with his kids or taxi-ing them around. If you'd like to find out more about what we do at RISE then enter your details in the box to the right or bottom of this page or at myrise.co.uk - this is the same way every single one of the hundreds who've described this as "one of the best decisions I've ever made" took their first step.