Hello! So for those of you who missed it and want to see, I’ve uploaded my BBC Breakfast interview all about CALORIES on my YouTube channel (scroll down to watch!). ?
The interview was in response to Public Health England (PHE) announcing that they want to cut 20% of calories from foods such as pizzas, crisps, ready meals & sandwiches. ? This came about after finding out that children & adults are over eating; possibly due to ‘passive over consumption’ – consuming more calories without realising! ? PHE are encouraging the food industry to focus on recipe reformation, portion sizes & encouraging people to buy lower calorie versions. ?
On BBC Breakfast I commented that although reducing calories from higher calorie options (i.e. foods coming in at above the 600 calorie recommendation) may be useful, reducing calories from say a 300 calorie sandwich is unlikely to be helpful. ?
In addition, calories are not the only thing we should be looking at; on screen I compared a 270 calorie ham sandwich on white bread to a 380 calorie chicken sandwich with salad on wholemeal bread; although higher in calorie it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to work out which provides more fibre & nutrients and less salt! ?
I promote being calorie AWARE, rather than calorie counting, remembering to take a step back and look at the quality (content) of your diet as a whole over the entire week. ? ?
HOW we eat also matters; we need to listen to our body and honour true hunger; not ignoring it by skipping meals or grazing all day long! Eating out meals slowly & more mindfully can help with this (ie turning the TV off at dinner!) ?
Gaining excess weight however isn’t just down to poor dietary choices, it involves genetics as well as psychological & socio-economic factors too; so making low calorie healthy foods such as fruits and vegetables cheaper (as well as investing in cooking education/reading the traffic light labels ie green is better than red!) is a must too. ???
In summary:
? Calorie AWARENESS not calorie counting is necessary.
? WHAT you eat matters just as much as calories.
? HOW we eat also matters; eat it mindfully.
What do you think to the campaign?
P.S Have a read of what other Health Care Professionals have to say below:
Registered Dietitian Ro Huntriss
Registered Nutritionist Claire Baseley