38 | October•2014 ILLUSTRATION: JAMES GULLIVER HANCOCK

BY HELEN SIGNY

PUBLIC HEALTH

HEALTHY EATING ADVICE seems to be constantly in flux: are eggs good or bad? Should you opt for ancient grains or go gluten-free? In reality, dietitians say, the popularity of eating

crazes are often based on a bestselling book, canny sales ploy or a new piece of research that is extrapolated meaninglessly to the general population. “Government dietary guidelines really haven’t changed all that much over the decades,” says accredited dietitian Rachel Jeffrey.

Is that macrobiotic, super food, açai-filled health snack really the breakthrough to healthy eating you

thought it was – or just the latest in a long line of trendy marketing ploys aimed at selling products?

Century?LastDiet

Is Your

So

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We were told: Counting kilojoules (calories) would make us thin.Eating was all about: Reduced caloric intake. This was the decade that saw the introduction of kilo-joule counters and a love of anything containing saccharin.Diet crazes: The Scarsdale diet (a 14-day, highly re-strictive eating plan based largely around grapefruit, tomatoes and lean protein); appetite suppressants such as Dexatrim.Foods we loved: Beef stroganoff, fondues, avocado, soft drinks.Foods we avoided: Animal fat. It was in these years that the US govern-ment started advising people to avoid fats in butter, lard and red meat to prevent heart disease.Hippest packaging label : “Natural”.What we’ve learned: “We know

“Sometimes new studies cause a change in our eating habits as science advances. But often people’s choices are based on select information or the influence of fashion,” says Jeffrey.

Mapping how our tastes have ebbed and flowed over the decades proves the point. We take a nostalgic look back at what we once thought was the best way to eat – and what we’ve discovered along the way.

THE NATURAL 1970Snow that a kilojoule isn’t just a kilojoule, there’s a whole lot of other things that come into it,” says accredited clinical dietitian Gabrielle

Maston. “Health messaging around kilojoules has become more

sophisticated, people now understand the

difference between k i l o j o u l e - f i l l e d foods that are also nutrit ious, l ike nuts, and a choco-late bar.”

1970s food fads are increasingly

blamed for today’s obesity crisis.

THE GOURMET 1980SWe were told to: Limit foods con-taining fat, saturated fat, cholesterol and sodium, as they were starting to be linked to disease.Eating was all about: Low fat. Diet craze: Meal replacement shakes. “Very low kilojoule diets” were first tested in the ’70s, and by the ’80s everyone was sipping these

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foul-tasting concoctions in a bid to lose weight fast.Foods we loved: Pasta salads, French onion dip, beetroot, any-thing with artificial sweeteners (aspartame).Foods we avoided: MSG, which was being blamed for everything from headaches to skin rashes.Hippest packaging label: “Gourmet”.What we’ve learned: It’s now come to light that most of the low-fat products we flocked to in the ’80s were filled with something just as unhealthy: sugar. In fact, a recent UK study found that two-fifths of all prod-ucts still marketed as low fat contain just as many – if not more – kilojoules than their regular counterparts.

“Low fat is useless if fat is replaced by sugar or refined carbohydrates. For example, in the US there are plate-sized low-fat chocolate cookies,” says nutritionist Dr Rosemary Stanton. “‘ Low fat’ is useful if it merely means cutting fat off meat and skimming the cream off milk – without making any substitutions.”

Some food paranoias that arose in the ’80s have now been largely discredited: we know that eating cholesterol doesn’t raise your blood cholesterol level; MSG certainly affects sensitive individuals but it’s safe for the general community, and, despite the hype, there is no evidence that artificial sweeteners are carcinogenic.

This decade saw the advent of com-puters and energy-saving devices, such as dishwashers and tumble dryers, that reduced our daily physical movement.

THE CARB-FREE 1990SWe were told to: Limit grains.Eating was all about: Low carb, high protein. Diet craze: The Zone diet and the Atkins diet. First developed in the ’70s, Dr Atkins’ diet came back with a bang in the ’90s, when everyone was walk-ing around with bad breath, headaches and carb cravings.Foods we loved: Olive oil, low-fat foods (containing the chemical olestra), coffee, sundried tomatoes, rocket.We avoided: Food colours and preservatives.

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The last two years have seen a spike in the popularity of gluten-free products. But that means basing your diet on rice and corn – both of which are high GI (glycaemic index) and processed – flying in the face of recent understanding about the importance of eating low GI, non-processed wholegrains. So what’s going on?

The gluten-free craze was born when a research paper was published showing that many people with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) suffered more

symptoms such as bloating when they ate wheat. Whether this is because of wheat’s gluten or fructose content – or another factor entirely – is yet to be shown. As a result of the research, some people with IBS started eating gluten-free, articles were written saying that gluten causes bloating, sales went up, and a craze was born.

“Once people push for these products, the supermarket chains and food companies start to give us what we want,” says Maston. “It’s a money spinner.”

Hippest packaging label : “Carb-free”.What we’ve learned: Cutting

kilojoule intake is still key to weight loss – but very restrictive diets and

obsessive counting of kilojoules seldom work in the long term

and can deprive us of impor-tant nutrients along the way.

“Extreme diets generally result in rapid weight loss, but that is loss not necessar-ily of just fat but also a lot of

fluid and carbohydrate stores as well as, potentially, muscle,”

says dietitian Joel Feren.“We know each food group

contains different qualities. So, for example, if you restrict dairy you lose calcium, if you skip grains you’re miss-ing out on fibre and other nutrients.”

HOW A FOOD FAD IS BORN

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The ’90s was when it first became trendy to read food labels, espe-cially to see if products were full of preservatives and food colours. But while there is evidence that these additives can have an effect on behaviour in children who are sensitive to them, “All food prod-ucts are extensively tested on people and approved for con-sumption by the government. The average Joe should have no prob-lems,” says Maston.

THE EARTH-FRIENDLY 2000SWe were told to: Eat more fresh fruit and vegetables, plus a variety of grains.Dieting was all about: All-natural, unprocessed, preservative-free.Diet craze: South Beach diet.Foods we loved: Anything gluten- free and/or organic, sushi, herbal tea.Foods we avoided: Anything con-taining carbs.Hippest packaging labels: “Organic”, “Free range”, “Non-GMO”, “Dolphin-friendly”.What we’ve learned: Much of this dietary advice persists today, prompted by the obesity crisis and a recognition that the more processed a food is, the more salt, sugar, fat and other no-nos it’s likely to contain.

That’s all very well, but discerning shoppers should be beware of “natu-ral” and “organic” claims, that some-times have been shown to be false.

“Just because it’s labelled organic, it’s not necessarily so – the industry is hugely unregulated in this area,” says Maston.

“Pesticides can blow onto organic farms from neighbouring crops. The best advice is to make sure you wash your fruit and vegetables properly.”

THE SUPER FOODS OF TODAYWe are being told to: Eat more seafood and wholegrains and less sugar, salt, saturated fat and transfats.Eating is all about: Ancient grains and prehistoric diets.Diet craze: The Paleo diet, based on what we believe Paleolithic man to have eaten (naturally raised meat and vegetables and nothing based on agricultural production); the 5:2 diet,

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FOODS THAT HAVE COME AND GONE OVER THE YEARS

Margarine/butter: Originally produced as a product for Napoleon Bonaparte’s troops, margarine was once popular among the poor as it was cheaper than butter. It gained ascendancy during the mid-20th century when the evidence started mounting that saturated fat in butter caused heart disease, but fell out of favour when we learned that the margarine manufacturing process was creating trans-fats.

Today, many margarines have been reformulated to make them virtually free of trans-fats. Some margarine brands are enriched with plant sterols and high in polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, which can help to reduce blood cholesterol in consumers.

“Not a single study has shown that butter is healthy – but my own viewpoint is that a healthy diet can handle a small amount of butter (or anything else),” says Rosemary Stanton.

Eggs: Most countries’ dietary guidelines have never recommended

any restriction on eggs, though the American Heart Association and other heart foundations worldwide once said that eating too many could raise cholesterol and cause heart disease. Our consumption of eggs fell, even though later research showed the number of eggs you eat has little impact on blood cholesterol (except possibly for people with diabetes). In 2000, the American Heart Association revised its dietary guidelines, saying it’s OK to eat an egg on most days.

Red meat: High-protein diets have come and gone over the years, and are currently making a resurgence with the Paleo diet. Most dietary guidelines suggest you limit red meat consumption because it’s been found to be a risk factor for colorectal cancer.

Salt: There is conclusive evidence that we eat too much salt – in fact, we’re eating double the amount we need, mostly because it’s contained in such high levels in processed foods.

which involves fasting on two non-consecutive days a week and eating normally the rest of the time, also as cavemen might have done.Foods we love: Coconut oil, açai, added fibre, fresh local produce, kale, anything containing omega 3.Foods we avoid: Foods produced

through factory farming, trans-fats, anything containing gluten.Hippest packaging label : “Superfood”.What we’ve learned: In almost 50 years as one of Australia’s leading nu-tritionists, Stanton says she’s amazed that people fail to follow what has

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WHAT YOU SHOULD REALLY BE EATING

• Forget the food fashions – the best advice is to keep it simple,

dietitians say.• Try not to eat anything out of a

box or package, use fresh ingredients, and remember that

terms such as “miracle” and “superfood” have been designed by somebody to grab your attention.• Dietary guidelines are drawn up by governments after reviewing tens of thousands of the latest

scientific research papers.

The best current advice is to consume more:

Vegetables and fruit, particularly green, orange and red vegetables, such as broccoli, carrots, capsicum

and sweet potatoes, and leafy vegetables like spinach, and legumes/beans like lentils.

Grain (cereal) foods, particularly wholegrain cereals in breads,

breakfast cereals, rice and pasta.Reduced fat milk, yoghurt and

cheese varieties (reduced fat milks are not suitable for children under

the age of two years).Lean meats and poultry, fish,

eggs, nuts and seeds and legumes/beans (except many men from

Western countries would benefit from eating less red meat).Water instead of soft drinks,

cordials, energy drinks, sports drinks and sweetened fruit juices

and/or alcoholic drinks.

been pretty constant dietary advice: eat more vegetables, fruit and whole-grains, eat less sugar, salt, unhealthy fat and junk foods, and be careful with alcohol. “When people ‘blame’ such advice for increasing obesity and dia-betes, I can only shake my head – the real problem is the vast increase in junk food and drinks and the success of promoting these. When did you last see an ad for a carrot?”

But, with governments spending very little on promoting a healthy diet, perhaps it’s little wonder that we’re so easily swayed by these shifting diet trends.

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