Spoon-Fed: Why almost everything we’ve been told about food is wrong

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One of the central tenets that comes across from this, is not unsurprisingly his own research into the gut microbiome, where evidence seems to support that eating diversely and broadly to create a healthy gut can be one of the key markers of better health. By examining what multi-billion-dollar industries like cereal manufacturing may stand to loose if more people start skipping breakfast, it’s easy to see why breakfast myths are so widespread and persistent The common thread running throughout is 1) The insidious influence of the food industry, 2) diversity in food (again this is not new) - rather than fadishness of demonising/deifying food groups , and He got this wrong. He got this thing wrong which is actually easy to look up. It doesn’t affect his point, but he was incorrect.

You can get enough vitamin D from 15 mins of sunlight exposure, or by eating a fillet of oily fish such as salmon, or a handful of vitamin D-rich mushrooms The trouble is, although identical twins have many similarities, they can often be quite different – despite sharing the same genes. “Trying to understand why one twin is sometimes overweight and the other skinny; one gets diabetes or cancer and the other doesn’t, has been a major theme for the past 20 years,” Spector says. A study of 457 British civil servants over 10 years found those who had the healthiest diets had the least loss in size of key parts of the brain such as the hippocampus, key to emotions and long-term memory Fish oil; Results from a 2018 US review of 10 large high-quality studies found there was no effect whatsoever of fish oil supplements on risk of heart disease or stroke, and they should not be recommended. A UK review of 112,000 people in 9 trials showed taking long-chain omega-3 (fish oil, EPA or DHA) supplements does not benefit heart health or reduce risk of stroke or death from any cause Veganism per se is not necessarily healthy. Most of the benefit is probably just through eating a greater variety of plants of fibre which can still be achieved by people eating small amounts of meat and dairyThe discovery, in 2014, that the composition of the microbes in people’s guts could influence their body weight, provided Spector’s first “Aha!” moment. But the blinkers really fell off when he and his colleagues measured twins’ and non-twins’ responses to identical meals, and discovered that they could vary hugely between individuals, influenced by both the microbiome and genetics.

Tannins and bitter tastes are another positive sign, in foods such as high quality coffee, green tea, extra virgin olive oil, dark chocolate and red wine This book had a lot of potential, but left it mostly unfulfilled. On the one hand Spector challenges the moneyed reach of the food industry over research and government policy. On the other, he 'debunks' popular 'myths' about food - mostly telling us why every health fad, from plant milks to vitamin supplements, is actually harmful (or, in the case of chocolate, red wine, and bacon, 'not that bad'). Many of the health benefits of veganism is probably due to eating a greater volume and variety of plants, especially fibre.Eat more chia seeds, walnuts, flaxseeds and algae which are plant sources with plenty of essential omega-3 fatty acids Sometimes you read a book to learn more; sometimes to confirm that you are up to date and sometimes to reaffirm that it is legitimate to be confused about that specific field. This is that book.

Our liver naturally produces most if the cholesterol in our bodies and cholesterol in food doesn’t alter its levels in the blood to any extent. Many foods we now think of as healthy contain large amounts of cholesterol, essential for the health of our cell walls and a number of key vitamins e.g. oily fish, eggs and yoghurt For years, Spector believed that genetics would explain much of why people are the way they are. And to some extent it does. For instance, Spector’s group was among the first to demonstrate that people’s weight distribution is largely influenced by their genes. Trying to understand why one twin is sometimes overweight and the other skinny, one gets diabetes or cancer and the other doesn’t, has been a major theme for the past 20 yearsCoffee contains high levels of the antioxidant chemicals, polyphenols, which are likely to be beneficial due to their role in feeding our microbes. A mug of coffee also contains around 0.5g of fibre