PUBLIC HEALTH 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? Is DietYour LastSo Century?BY HELEN SIGNY EALTHY 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 crazesH 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. 38 | October•2014 ILLUSTRATION: JAMES GULLIVER HANCOCK September•2014 | 39 IS YOUR DIET SO LAST CENTURY? “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 1970S We were told: Counting kilojoules now that a kilojoule isn’t just a (calories) would make us thin. kilojoule, there’s a whole lot of Eating was all about: Reduced other things that come into it,” says caloric intake. This was the decade accredited clinical dietitian Gabrielle that saw the introduction of kilo- Maston. “Health messaging around joule counters and a love kilojoules has become more of anything containing sophisticated, people saccharin. now understand the Diet crazes: The difference between Scarsdale diet (a kilojoule-filled 14-day, highly re- foods that are also strictive eating nutritious, like plan based largely nuts, and a choco- around grapefruit, late bar.” tomatoes and lean 1970s food fads protein); appetite are increasingly suppressants such as blamed for today’s Dexatrim. obesity crisis. Foods we loved: Beef stroganoff, fondues, avocado, THE GOURMET 1980S soft drinks. We were told to: Limit foods con- Foods we avoided: Animal fat. It taining fat, saturated fat, cholesterol was in these years that the US govern- and sodium, as they were starting to ment started advising people to avoid be linked to disease. fats in butter, lard and red meat to Eating was all about: Low fat. prevent heart disease. Diet craze: Meal replacement Hippest packaging label: shakes. “Very low kilojoule diets” “Natural”. were first tested in the ’70s, and by What we’ve learned: “We know the ’80s everyone was sipping these 40 | October•2014 READER’S DIGEST 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 This decade saw the advent of com- just as many – if not more – kilojoules puters and energy-saving devices, such than their regular counterparts. as dishwashers and tumble dryers, that “Low fat is useless if fat is replaced reduced our daily physical movement. by sugar or refined carbohydrates. For example, in the US there are plate- THE CARB-FREE 1990S sized low-fat chocolate cookies,” says We were told to: Limit grains. nutritionist Dr Rosemary Stanton. Eating was all about: Low carb, “‘ Low fat’ is useful if it merely means high protein. cutting fat off meat and skimming the Diet craze: The Zone diet and the cream off milk – without making any Atkins diet. First developed in the ’70s, substitutions.” Dr Atkins’ diet came back with a bang Some food paranoias that arose in the ’90s, when everyone was walk- in the ’80s have now been largely ing around with bad breath, headaches discredited: we know that eating and carb cravings. cholesterol doesn’t raise your blood Foods we loved: Olive oil, low- cholesterol level; MSG certainly affects fat foods (containing the chemical sensitive individuals but it’s safe for olestra), coffee, sundried tomatoes, the general community, and, despite rocket. the hype, there is no evidence that We avoided: Food colours and artificial sweeteners are carcinogenic. preservatives. October•2014 | 41 IS YOUR DIET SO LAST CENTURY? HOW A FOOD FAD IS BORN The last two years have seen a spike symptoms such as bloating when in the popularity of gluten-free they ate wheat. Whether this is products. But that means basing because of wheat’s gluten or your diet on rice and corn – both of fructose content – or another factor which are high GI (glycaemic index) entirely – is yet to be shown. As a and processed – flying in the face of result of the research, some people recent understanding about the with IBS started eating gluten-free, importance of eating low GI, non- articles were written saying that processed wholegrains. So what’s gluten causes bloating, sales went going on? up, and a craze was born. The gluten-free craze was born “Once people push for these when a research paper was products, the supermarket chains published showing that many and food companies start to give us people with irritable bowel what we want,” says Maston. “It’s a syndrome (IBS) suffered more 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.” 42 | October•2014 READER’S DIGEST 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 2000S We were told to: Eat more fresh fruit and vegetables, plus a variety of grains. “Just because it’s labelled organic, Dieting was all about: All-natural, it’s not necessarily so – the industry is unprocessed, preservative-free. hugely unregulated in this area,” says Diet craze: South Beach diet. Maston. Foods we loved: Anything gluten- “Pesticides can blow onto organic free and/or organic, sushi, herbal tea. farms from neighbouring crops. The Foods we avoided: Anything con- best advice is to make sure you wash taining carbs. your fruit and vegetables properly.” Hippest packaging labels: “Organic”, “Free range”, “Non-GMO”, THE SUPER FOODS “Dolphin-friendly”. OF TODAY What we’ve learned: Much of We are being told to: Eat more this dietary advice persists today, seafood and wholegrains and less prompted by the obesity crisis and a sugar, salt, saturated fat and transfats. recognition that the more processed Eating is all about: Ancient grains a food is, the more salt, sugar, fat and and prehistoric diets. other no-nos it’s likely to contain. Diet craze: The Paleo diet, based That’s all very well, but discerning on what we believe Paleolithic man shoppers should be beware of “natu- to have eaten (naturally raised meat ral” and “organic” claims, that some- and vegetables and nothing based on times have been shown to be false. agricultural production); the 5:2 diet, October•2014 | 43 IS YOUR DIET SO LAST CENTURY? FOODS THAT HAVE COME AND GONE OVER THE YEARS Margarine/butter: Originally any restriction on eggs, though the produced as a product for Napoleon American Heart Association and Bonaparte’s troops, margarine was other heart foundations worldwide once popular among the poor as it once said that eating too many could was cheaper than butter. It gained raise cholesterol and cause heart ascendancy during the mid-20th disease. Our consumption of eggs fell, century when the evidence started even though later research showed mounting that saturated fat in butter the number of eggs you eat has little caused heart disease, but fell out of impact on blood cholesterol (except favour when we learned that the possibly for people with diabetes). In margarine manufacturing process 2000, the American Heart was creating trans-fats. Association revised its dietary Today, many margarines have been guidelines, saying it’s OK to eat an reformulated to make them virtually egg on most days. free of trans-fats. Some margarine brands are enriched with plant sterols Red meat: High-protein diets have and high in polyunsaturated and come and gone over the years, and monounsaturated fats, which can are currently making a resurgence help to reduce blood cholesterol in with the Paleo diet. Most dietary consumers. guidelines suggest you limit red meat “Not a single study has shown that consumption because it’s been found butter is healthy – but my own to be a risk factor for colorectal viewpoint is that a healthy diet can cancer.