This post has been in my draft box for quite a while now and was brought to the forefront by Ali from Milly and Pip who questioned British fruit smoothie company Innocent about whether they were quite so innocent after all. The company which was caught making up the facts about the health benefits of its drinks back in 2007 is still a business that wants/needs to make money. Especially now its part owned by Coca Cola.
Back in 2007 the small print in the ad claimed that the drinks contained "even more antioxidants" than five actual portions of fruit and vegetables--a claim that failed to hold water.
Advertising watchdog's found the claim breached codes of truthfulness and substantiation, as well as of medical and scientific evidence. Accepted nutritional advice apparently states that fruit juice and smoothies can only count towards one of the recommended five daily portions of fruit and vegetables, regardless of how much is consumed.
However I do think their is some benefit for some people. If your about to pick up a Diet Coke and swig away then its obvious that a smoothie is far more healthy. Its still a pre packaged, pasteurized juice that you would be far better off juicing yourself. Not only would you save yourself a small fortune, but you would get a food/drink that was still alive and containing all the vitamins and minerals that it naturally should have.
Now lets turn our attention to the "5 a day" campaign. Its long been admitted that its wrong but it still sticks and its the main claim I hear on a day to day basis. It constantly feels like science doesn't need to be "proven" or "real" any more, it just has to sound right!
Fruit saves you from cancer! It doesn't, but it sounds good. Oh and it sells things which is always popular with business. People (maybe you) get hooked into emotional science, they believe in it and have faith in it. Throw those science books on the fire and lets have some faith. And remember faith is: trust, hope and belief in the goodness, trustworthiness or reliability of a person, concept or entity. This could be faith in a religion, or faith in a marketing concept.
Since 2003 our very own Department of Health had been telling us that eating five portions of fruit or vegetables a day. Even the authors of the study advised caution in the findings. Despite a nine year study little was known of the lifestyles of the subjects. Did they live on KFC? Did they exercise?
The original advice was taken from the World Health Organisation back in 1990's. Five-a-day was invented by a bunch (ha ha) of fruit & veg companies at a meeting with the American National Cancer Institute in 1991 . The American National Cancer Institute has since trademarked the term and the fruit & veg manufacturers, logistics and packaging companies hit the jackpot with this marketing slogan that is known across many countries.
A while back it was reported that eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day wrong and that these trustworthy scientists that we have faith in now think eight portions is more beneficial. Wow, Coca Cola the new 58% owners of innocent are going to make a fortune now we have to consume more!!!
Fruit is fantastic, I've just had my freshly squeezed OJ with a dash of lemon, but some fruit contains a great deal of fructose. Remember anything ending in ose is a sugar so fructose is fruit sugar. We know from the work of Ray Peat that "fructose inhibits the stimulation of insulin by glucose" which is why I always recommend fruits that contain more glucose (check out my previous posts).
Glucose enters the bloodstream and has a chance to be used for energy before it heads to the liver. Whilst fructose goes straight to our livers and clogs it up. So, not all fruit is that good for you. I have posted before about the fruits with the most useful sugars listed in order of preference.
My own wife was a beleiver in 5 a day purely on the basis of antioxidant protection. Her work had taught her that we need to eat brightly coloured fruit and vegetables (5 a day) to protect us from free radicals. Here's a thought though, why not avoid the things causing free radical damage? KFC, smoking, diet coke blah blah blah. The truth of the matter is people think they can get away with having a toxic lifestyle and that 5 a day will protect them like some rather sticky squishy Bananaman that will come to the rescue.
Enjoy your fruit (pick wisely though) but don't think its giving you any magic powers to avoiding treating your body well in the first place
Back in 2007 the small print in the ad claimed that the drinks contained "even more antioxidants" than five actual portions of fruit and vegetables--a claim that failed to hold water.
Advertising watchdog's found the claim breached codes of truthfulness and substantiation, as well as of medical and scientific evidence. Accepted nutritional advice apparently states that fruit juice and smoothies can only count towards one of the recommended five daily portions of fruit and vegetables, regardless of how much is consumed.
However I do think their is some benefit for some people. If your about to pick up a Diet Coke and swig away then its obvious that a smoothie is far more healthy. Its still a pre packaged, pasteurized juice that you would be far better off juicing yourself. Not only would you save yourself a small fortune, but you would get a food/drink that was still alive and containing all the vitamins and minerals that it naturally should have.
Now lets turn our attention to the "5 a day" campaign. Its long been admitted that its wrong but it still sticks and its the main claim I hear on a day to day basis. It constantly feels like science doesn't need to be "proven" or "real" any more, it just has to sound right!
Fruit saves you from cancer! It doesn't, but it sounds good. Oh and it sells things which is always popular with business. People (maybe you) get hooked into emotional science, they believe in it and have faith in it. Throw those science books on the fire and lets have some faith. And remember faith is: trust, hope and belief in the goodness, trustworthiness or reliability of a person, concept or entity. This could be faith in a religion, or faith in a marketing concept.
Since 2003 our very own Department of Health had been telling us that eating five portions of fruit or vegetables a day. Even the authors of the study advised caution in the findings. Despite a nine year study little was known of the lifestyles of the subjects. Did they live on KFC? Did they exercise?
The original advice was taken from the World Health Organisation back in 1990's. Five-a-day was invented by a bunch (ha ha) of fruit & veg companies at a meeting with the American National Cancer Institute in 1991 . The American National Cancer Institute has since trademarked the term and the fruit & veg manufacturers, logistics and packaging companies hit the jackpot with this marketing slogan that is known across many countries.
A while back it was reported that eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day wrong and that these trustworthy scientists that we have faith in now think eight portions is more beneficial. Wow, Coca Cola the new 58% owners of innocent are going to make a fortune now we have to consume more!!!
Fruit is fantastic, I've just had my freshly squeezed OJ with a dash of lemon, but some fruit contains a great deal of fructose. Remember anything ending in ose is a sugar so fructose is fruit sugar. We know from the work of Ray Peat that "fructose inhibits the stimulation of insulin by glucose" which is why I always recommend fruits that contain more glucose (check out my previous posts).
Glucose enters the bloodstream and has a chance to be used for energy before it heads to the liver. Whilst fructose goes straight to our livers and clogs it up. So, not all fruit is that good for you. I have posted before about the fruits with the most useful sugars listed in order of preference.
My own wife was a beleiver in 5 a day purely on the basis of antioxidant protection. Her work had taught her that we need to eat brightly coloured fruit and vegetables (5 a day) to protect us from free radicals. Here's a thought though, why not avoid the things causing free radical damage? KFC, smoking, diet coke blah blah blah. The truth of the matter is people think they can get away with having a toxic lifestyle and that 5 a day will protect them like some rather sticky squishy Bananaman that will come to the rescue.
Enjoy your fruit (pick wisely though) but don't think its giving you any magic powers to avoiding treating your body well in the first place
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