Think you’re food smart? Change4Life wants you to think again

I also completed the quiz-score 50% however it was pure speculation. I tend not to eat the examples given as I am aware that they are shall we say “dodgy”. I tend to eat fresh fruit and vegetables little red meat but I eat poultry fish and a fair sprinkling of vegetarian foods. No teabags but fresh tea brewed in a very handy fusion tea pot. Freshly ground coffee decafe and I like the odd glass of decent wine. Oh yes and I am now into the very nice artisan breads becoming more widely available. I also do admit to the sin of the occasional delicious desert perhaps to much sugar there? However so far I feel ok and shall we say I am no spring chicken. Still informed information on these matters is most welcome.

Having nearly finished reading Escape the Diet Trap by Dr John Briffa, I am really concerned about dietary advice. I would love to get feedback on what others think about the contents. At present I am really impressed with what he recommends and feel the public should be made more aware of the information contained in it, and other up-to-date research results. I am strongly in favour of more information, honesty and clarity being simply made available to us all. We need a government brave enough to stand up to manufacturers and retailers who put profit before the life and health of their fellow man.

I would applaud this initiative if I thought it was sincere, however this is the same Government who recently allowed Academy schools to opt out of the nutritional standards for school meals, as established by Jamie Oliver’s school meals campaign. I cannot think of any logical reason for doing this, other than financial ones? I personally follow the dietary guidelines supplied by the Cardiac dietician following my heart attack and that is to try NOT to exceed the following nutritional values per 100g table they supplied which is; Sugar 2g; Fat 3g (total) of which Saturates 1g or less; Sodium/Salt 0.1g/0.25g. It’s not easy to find these values all in one commodity, but reading the labels becomes second nature very quickly and it works for me.

Public establishments where we must eat – especially Hospitals – should provide nutritious healthy food. However, for general eating we should take responsibility for our own food habits, supported by appropriate education and honest information. Don’t try and make the State responsible for what you should be doing for yourself.

I thought I knew a thing or two about healthy eating after doing a year of ‘Weight Watchers’