The context of the ‘junk food cycle’
Global obesity rates are worse than ever and the UK has large socioeconomic factors that impact poorer communities and their access to fresh produce. These communities continue to have very easy access to foods that are ultra processed (convenient, cheap to produce and are hyperpalatable) and high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS).
The politics of food is complicated in a very changeable political climate in the UK. The food industry’s influence on what is accessible for the public to choose to eat remains substantive. This includes powerful lobbying of Parliament, the funding of food research and output and mass marketing of products that are not always good for us.
The last few years have seen an exciting rise in the independent scientific research output about food. This has questioned the very basis of our prior understanding of how our relationship with food interacts with our health and well-being.
Newer scientific findings include:
- The role of ultra-processed foods (UPFs) in poor health
- The role of the gut microbiome (the many organisms that live in our large bowel)
- The role of fats in diet and its relation to fats in our body and health outcomes
- How we are all different and a “one approach fits all” can be inappropriate e.g. sugar peaks in the blood after eating a banana can vary up to 10-fold within individuals
- Approaches that adopt an increase in ‘Healthspan’ (the number of years of good health, both physically and mentally) rather than ‘Lifespan’ which focusses on longevity without considering the quality of life
- A better understanding of how a predominantly plant-based diet may promote an increased healthspan
- How seeds, nuts and pulses benefit healthspan
- How intermittent fasting may improve overall health