Helen Marlow

“Arguably, some of the biggest current fads are protein supplements and high-strength water-soluble vitamins, both of which when consumed above our nutritional requirements are excreted out of the body, meaning the extra doses generally end up in the toilet. Protein supplements are the heavyweight in the $16-billion sports nutrition world and they’re reportedly used by up to 40 per cent of Americans and 25 per cent of Brits in 2016. Far from being protein deficient, most healthy people in Western countries exceed the daily recommended protein requirements, yet marketing tells us otherwise. The food industry have jumped on the bandwagon, adding a few extra grams of protein to chocolate or granola bars in order to proclaim that their calorie-laden products that used to be high energy are now ‘high protein’ and the perfect snack to slip into your gym bag.”
― Tim Spector, Spoon-Fed: Why Almost Everything We’ve Been Told About Food is Wrong

“While a gluten-free diet may help alleviate symptoms in some people, for others it can lead to nutritional problems. Gluten-free products are typically lacking in vitamin B12, folate, zinc, magnesium, selenium and calcium. Other studies found that gluten-free diets in Spain contained on average more fat and less fibre than comparable diets. It is clear that excluding an entire food group from your diet can reduce fibre and dietary diversity, which also affects our gut microbes, creating the possibility of long-term adverse effects.”
― Tim Spector, Spoon-Fed: Why Almost Everything We’ve Been Told About Food is Wrong

“Our bodies can’t deal with a large dumping of a chemical supplement in our intestines in the way that they can process and absorb them from natural food sources.”
― Tim Spector, Spoon-Fed: Why Almost Everything We’ve Been Told About Food is Wrong

“The big question is: will consumers eat biocultured food? The answer, it appears, is that today’s consumers do not know what is in a sausage, a pie, a chicken nugget, a dim sum or a crab stick anyway – and will probably eat it provided the price is right and the food is tasty and safe. In support of this view is the fact that, in the 1950s nobody on Earth wore synthetic fabrics made from petroleum – and today almost everybody does, suggesting that novel technologies can be universally embraced provided they meet consumer needs, wishes and budgets.”
― Julian Cribb, Food or War