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The food that pretends to be good for you…
8th December 2006
Last weekend I went to a friend's 60th birthday party in Wales, in a beautiful place called St. Brides Castle.
It was a three hour drive from Bristol…well, four if you add on a wrong turning that took us 50 miles off track. I'm too chivalrous to blame anyone, so I won't name names.
But to give you a clue it begins with an L.
And ends in 'ara'.
Anyway, by the time we arrived it was time for a quick tidy up, a cup of tea, then off to dinner.
And it was here that I realised how some people get the facts about their health so horribly wrong.
The common mistake that the 'health freaks' make...
Now, the restaurant at St. Brides is nothing fancy. Honest food best describes it. But there was something I immediately loved about it…
All the meat came from local farms.
Trust me, it's amazing what a 50-mile detour and some cruel comments about your driving skills can do for your appetite.
And the locally-sourced non-supermarket meat gave me full reign to order some lovely lamb chaps with roast vegetables.
“Lamb? Really?”
I looked round at the lady sitting next to me, and judging by the look on her face you'd think I'd asked to eat one of her children.
“What's wrong with lamb?” I asked.
“Red meat,” she said, sniffing slightly, “it's bad for you.”
And that's mistake number one right there, which we'll get to in a minute.
But as we got chatting it soon became apparent that she was making far worse mistakes than that - mistakes that could actually be harming her health.
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Just because it says 'healthy' on the packet, doesn't mean it is
This lady, Pat, was very proud of her healthy lifestyle. She went to the gym twice a week, she ate organic whenever possible, she made sure she had breakfast every day, she ate no red meat, and didn't smoke.
Sounds perfect, doesn't it?
But dig a little deeper, and it quickly goes downhill…
The biggest mistake Pat makes is falling for one of the nastiest marketing tricks played by food companies in recent years…
And that's dressing up high fat, sugary rubbish as a healthy alternative.
Take her breakfast for instance. Pat prides herself on eating breakfast every day, but because she doesn't have much time she makes do with a fruit and fibre bar.
Now these bars scream health. They have words like 'health', 'diet' and 'power' all over the wrapper, they show pictures of fresh fruit and whole grain, and they're usually eaten by a perfect family, smiling with their perfect teeth, as they sprint up a mountain without breaking a sweat.
But in my opinion, a lot of these bars should have skull and cross bones on the wrapper, eaten by a man on a stretcher, clasping the bar and looking confused.
Because a lot of them are loaded with harmful fats and sugars that do you no favours whatsoever.
In fact, strip away the marketing and you are left with that evil of all evils - processed food.
Many of these so-called health bars are packed with artificial sweeteners (like the dreaded aspartame), added sugars, puffed grains, refined flours, starches, unspecified vegetable oils, fruit concentrate and glucose syrup.
Just because it says healthy, doesn't mean it is.
I mean, if I had 'Handsome' scrawled across my T-shirts, it wouldn't make it true, would it?
'Slightly Overweight and Falls Asleep In Front of The Telly' would be more like it.
So don't fall for it when food manufacturers tell you their product is healthy. Check the label and see what's in it.
If you must have one of these bars, treat it like a guilty pleasure you enjoy OCCASSIONALLY, but don't think you're doing yourself any good.
The truth is, eating natural, UNREFINED food is the best thing you can do.
Which brings me back to my first point…
The health benefits of red meat
Okay, so here's what I said as I stabbed a piece of my chop with my fork and waved it in the air in front of Pat…
- Red meat is packed with protein - and as far as I understand, this type of protein is 'complete'.
There are certain amino acids that your body can't produce on its own, and that's where red meat comes to the rescue. It provides ALL the missing amino acids your body needs.
- B vitamins help maintain nerve cells and normal blood formation… and red meat is an excellent source.
- According to some studies, having red meat less than twice a week can cause your zinc levels to fall below the recommended level. And this is a terrible time for that to happen! Keeping your body supplied with zinc can help prevent colds and infections.
- Red meat contains more iron than most foods. What's more, the body can deal with it more easily than iron from vegetable sources.
- Want to lose weight? Well listen to this…
Scientists studied two groups of people - one on a diet of lean red meat, fruit and vegetables, the other on a low-protein, carb rich diet. Both diets contained the same amounts of calories and fat. The group on the red meat diet lost 25% more weight than the other group.
In fact, if you want to know how to eat properly (and yes, that means included red meat in your diet), I |
The best (and most logical) diet by a mile...
If you want to lose weight naturally - and that means no pills or shakes or fads - then I can't recommend this enough…
It's called The Montignac Diet, and for those smart enough to try it (rather than those who munch on health bars), it can produce absolutely brilliant results.
How's 19 pounds in 2 weeks sound?
I've mentioned this diet several times in the past… and it's something that will crop up in this letter again and again. It's that good.
If you want to lose weight (and keep it off!), and stay active and healthy, without nibbling on lettuce leaves, then you really won't be disappointed with this.
To find out everything you need to know about this great diet, take a look at this:
Montignac Diet
Well, that's it for today. We're due at a friend's in Cardiff this evening, so with Lara reading the map we'd better get going now!
Have a great weekend. Treat yourself to a steak, wash it down with a glass of red wine, and ENJOY YOURSELF!
Yours as ever,
Ray Collins
The Good Life Letter
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