It's food, Jim, but not as we know it

I’ve realised that part of going fructose free is going to mean drastically reducing my intake of processed foods. Many of them are laced with sugar, for a start, but I also feel like if I’m going to take this step- and it’s a pretty big one – then I can’t ignore the other crap I’ve been eating.

I don’t really know how this stuff crept into my life, to be honest. A diet yogurt here, a jar of pasta bake sauce there...a heady combination of easy availability, lack of time for cooking, and the perpetual search for the perfect ‘diet’ food.  It’s kind of embarrassing to me that I’ve made it to 32 without really evaluating the quality of what I eat.

The question is, where to stop.  Are tinned tomatoes ok? Do I go organic as much as I can? Do I want to make my own bread? (Answer: no). I’ve got some thinking to do, but not today. Today is daylight savings Sunday. I’m finding it hard enough to work out what time it is (every clock says something different- argh!), let alone work out whether paying an extra couple of bucks for organic meat is worth it.

Instead, I thought I would amuse myself and take a look at some of the buzz word laden manufactured foods which used to be in my cupboard. You know, the 99% fat free, low GI, added fibre, no added salt, all ‘natural’ ingredient, ‘healthy’ processed foods. Hopefully this exercise will make me think twice before going down this pointless road ever again.

There are so many to choose from that I thought I’d start with breakfast. Then, if I find trashing food in this way to be fun, I’ll keep going with other meals :)

Before I start, I think I need more photos in my blog.

Photo: Arvind Balaraman http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=1058

Mmmm Fruity. No, that would be way too easy. I’ll stick to products that at least try to make us think they are healthy. 

Let’s start with one of my favourites. Special K. Keeps you looking good. I’ve eaten this often, and I believed the hype: low GI and high in protein which will keep me full for longer, so I won’t be needing that mid-morning biscuit. Great! And that’s why I’ll be able to keep wearing that mini skirt well after fashion and good sense tells me not to (YouTube let me down with the ad- anyone remember it?). What is so special about Special K? Well:

Cereals (62%)(rice, wheat), wheat gluten, sugar, wheat flour, minerals (calcium carbonate, iron, zinc oxide), salt, barley malt extract, vitamins (niacin, vitamin B6, riboflavin, thiamin, folate).

Not a ridiculously long list, especially if you ignore the vitamins and minerals which are obviously good. Hmm though, why are they adding vitamins and minerals? Wholegrains contain vitamins and minerals. Could it be that the 62% cereals are not wholegrain? Sure enough, a serving of Special K is only 10-20% wholegrain, which is pretty low. Cheerios are 70-80% wholegrain.  I’m not going to bang on about wholegrains because they frankly bore me, but the deal is that wholegrains include fibre, vitamins and minerals. If you are eating a non-wholegrain (part grain??) then it is pretty much just starch. As well as plenty of starch in your bowl of Special K, you also get a teaspoon of sugar courtesy of the manufacturers in every serve you eat. 

Up & Go (Vive)

Mmm Up & Go. All the goodness of drinking a Weetbix. If you can stomach the idea of a breakfast that you drink, here is the ‘Vive’ version of the Up & Go. I chose Vive because they are marketed as ‘light’, compared to the normal Up & Go. They are also marketed as low GI and high in fibre, with lots of vitamins and minerals including calcium. The ingredients list is below, from the Sanitarium website. 

Filtered water, breakfast cereal (6%) (wheat maltodextrin, hi-maize™ starch, inulin, corn syrup solids, barley beta glucan, oat flour), skim milk powder, soy protein, sunflower oil [contains antioxidant (tocopherols) (contain soy)], cane sugar, fructose, berry purees (0.7%) (strawberry, raspberry, blackberry, blueberry), apple puree, minerals (phosphates of calcium and sodium), acidity regulators (332, 300), flavours (contains wheat), vegetable gums (460, 466, 407), fermented red rice, vitamins (C, A, Niacin, B12, B2, B6, B1, folate), salt

Both the Vive and the Up & Go original are 98.5% fat free- but the ‘light’ aspect of Vive is that it has much less sugar (12 grams per serving- just a measly 4 teaspoons) than the regular Up & Go (27 grams- gah!). But all those ingredients- what are they for? Consider this alternative: Milk, berries. Blend. High in fibre, low GI. Lots of vitamins and minerals, including calcium. The light and satisfying way to help you get through your morning, without all the crap of the Up & Go Vive.

Finally, some healthy yogurt, a staple in my fridge for years. I chose Forme No Fat ‘Satisfy’ Yogurt which is not only low in fat (ok, no in fat), but is designed to keep you full for longer because it is a yogurt with added fibre. Mmm. The thought of the added fibre actually turned me off this product for ages, but I have tried it and it is ok. Not yum, but ok. It’s a diet yogurt, what more can I expect? In it you will find

skim milk, milk solids, water, dietary fibre (inulin), fructose, thickener (1442), halal gelatine, flavours, acidity regulators (330, 331), sweeteners (951, 950), live yogurt cultures: s.thermophilus and l.bulgaricus 

Ok, the fructose is a surprise, and not a nice one. There are also two artificial sweeteners. Inulin is the fibre. Unfortunately, research shows that inulin doesn't perform that well when it comes to keeping you feeling full.  Soluble fibre needs to be gummy in order to slow down digestion and add a feeling of fullness. Inulin is unfortunately not all that gummy. No wonder I wanted a real yoghurt after I ate this one. Just for comparison, here is the list of ingredients in normal, full fat plain yoghurt (Jalna Greek Style):

Whole milk, cream, live cultures (lactobacillus acidophilus, bifidobacterium, lactobacillus casei).  

I’m eating that one from now on. 

On the topic, here’s a little story from a research study that I came across (here). The researchers wanted to compare inulin to another fibre called lupin-kernel as a replacement for fat in a breakfast sausage. Participants tested the fibrous sausages, and gave feedback such as ‘Dry, fibrous, gristly, stringy, tough” (24% of participants) and ‘bland taste’ (14% of participants). Nevertheless, the researchers concluded: “Both inulin and lupin-kernel fibre appear to have potential as fat replacers in meat products”. Sure they do, if you don't care about taste or texture.

So, what have I learned? First, the goal in manufacturing 'healthy' foods seems to be to trick us into feeling full. Adding fibre and protein to things that don’t traditionally have fibre or protein is the tactic of choice. But if you think about it, it's weird that you can buy a cereal that contains protein and a dairy product that includes fibre. Second, the focus on being low in fat means that sugar sneaks by without a murmur. I would never add four teaspoons of sugar to my cereal, but that is what I get in the ‘light’ version of Up & Go. And third, this is a little subjective, but it doesn’t seem to matter whether the food is tasty or actually nutritious. The food and the experience of eating no longer matter, as long as the nutritional panel on the product looks something like ‘healthy’. I wonder how long it will be until they just stick actual cardboard pieces in a cereal box and sell it as the ultimate low fat, high fibre breakfast.

I know I can’t expect much more from manufactured, processed, convenience foods, and I should have known better, to be honest. And yeah, I'm not exactly leading a trend here in rejecting them- I'm sure most of you saw the light a long time ago. 

Anyway, there’s no shame in admitting I was wrong. So, goodbye Forme. As my dad might say, you are not the one for me (ha ha).