I use my writing to change perceptions in this world: Edwin Mast-Ingle
The battle ground for a healthier lifestyle, particularly the prevention of obesity and diabetes, is likely to be fought in hitherto uncharted territory. The combatants are the giant conglomerates of the breakfast cereal industry versus proponents of a radically new lifestyle advocating a high fat and protein menu that eliminates carbohydrates and sugars to prevent both the ailments led by two authors – one in the United States and the other in South Africa.
The stakes are high on either side. The global breakfast cereals market, valued at $32.5-billion in 2012, is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4% for the next several years, reaching $43.2-billion in 2019, according to a new market report from Transparency Market Research in the US. With sales up 43 percent in the past five years, the dry cereal business has been one of the fastest-growing segments of the food industry...figures that seem to be matched by the rising obesity and diabetes trends.
This is in the face of burgeoning obesity rates on a colossal scale worldwide. It is especially prevalent in South Africa which has the highest overweight and obesity rate in sub-Saharan Africa according to a groundbreaking new study published in the medical journal, theLancet...a country that pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline dubbed “the third-fattest nation in the world” after a survey three years ago. The Medical Research Council has found that 61% of the South African population is overweight or obese.
In the US the figure is 72%; England 65% and Canada 60% to highlight a few. (See chart below).
Obesity and diabetes have been laid at the door of carbohydrates and sugar by the ‘Davids’ taking on these goliaths. South African Professor Tim Noakes is a highly respected professor of exercise and sports science at the University of Cape Town and his book The Real Meal Revolution is a best-seller in the country.
He says the goal is to remove the blinkers of accepted nutritional wisdom by unleashing the scientific evidence showing that the introduction of low-fat eating after 1977 is the direct cause of the twin epidemics of obesity and diabetes that began in 1980.
“We present the evidence showing why low-fat eating is unhealthy for those suffering from insulin/carbohydrate resistance and how high-fat diets have the unique capacity to reverse all known coronary risk factors, especially in those with the most marked insulin/carbohydrates resistance.
“I also warn everyone to be very wary of so-called “low-fat” “healthy” options, yoghurt especially, since these are laden with sugar and so are less healthy than are the full fat options”. Some dieticians argue that whole grain cereals should be included because they are “healthy” but I have had difficulty finding whole grain cereals that have not been heavily refined. It is also clear that allergies to grains and cereals are commoner than is realised and I wonder if some of the benefit I have derived might not be due to removal of some undetected allergens in cereals or grains. Indeed I have “cured” myself completely of two allergic (respiratory) conditions and one gastrointestinal complaint since adopting this eating plan.”
The Environmental Working Group, a Washington, D.C.-based health information non-profit report backs Noakes’ premise. It points out that the sugar content of cereals marketed to US children averaged 29 percent and children’s cereals have more than 40 percent more sugars than adult cereals. These children consume more than 4.5kgs of sugar annually if they eat a typical morning bowl of cereal each day contributing to obesity and other health problems
Nina Teicholz, an American journalist, makes just that argument in her compelling new book, “The Big Fat Surprise”. The debate is not confined to nutritionists. Warnings about fat have changed how food companies do business, what people eat, and how and how long they live. Heart disease is the top cause of death not just in America, but around the world.
Ms Teicholz describes the early academics who demonised fat and those who have kept up the crusade. Top among them was Ancel Keys, a professor at the University of Minnesota, whose work landed him on the cover of Time magazine in 1961.
But the vilification of fat, argues Ms Teicholz, does not stand up to closer examination. She pokes holes in famous pieces of research—the Framingham heart study, the Seven Countries study, the Los Angeles Veterans Trial, to name a few—describing methodological problems or overlooked results, until the foundations of this nutritional advice look increasingly shaky.
She says advice for keeping to a low-fat diet also played directly into food companies’ sweet spot of biscuits, cereals and confectionery; when people eat less fat, they are hungry for something else. Indeed, as recently as 1995 the AHA itself recommended snacks of “low-fat cookies, low-fat crackers…hard candy, gum drops, sugar, syrup, honey” and other carbohydrate-laden foods. Americans consumed nearly 25% more carbohydrates in 2000 than they had in 1971.
There is increasing evidence that a bigger culprit is most likely insulin, a hormone; insulin levels rise when one eats carbohydrates. Yet even now, with more attention devoted to the dangers posed by sugar, saturated fat remains maligned. “It seems now that what sustains it,” argues Ms Teicholz, “is not so much science as generations of bias and habit.”
Obese youth are more likely to have risk factors for cardiovascular disease, such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure according to the US Government’s CDC. “In a population-based sample of 5- to 17-year-olds, 70% of obese youth had at least one risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Adolescents are also more likely to have pre-diabetes, a condition in which blood glucose levels indicate a high risk for development of diabetes. Children and adolescents who are obese are at greater risk for bone and joint problems, sleep apnoea, and social and psychological problems such as stigmatization and poor self-esteem.”
It is also pointed out by holistic health sources that all packaged, dry cereals are produced by a process called “extrusion” which involves high heat and high pressure to form the grain into the O’s, flakes and other popular cereal shapes. “Extrusion destroys most of the nutrients, including some of the chemical vitamins that are added to “fortify” the cereal. “
Perhaps the proof of the pudding is in the eating. The scene is a cosy coffee-cafe cum cheese-delicatessen stocked with tasty organic delights from all over South Africa. As one might expect those manning the counters at Cheese Gourmet in suburban South Africa should reflect a propensity to overweight encouraged by the environment...and indeed they did until recently when all changed their lifestyle. Ditching carbs and sugar while embracing protein and fats has brought about a remarkable change in each and everyone.
Co-owner Brian is chairman of the Slow Food movement in South Africa and the leading proponent of locally produced cheeses. He says: “I started the lifestyle in December and to date have lost a comfortable and steady 10.5kg purely as a side effect. My main reason for changing was that in November 2013 I had to increase my blood sugar medication as the lower dose was proving ineffective. In the past six months my blood sugar levels have stabilized, I have halved my medication and anticipate that by the end of the year I will halve it again. The ultimate goal is to stop medication altogether, a goal I am adamant is achievable, despite medical opinion that Diabetes is irreversible.
“My wife Jo joined me on the diet firstly to simplify cooking and secondly to support me. For years she had complained of knee aches. They have gone. She had a painful reflux condition and that’s gone. No more shakes and cravings halfway through the morning and now the taste of sugar is wholly unpleasant. She too has lost nearly 6kg as a side effect.
“Jenny, a type 1 diabetic, joined the lifestyle in January and while she has lost a mere 3kg, she has lost centimetres in what Noakes describes as a redistribution of weight. Most importantly her blood sugars are far more stable and she feels better with more energy and no afternoon downer.
“The star of our show is Lin who has been on the lifestyle for some 18 months and has lost over 20kg. With nearly half our customers either on the plan or keen to start, there is much chitchat about the results. Without exception the anecdotes are positive and this is all the proof I need to confirm the benefits.
“We eat well, it tastes good and we are all healthier for the change. Good enough for me,” Brian concludes.
The author (75) too testifies to benefits from the change in lifestyle which includes losing 4kgs – ‘all from my abdomen, gaining considerable more flexibility and energy, the absence of arthritic pains and amazingly losing liver spots’.
However, tackling the problems of obesity and diabetes in South Africa presents different challenges. Not only is there the prospect of cereal manufacturers ramping up their promotional campaigns there is also the question of those who can only afford a basic daily diet which includes pap (a traditional South African porridge) or tuck into fast-food takeaways.
A study published last year in the medical journal PLOS under the title "Big Food, the Consumer Food Environment, Health, and the Policy Response in South Africa" found that in 2010 up to half of young South Africans were reported to consume fast foods, cakes and biscuits, cold drinks and sweets at least four days a week and people in rural areas were also eating more processed foods.
A Euromonitor report states that breakfast cereals in SA are still a luxury product among the majority of consumers who are on limited incomes who often have pap for breakfast. But the middle class is growing and cereal manufacturers can be expected to promote their products under health and wellness labels, fancy packaging and targeting children.
The scenario is predicted to change by 2050 at a time when the population is close to 60-million according to Professor Justin Barnes with Benchmarking and Manufacturing Analysts SA (Pty) Ltd, in association with Impact Economix. He says there will be a split in favour of protein-based food products and higher oil and fat content foods as opposed to grains and cereals-based foods South African and global food-processing trends.
Unfortunately this offers no consolation to the present and coming generations. If Noakes and Teicholz are right – it appears that the proof does reside in the pudding according to the rapidly swelling numbers of converts – the battle of the bulge still has to be won against the cereal and sugar industries. It is worth noting how often the good, bad and ugly are hidden from the public when big bucks are at stake. The fiasco which has just surfaced in the United Kingdom regarding the discontinued pregnancy drug Primodos from Schering/Bayer now threatening to become the Thalidomide case of today is just one example. Is there any doubt that the motivation was money?
Credit Suisse Research Institute says that experts estimate that obesity-related concerns are costing healthcare systems around the world more than $600-billion a year. Diabetes type 2 now affects 370-million people worldwide, more than the entire population of the US and more than seven times the South African populace. By 2020, the annual cost to the healthcare system globally will reach $700-billion and the people affected will be close to 500-million – a major a major burden on developed and developing countries.
The way forward is fraught with difficulties but as a health consultant points out: ‘Tackle obesity one meal at a time and set the example for the kids’. Pedro van Gaalen who heads up the leading fitness publications – Fitness His Edition and Fitness – calls for a measured approach in his latest editions. “Low carb is not ‘no carb’ and this is a key point that is often misconstrued in the media and can cause a number of issues such as eliminating fruits and all other sources of ‘healthy’ natural carbohydrates that are essential for a balanced and healthy diet. “There is also a key discussion around calorie intake that is not being aired in the media to any great extent. Noakes believes that the increased fat will satiate you, but many people are not losing weight on the LCHF diet because they don’t limit their portions. There is a complex process at play here, which includes our hormonal response to food, our brain’s inherent survival mechanism,” he points out.
Finally, with approximately one million people or more than 2% of South Africa's population, depending on the sugar industry for a living, exporting the refined product and ramping up enthanol production of the bulk of the crop could solve the problem for everyone.
http://www.euromonitor.com/breakfast-cereals-in-south-africa/report
http://www.dti.gov.za/food/presentation2.pdf
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2009/11/14/ten-worst-breakfast-cereals.aspx
http://holisticsquid.com/why-breakfast-cereal-should-not-be-in-your-bowl/
http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth/obesity/facts.htm
http://clickamericana.com/topics/food-drink/40-favorite-breakfast-cereals-1967
http://www.usda.gov/factbook/chapter2.pdf
http://www.fao.org/docrep/005/ac911e/ac911e05.htm
The Big Fat Surprise: Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet.By Nina Teicholz. Simon & Schuster; 479 pages; $27.99. Buy from Amazon.com, Amazon.co.uk
The Real Meal Revolution: Changing the world one meal at a time. By Professor Tim Noakes; Sally-Ann Creed; Jonno Proudfoot and David Grier. Exclusive Books.
July-August edition Fitness
