Clean Eating’s Dirty Secret

My name is Elly Rees and I am one of the newest members of the Better Body Group. I have been studying nutrition for 5 years now and have a Bsc Hons in Exercise, Health and Nutrition, and a Msc in Sport and Exercise Nutrition.

Over the last few days a handful of clients have mentioned a show on BBC (still available on BBC IPlayer) called ‘Clean Eating’s Dirty Secrets’.

The show itself actually made some good points. The most important of which was the huge lack of qualifications delivered by “nutrition experts” who had obtained diplomas in nutrition or even just decided to call themselves nutritionists, without having any kind of training at all. This is a real bug bare for someone that had to study for 5 years to become registered!

With so much misinformation in our industry it’d be easy to be led down the garden path by a well-recognised figure/celebrity/blogger. The sad thing here is that thousands of ‘followers’ are easily influenced by these people and blindly trust their advice without actually knowing the truth.

Here I have broken down a few of these nutrition plans and explain why they should be swerved altogether!

1) “High Carb Hannah” – Potato diet 30 days

Starch based diet- incredibly unsafe and completely not recommended, missing all key nutrients – absolutely no energy or balance in lifestyle. As a result, it will undoubtedly cause deficiencies in many key vitamins and minerals.

2) Pure vegan- raw only/ Plant based diet

Plenty of vegetables but lacking protein and CHO,

Now this one wasn’t half as bad as some of the other diets, at least with all these vegetables you are able to get your vitamins and minerals; however there is a serious lack of energy and protein. This will result in extreme fatigue and lowered metabolic rate.

3) Gluten-free diet

As a born Coeliac this is my biggest bug bare! I am genetically allergic to wheat and gluten, I can say from personal experience it does not mean it is a healthier diet and if anything it can become more difficult as these “free-from” products tend to be stacked full of more sugar and fat than gluten products. So unless you are medically told to stick away from wheat and gluten don’t waste your money on the expensive products!

4) Alkaline diet

Claims acid is putting your body under unnecessary stress to fight food?

There is no evidence whatsoever – the stomach needs acid to break down food. What’s more, your body uses a process known as homeostasis to maintain the body’s natural PH levels.

Other shocking facts to avoid:

“I get most of my protein on a raw vegan lifestyle from my own flesh….this is actually scientifically accurate”

Why is this wrong? Your body needs protein to get essential amino acids to create lean tissue in the muscles, your body cannot create muscle without these essentials and these cannot come from vegetables.

Deliciously Ella – Claim “when we drink milk calcium is drawn from our bones in order to rebalance the acidity it causes, which can result in a calcium deficit”

Why is this wrong? Milk is an excellent source of calcium, this is fundamental to bone health and prevention of later life bone injuries.

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