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DIET GUIDELINES ARE ALL WRONG

You can have MORE calories than they say

Saturday November 14,2009

By Louise Barnett

Comment Speech Bubble Have your say(9)

CALORIE guidelines taken as the gold standard by weight-conscious Britons for nearly two decades now appear to be wrong, research released today reveals.

Consumers who religiously stick to the advised 2,000 calories a day limit for women and 2,500 for men could be depriving themselves of food unnecessarily, the study suggests.

A major review of the official calorie advice indicates that these amounts could be raised as much as 16 per cent from the guidelines developed in 1991.

The key reason is that nutrition experts under-estimated physical activity levels in the UK and set advice on energy intake too low.

A 16 per cent increase would boost an adult’s daily limit by as much as 400 calories – equal to eating a regular cheeseburger or two packets of ready-salted crisps, according to food industry bible The Grocer.

But increasing the daily calorie guidelines would pose problems for nutrition experts desperately trying to reverse the obesity epidemic.

But health authorities are warning people not to go overboard / Picture posed by model

The current calorie guidelines are the basis for a raft of UK food and drink labelling schemes and any change to calorie guidelines would potentially require the food industry to overhaul its packaging.

Adam Leyland, editor of The Grocer, said the implications of the draft report were huge for the food industry, which bases its calorie labelling on the current guidelines.

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People have got to be sensible about what they eat and if they feel they should take on these extra calories

National Obesity Forum board member

And he added that the latest scientific research would baffle calorie-conscious consumers.

“I think it is massively confusing if you are offering advice and it turns out the advice was wrong,” he said.

“It gives the Food Standards Agency a big problem because the temptation must be to sweep this under the carpet and continue to give people the advice they have given because 2,000 and 2,500 are nice round numbers.”

Nutrition experts warn the potential change does not give consumers the green light to eat even more high-calorie food and obesity rates alone in the UK mean adults do not need to consume more calories.

Instead, the study reflects today’s more accurate understanding of the previously under-estimated physical activity levels in the UK. The independent Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition reviewed average daily calorie advice, developed in 1991, at the request of The Food Standards Agency and the Department of Health.

Its draft report includes guidelines or “estimated average requirements” based on improved understanding of physical activity levels.

“For teenage boys from 15, girls from 11, and for all adults, estimate average requirement values are increased by up to 16 per cent,” SACN says.

National Obesity Forum board member Tam Fry said: “I can be absolutely sure that SACN would not be recommending this lightly because it knows better than anybody else that we have a huge obesity problem.

“People have got to be sensible about what they eat and if they feel they should take on these extra calories.”

Dietician Ursula Arens told The Grocer that the latest research was scientifically robust.

“This new methodology is not an issue for public debate. It is rock-hard, bulletproof quantum physics-level science, and it’s telling us energy use is higher than previously agreed,” she said.

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TRIED EVERYTHING

15.11.09, 1:07pm

I have tried most things in life. However, more recently I tried Lighterlife and I have to say it really works and it is not bad tasting either. I was very worried because I thought that I would be hungry but there was nothing far from the truth. They used CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) as part of the sessions. This is all to do with your cognitions, thought patterns and processes. It is extremely good and as long as you are positive and have the intent and dedication to lose weight this is an excellent programme to follow. I also think it is safe although not passed by the medics yet. It has all the necessary vitamins and has been well balanced and planned out. The only draw back I can foresee is that it is extremely expensive. If they lowered the price, more people would be able to access it. If you can afford it, go for it. It is a great programme.

• Posted by: DeeDee09 • Report Comment

GOOD HESPERUS

15.11.09, 3:07am

A weightlifting coach i know of gets his clients lean by putting them on a 1500 calorie diet a day, and thats guys who burn a lot of energy

• Posted by: rudolphhess • Report Comment

HOW I DISAGREE!

14.11.09, 6:00pm

I have been trying to lose weight for a long, long time and long ago concluded that the numbers were just plain wrong. The problem is I think they are too high! At 2,500 calories a day I put on weight rapidly, at 2,000 I put on weight. At 1800 I hold steady and below that I lose weight. I am male, 63, 5'11 tall and walk 6 miles a day.

• Posted by: Hesperus • Report Comment

DIET GUIDELINES ARE ALL WRONG

14.11.09, 5:57pm

Man has survived unpty-tump thousand years without the benifit of official experts. If I feel full i stop eating, where's the problem. Just use common sense or that is not in the standard curiculum any more.
.

• Posted by: ricardo • Report Comment

I DONT AGREE

14.11.09, 5:25pm

I think this is nonsense people nowadays live very sedentary lifestyles and most of them are overweight, not only that but they dont eat that much into the bargain it is what they eat that is the problem they eat too much junk, the main culprits being fizzy juices and sugar laden cups of tea and coffee.

people years ago who did not sit on their backsides watching tv at home and playing games and who also worked day shifts doing proper tiring jobs (not sitting hitting the buttons of a keyboard for 7.5 hours) probably required more food.

people are so fat nowadays that people who are actually a few kilos heavier than normal for their height are frequently referred to as 'skinny' because there are so many fat people around creating a false impression of what normal weigh should be.

I dont buy the people are muscular thing either granted you do get people who are mesomorphs and are very lucky but the average person is just averagely built and Britain is not a country of muscular men. I frequently hear people referring to fat people as 'brick sh--houses' when they arent it is just fat they would be lucky to weigh 11 stone with normal bodyfat levels.

All these recommendations will do is justify the easily persuaded majority of brits who want an excuse not to diet and just get fatter and fatter further adding to the obesity epidemic in this country. Some of the 10 year olds nowadays are boasting 40" waists and it is not through excessive eating it is through eating junk and not enough exercise - some people just do not like the blunt truth.

I agree with this study if the people in question are into sports but lets face it the only sport the vast majority of brits partake in is binge drinking which does not require a further 400 energy units a day to take part in.

• Posted by: rudolphhess • Report Comment

DIET GUIDELINES ARE ALL WRONG

14.11.09, 4:21pm

My wife, a non-confomist by upbringing, always says the the way to good health, happiness and all that good stuff is moderation in all things. The problem is that many young people in britain today don't know the difference between the meaning of the words moderation and stuff when it comes to food and there's the rub.

• Posted by: ricardo • Report Comment