‘There is no such thing as health food’

Press, 5 December 1985, Page 17

‘There is no such thing as health food’

One of the worlds top authorities on nutrition has put the polyunsaturated fat in the fire by saying there’s no such thing as health food. “The term is both false

and misleading because it suggests that other foods are unhealthy,” he adds.

At a time when interest in dieting for good health has rarely been higher, Professor Bender examines the claims and counter claims made for health food products, diet aids, “wonder diets,” and herbal remedies.

And it isn’t often he has anything good or positive to say about any of them. In his new book* he will surprise — and undoubtedly shock — not only health food devotees but also confirmed non-believers, and the millions of serious but puzzled people who don’t quite know what the subject is all about.

“There is no such thing as a health food, only a health food industry,” he writes. “Processed foods can be safer than raw, unprocessed foods — the list of harmful substances in nature is almost limitless.” “There is no evidence at all that organic fertilisers produce more nutritious foods than those grown on commercial farms.”

"The word ‘natural’ ought to be banned.”

“There are no bad foods, only bad diets.” Unhealthy stuff if you happen to be in the health food business, but Professor Bender, who serves on many' British government committees, and is vice president of the International Union of Food Science and Technology, has backed his findings with plenty of seemingly welldocumented “evidence.”

Generally, it isn’t the products with which he and

By

GRAHAM

PAYNE

in

London

like-minded colleagues quarrel. “The majority of those on sale are generally — although not entirely — harmless,” he maintains. “It is the extravagant and misleading claims made for them that give rise to criticism from scientists and public health authorities.”

He has nothing sweet to say about honey. So what about all those books written on it claiming, among other things, it can increase human endurance and sexual prowess? “Not true,” he says. “Honey is only pleasant flavoured sugar. Not only does it not possess any unusual nutritional properties, but as with so many other ‘natural’ foods, it can be toxic.” If bees browse on flowers containing . poisons, the toxins transfer to the honey and then into humans — as happened once in New Zea-

What about sea salt —' much favoured by health food followers? Professor Bender believes you should take everything you read about it with a pinch of ordinary salt. “The real difference between sea salt and ordinary salt is simply dirt,” he says. "Ordinary white salt is purified sodium chloride, over 99 per cent pure. The evaporated sea salt contains impurities from seaweed, dried shrimps and the general debris of the sea. It is 98 per cent pure.” Too much sugar, most of us must now surely know, isn’t good for us. And, says

Professor Bender, it also includes the ‘natural sugar* in dried fruits which, according to some health food suppliers, is good for you. “They even advertise fruit bars ‘free from added sugar’,” he says. “Indeed they are free from added sugar, but that is because they do not need additions, they are already full of sugars.” Professor Bender also clears up a few myths about food.

Does grapefruit burn off body fat, for instance? Apparently not. The socalled grapefruit diet was, he maintains, just a gimmick to help sell grapefruits. There is no food that helps to burn off fat or other foods.

Are artificial colours harmful? "So far as we know, none of the food additives — colours, flavours, preservatives and the rest — are harmful, otherwise they would not be permitted in food,” he says. What about soya? Is soya meat substitute as good as meat?

“Nutritionally it is about the same because manufacturers usually add the main nutrients that are present in meat, i.e. vitamins 81, 812, and iron. “Meat does contain other nutrients, but since most vegetarians are perfectly healthy, it would seem that meat is not essential to the diet.”

“Health or hoax,” The argument may never be resolved, but if Professor Bender has his way, the health food industry would be left with plenty of freerange egg on its face. "“Health or Hoax," by Professor Arnold Bender. Elvendon Press. -Copyright Duo