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“Eating avocado does not give superpowers and then swells up with chorizo sandwiches”
Nutrition
The scientific popularizer Miguel Ángel Lurueña reveals in «Don’t get mixed up with food» how to choose really healthy foods and what we should check on the labels when shopping to avoid deception
Overwhelmed with information, clueless and blocked by mistrust. In the world of food we have reached a point, as explained by Miguel Ángel Lurueña, doctor in Food Science and Technology and author of the blog «Petroleum jelly beans» in which we do not trust what we eat, nor do we know what we should eat or choose correctly. And this leads us to eat badly, we think that we are actually doing it well.
In his latest book “Don’t let them bundle you with food” (Destino), the popularizer states that you don’t need to complicate your life, or juggle, much less count calories to eat safely and healthily.
On the label of some foods we read that they “help strengthen defenses.” If we take them, do we reinforce them?
Strengthening defenses is achieved with a set of three things. The first thing is to follow a diet based on healthy foods that is varied. But varied does not mean that we eat a little of everything, but a variety of healthy foods. The second would be to practice daily physical activity and the third would be to get enough sleep. And there is no more. No particular food works miracles. Our immune system needs certain nutrients to function, but that does not mean that giving it more makes it better or that we are going to get sick from not eating something. The advertising claims of “helps your defenses” are not based on the microorganisms that they contribute, but on the nutrients that are added, specifically the vitamin B for which the declaration of “for your immune system to function properly” is approved . But we can actually find that vitamin in other foods. It is as if we have a car and they tell us that the four wheels help it to go faster, what it helps is that the car can move when the engine starts.
When it comes to eating, does what you do wrong matter more than what you do right?
That’s. You do not have to look at the details about what food supposedly strengthens your defenses, what we have to do is stop doing things that are wrong, without whipping yourself, but knowing what is right and what is not. Something that is healthy is fine, but having avocado does not give you super powers and then puff up with chorizo sandwiches.
Claims like ‘green’, ‘natural’ or ‘homemade’ also work to sell more, how do we approach them?
The claim of ‘natural’ is an empty term that is not even fixed in the legislation. The companies put it at will and each one interprets what they think. A wild salmon and wild strawberries can be natural, but just because it is natural does not have to say that something is good, also the venom of the snake is natural. The properties of a food depend on its chemical composition and not on its origin.
As for the ecological, this label can only be put if the requirements that appear in the legislation are met, but these are not directly related to the environment or health even if they sell it to us like that. An example can be a type of apples that come from Italy packed in plastic and have an ecological seal (despite the environmental impact of transport and plastic and that there is no reference to the way of cultivation or whether a lot or little water is used) .
The important thing is that the food is healthy, that it is at its optimum point of maturity and, if we want it to be sustainable, it is important that it be local and seasonal.
What would you say are the most dangerous hoaxes related to food?
Those who rely on people’s despair or who are based on belief. For example, the so-called miracle remedies for cancer are very dangerous, because a person who is in that situation can cling to anything.
It is difficult to use reason against feelings. If you receive the impact of advertising, which is often based on emotional aspects (romantic feelings, childhood …), what can happen is that if someone tells you that what they are trying to sell you is not true, you may face him or even get angry. Some people spend a lot of money on bullshit or supposed miraculous charms for which there is no scientific evidence.
Does that “at the blacksmith’s house, wooden knife” also happen to you?
Yes too. The point is that years ago we thought that the fundamental thing was information and it is important, of course, but it is not enough. Today we have a lot of information and excess has become a problem. You have to know how to interpret it and have knowledge to discern and that is the complicated thing. It is difficult to know what we rely on and who we trust.
Sometimes apocalyptic messages are heard around some foods (meat and antibiotics, vegetables and pesticides …) that question their safety, can we be calm?
Food is safe. That does not mean that we have to be complacent because there are still things to improve. But we get type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular disease because of the poor choices we make, not because of the food itself. Sick because you choose buns instead of apples.
On the one hand there is ignorance and on the other, disinformation. In the cities there is a lack of knowledge and a distancing about everything that involves primary production. So much so that if you see a lettuce with bugs, you do not think that it is normal because the lettuces come out of the ground. We want everything packaged, on a tray, pristine, aseptic and we have a total distance from the reality of the field.
And we also experience a mixture of information because in the case of antibiotics in animals, they are not used, as perhaps they were decades ago, to promote the growth of livestock. This is prohibited and the use that is made has to do with the treatment of diseases and in the latter case, a waiting time must be allowed for the animal to metabolize it and the medicine is not in its body when it is slaughtered. And to verify it, analyzes are done.
And the same is true of pesticides. The tests tell us that what we eat meets the legal limits for these substances, that is, they are safe.
The best and worst of Nutriscore …
Its mission is to simplify the choice of food and summarize in a single note if the food is healthy or not. That’s the theory and in some cases it works, especially in extreme cases. But later in others it fails or because there are exceptions (as is the case with olive oil) or because the company itself makes up the product to have a good grade. The example of some breakfast cereals specially intended for children that include 25% sugar and that could have a negative mark achieves a better mark in nutriscore because the manufacturer adds fiber, mask that negative mark and that makes the total balance better. That can mislead us.
That would be fixed if we started from a basis like the one proposed by the WHO, which proposes classifying foods into groups (for example, cookies and buns would belong to a specific group and, as an unhealthy group, they could no longer receive a positive score). But if we rely solely on nutrients without knowing where they come from, it is a problem. It is not the same to get sugar from a cookie than from an apple.
When making the purchase, you have an advantage …
It is as simple as destroying everything in the greengrocer and complementing it with four or five other things. What I usually do is a weekly meal planning to organize what I am going to cook, when and how much. And when I skip it, it’s because I’ve seen another vegetable on the market that looks better or because it has a better price.
In addition to vegetables, fruit and legumes, other staples that are not usually lacking at home are natural yogurts, peanut butter, fresh cheese, eggs, olive oil and vinegar (says reading the shopping list that he has pointed out in the kitchen).
Why do we get lost when we read the food label?
When we consult the label we usually look at the amount of sugar, fat and calories, but what we must look at is the list of ingredients. Those that appear first are the majority. And so we can know in a simpler way if the food is healthy or not.
Is it necessary to reduce sugar consumption on a day-to-day basis?
Sugar is what you usually have the most trouble with because many people believe that if they take agave syrup, honey or brown sugar they think it is much better than sugar. But in the end it is all the same, everything is sucrose. We take a lot of sugar, especially children and teenagers who are, by the way, the ones who should abuse it the least. And that can have negative health consequences such as tooth decay, cardiovascular disease or even type 2 diabetes (which is already appearing in 12-year-olds) and worrisome obesity. Also, in the long run it will be difficult to fight it if a child gets used to eating like this.
Can you educate your palate to reduce the amount of sugar consumption?
Yes of course. I have two little girls and if you put a chocolate cake and a kiwi in front of them, they prefer kiwi, not because I have crushed them, but because they like the taste of kiwi better. And objectively it is normal that this is the case because the cake tastes like sugar and that’s it, but the kiwi has many more nuances. We may like sugary foods a lot, but if you think about it, they really only taste like sugar.
With the issue of fats we also got involved, do you perceive that we know which are the healthy ones?
They sold us for many years that fat was bad. That stayed there and there it continues. In the 70s and 80s, “light” products began to become fashionable, which was then what succeeded in the 90s. That is something that is now out of date, but the idea is still there in our mind and we choose anything without fat because we think it is better.
It is true that fat is necessary because we need the nutrients it provides, but the key is again to choose well. Bacon is not the same as olive oil or the fat of a salmon as that of a chocolate palm tree.
Remember…
- 1. Avoid unhealthy foods and base your diet on plant-based foods and those with little processing.
- 2. To eat well you don’t have to go hungry or count calories.
- 3. Go to reliable sources of information.
- 4. Read the labels, especially the ingredient list.
- 5. Learn to interpret labels.
- 6. Alert to advertising messages that take advantage of the ins and outs of the legislation to make misleading information.
- 7. Plan your weekly menu and shop.
About the Author
Miguel Ángel Lurueña (Béjar, 1978) is a doctor in Food Science and Technology. He worked as a teacher at the University of Salamanca and as an independent consultant for food companies. At present he is mainly dedicated to scientific dissemination. Author since 2011 of the blog Gominolas de Petroleo, pioneer and reference in Spanish in the dissemination of food, collaborates in different media. He is a professor of various university and postgraduate courses, editor of the Spanish Journal of Human Nutrition and Diet and a founding member of the Asturias Scientific Dissemination Association.