Downshifting bad for your health ?

altojack

Coffee is my weakness I'm afraid, but I bulk buy too when it's on offer. I have tried tesco gold didn't like it. I have drank value coffee, it was yuk, but as my son is on benefits that's all he can afford.

jamespir

deanos wrote: »

The latest buzz seems to be downshifting, yes you can save hundreds of pounds per year, but no one seems to mention the health implications.

Ive noticed especially the cheaper cereals contain more salt and sugar compaped to the branded items.

Does this apply across the board in value items ?

i dissagree ive been eating the cheap stuff for years and im as healthy as a ox

Debt_Free_Chick

deanos wrote: »

The latest buzz seems to be downshifting, yes you can save hundreds of pounds per year, but no one seems to mention the health implications.

Ive noticed especially the cheaper cereals contain more salt and sugar compaped to the branded items.

Does this apply across the board in value items ?

I don't think that downshifting or value/unbranded items are the problem here - it's overall diet and a lack of knowledge. Cereals are a good example as they ALL contain sugar & salt - with the exception of Shredded Wheat - the only one I know of with no added sugar or salt; or porridge oats. The sugar & salt is "hidden" so many people simply don't take it in to account when they look at their overall sugar/salt intake. Sugar, salt, fat etc ..... none of them is harmful or unhealthy, per se - but if you take in excessive amounts, then that is potentially damaging to your health.

I prefer to have control over what I eat, when I eat it and the quantity I eat. Butter is an excellent example, compared with so-called "healthy" or "low fat" spreads - take a look at the list of ingredients in a spread. Compare this with butter, which contains "milk" and nothing else (I only have unsalted, out of preference for the taste).

For the same reason, I don't bother with so-called "lean" meat. In fact, I have no idea what lean meat is :rolleyes: As most meat is marbled with a certain amount of fat, I assume lean meat is simply a piece of meat with the obvious, visible fat trimmed off You can do this yourself, with a knife

Like a previous poster, I never buy meat in a supermarket. In terms of "healthy" eating, I want to know exactly what it is I'm buying - breed of animal, how/where reared, when/where slaughtered, how long it's been hung for etc. From a decent butcher, my meat is no more expensive than the supermarket and is in most cases cheaper. Whilst I do occasionally buy mince from my butcher, I usually select a cut and ask the butcher to mince it or do it myself in the food processor. This way I know I've got minced skirt of beef, for example and not minced bits of what we had leftover. I'm not concerned about the quality/safety - I just want to know that I'm getting what I want and that the price reflects the cut. I don't want an unidentified cut, from "some animal", reared somehow, somewhere and packaged some time ago so it marinates in its own blood, which is disguised by the use of something that resembles a sanitary towel sitting in the bottom of a plastic carton - ugh :eek:

I feel as though we've all been tricked by marketing hype. My colleagues are convinced I'm going to keel over from a heart attack as I have gold-top milk. To them, this one product means that my entire diet is saturated with saturated fat! But they fail to take into account that I don't eat crisps, biscuits, cakes, sweets or chocolate - I simply don't like them as my palate has developed a dislike for all processed foods (I do eat some chocolate, but usually just the cocoa-solids rich stuff in a dessert, like a chocolate torte. And I only have about two or three slices of that a year!!). I have to smile as they scoff down a packet of hob-nobs with their tea - made from skimmed milk of course. That's alright then

I work full time and that includes a four hour daily commute, so I really don't buy the "I work and don't have time for shopping/cooking from scratch" argument. That's another piece of marketing hype we've been sold over the years by ...... oh, yes .... supermarkets! :mad: I go to Lidl for cupboard basics every three months. That leaves Saturday morning for the weekly butcher's visit and farm shop, for the veg I need to top up what I grow. Takes all of an hour and as the butcher is open at 7.30am and the farm shop at 8 am, I'm back home by 9am!!! I'm also lucky to live in a rural area with a ready supply of rabbit, pigeon and other game, especially pheasant and venison. And I'm only 12 miles from the coast, where the freshest fish is available "straight off the boat".

I make my own ... bread (cakes and biscuits occasionally, but only if I have visitors to eat them!), chutney, jam, marmalade, curd, ketchup, pasta sauce, other sauces e.g. sticky sauce for Chinese spare ribs. Stock is made from meat bones, not a cube of salty stuff; gravy is made with the meat juices and a spoonful of plain flour; not a spoonful of salty granules/powder. Chips are made from potatoes, sometimes peeled, sometimes not. Pastry is made from flour and butter/lard.

I am lucky in one way and that is that I really, really enjoy food and everything to do with it. I sympathise with those who find the whole shopping and cooking thing one big chore. Food is an expression of who I am - sounds like a load of pretentious hippie tosh, though! :rotfl: I love nothing more than to cook for other people or to give home made produce as a gift. Time spent in the kitchen is relaxing and therapeutic for me, but I realise it's hell for some. Not sure how we deal with that one, but perhaps those who hate it are simply wasting a lot of time and money on the wrong things?

Anyway, I fear I may have digressed, but my point is simple. Some basics/value products are no better than branded. Some are no worse. It's your overall diet that's important and IMHO, you are best off shopping and cooking like Grannie and avoiding all processed foods. Good food only comes from good ingredients, irrespective of the label.

Nigella_2

I bought Somerfield own brand coffee and it was vile, I tried mixing it and that was vile too!!!! ((I like Kenco decaff and look for it on offer or 50% free))

Nigella_2

I like Sainsbury Basics fruit n veg (when I shop there) because they say "No lookers / odd shapes / varying sizes etc)

Least they are honest!!!!

Some shops only sell all the same size / looking stuff!!!

Fire_Fox

TurkishDelight wrote: »

Then you should know that chickens will eat anything, especially slugs and snails. They're not veggie, contrary to popular belief. Also... how do you think they get omega into eggs?
Maybe not all brands but I'll give you a clue, fish are also rich in omega oils

Please don't patronise me.

If chickens choose to eat a live slug, or accidentally eat a few insects along with their chicken feed that is nature. Quite different IMO from making chicken feed out of the cr*ppy bits of dead mammals - this creates a fattier (saturated) bird. It's also how chemicals get concentrated in the food chain and partly why there is such a 'need' to use antibiotics routinely.

Omega-rich eggs come from feeding chickens a diet high in flax seeds - which is, conveniently, a pretty cheap foodstuff to produce. Most oily fish don't contain the quantity of essential fatty acids that seeds and certain grains contain, so it wouldn't be a particularly efficient way of producing omega-enriched eggs.

I've only ever seen two brands of omega eggs - Goldenlay "Our Omega 3 eggs come from hens eating a unique diet which includes pulses and oil rich seeds to enhance the hens’ normal diet of wheat and soya." and Columbus eggs which "come from hens fed a vegetarian diet which includes pulses, green leafy vegetables and oil rich seeds to enhance a hens normal diet of wheat and Soya."

Granted this is lifted from the company's promotional material, and granted they might be lying.

nearlyrich

1carminestocky wrote: »

Beef mince is a good one. We have friends who buy the most expensive beef mince on account of its reduced fat content, then make a shepherds pie by simply cooking the mince without draining the fat away! Err, what's the point of buying less fat mince if you don't drain away the excess fat? IME even the most expensive beef has some awful residue when cooking it.

I buy minced steak from a proper butcher no awful residue when it's cooked I will not buy any meat from a supermarket;)

Mercy

I'm all for fresh food and doing it yourself. You know what is in the meal.

I think it's worth noting that food labelled as low fat has generally a higher sugar / carbohydrate content. Not really good in the light of blood sugar problems experienced by type 2 diabetics. But this is what they're told to eat. Other fillers are artificial sweeteners, polyols and other chemicals. Some of which cause allergic reactions like bloating in some people.

I'd rather eat natural fat (full cream milk, butter, etc) than fill myself up on chemicals.

Don't ever think the government guidelines are for the health of the nation

M

LeeSouthEast

If we had the advances in medicine we have now, imagine how long people who lived during the 20's, 30's and 40's would live today (if you adjust for smoking etc). The current government have no clue about healthy eating. Full fat is good for you... chemicals are bad for you.. just adjust your nutritional profile accordingly. The trouble is we have 3 generations now of people without the slightest clue WHAT they're supposed to eat other than the "food pyramid" which is a road to diabetes.. but is getting better slowly.

davetrousers

altojack wrote: »

Coffee is my weakness I'm afraid, but I bulk buy too when it's on offer. I have tried tesco gold didn't like it. I have drank value coffee, it was yuk, but as my son is on benefits that's all he can afford.

Any instant coffee is yuk when compared to beans/ground coffee.