Downshifting bad for your health ?

MSE_Martin

When i did the first downshift challenge programme on ITV we got a nutritionist to check out the difference between brands.

The overall result.. .sometimes high brands are healthier, sometimes they're less healthy. He didint come up with any pattern.

Yet my view (not my field obviously) is this is as much about personal diet and education and reading lables on each food item. The health impact is a legitimate concern when buying any food, but you need to do a bespoke check; not just assume one or the other is healthier.

OrkneyStar

I think it depends on what you buy and eat and your overall diet.
I use some value or Lidl products such as chopped tomatoes, sweetcorn, peppers, oats etc, but not really any of the prepared things (apart from crisps and nuts as treats).
I tend to cook most things from scratch (not everything as much as I enjoy cooking there is more to life!) and so am able to limit what salt, sugar etc is added in to the meals.
I tend to buy most of my meat from the butcher, some from the coop and very little from Tesco or Lidl. The local mince/stew/steak here is great quality and very little fat comes off the steak mince (we don't buy beef mince as its false economy imho!).
We don't go for 'low fat' options, just try to have a balanced and varied diet, with some treats and chocolate thrown in in here and there!

ThinkingOfLinking

Actually, some Value things are healthier; my example being any Supermarket smart price/value range/basics ready salted crisps...they're just potatoes, oil and salt, compared with the equivalent from other brands which tend to be full of other stuff too. I actually much prefer Value ready salted to any other crisps out there.

It just means you take the time to read the labels and make up your own mind as to which brand is going to be healthier/worth the money. Eg it's not worth saving 7p on a tin of beans which contain 5% less beans and/or 10% more sauce.

clutterydrawer

Nigella wrote: »

I try to buy saver / value uncomplicated stuff

Fruit / veg /salad, tin tomatoes / tuna, Skimmed Milk, Oats, some jars i.e. pickled onions,

I do the same...I don't really buy processed stuff anyway, but if i was going to buy sausages or similar, I wouldn't go for the value ones.

But I don;t think you can go wrong with oats and tinned tomatoes

competitionscafe

LeeSouthEast wrote: »

I find for "cupboard" stuff that the value things are the best for you! Next time, compare side-by-side "Brand name" plum/chopped tomatoes, downshift tomatoes and "value" tomatoes. You'll find that the cheapest ones contain basically, just tomatoes! No salt, no sugar.. no funny business. The same cannot be said for the brand names...

The brand names contain the same ingredients as the value ones:

Tesco value: (33p) Tomato (60%), Tomato Juice, Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid)
http://www.tesco.com/superstore/product/search.aspx?from=SEARCH&search=tinned+tomatoes#
Napolina: (98p) Tomatoes (65%), Tomato Juice, Citric Acid.
http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/Shopping/ProductDetails.aspx?Store=1&Product=3914
Fortuna: (42p) Peeled Plum Tomatoes (60%), Tomato Juice, Acidity Regulator: Citric Acid
http://www.ocado.com/webshop/product/Fortuna-Peeled-Plum-Tomatoes/31340011?parentContainer=SEARCHTinned%20Tomatoes
Waitrose own brand: (56p) Tomatoes (65%), tomato juice, acidity regulator citric acid
http://www.ocado.com/webshop/product/Chopped-Italian-Tomatoes-in-Juice-Waitrose/24203011?parentContainer=SEARCHTinned%20Tomatoes


No sugar or salt in any of those. In any case most people will add salt when cooking a tomato sauce and a lot of people also add a touch of sugar too.

spaceraiders

Just check the label. Some expensive food is full of junk, some cheap food is full of junk. There's no real reason why the price tells you how healthy it is. The expensive food could be made just as cheaply as the cheap food but have a huge markup. Choose on a case by case basis.

I don't understand this "downshift" challenge. My take:
- start at the absolute cheapest product (obviously, ignore it if it's got high salt/sugar/fat).
- if it's nice, stick with
- if it's not nice, go to the next more expensive

I save loads this way. I have no idea why people buy brands except because they are just used to the flavour of a brand or marketing has managed to scare them from all other brands.

peasantboy

So it's called 'downshifting'.

I've made some amazing savings since I've stopped buying organic produce. I'm a huge fan of organic food but I've had to shop with a calculator since being made redundant and it's been a real eye opener. I used to just blindly shop and not really bother too much about the price. Whenever I could I would of chosen organic.

I used to buy 6 large organic eggs. For the same price I can get 30 caged eggs. Practically every other meal I've had has been something with eggs. Poached, fried, scrambled, boiled, omelettes. If I keep going at this rate I'll be having egg shakes like Stallone in Rocky I.
Porridge oats. The plain supermarket branded ones are exactly the same as Mr Quakers!

I can definitely see why there is an obesity problem though. The cheapest foods last longer and are the quickest to cook but at the same time are nutritionally empty. If someone doesn't know/like to cook and are poor their in for a world of nutritional hurt.

spaceraiders

peasantboy wrote: »

So it's called 'downshifting'.

I've made some amazing savings since I've stopped buying organic produce. I'm a huge fan of organic food but I've had to shop with a calculator since being made redundant and it's been a real eye opener. I used to just blindly shop and not really bother too much about the price. Whenever I could I would of chosen organic.

I used to buy 6 large organic eggs. For the same price I can get 30 caged eggs. Practically every other meal I've had has been something with eggs. Poached, fried, scrambled, boiled, omelettes. If I keep going at this rate I'll be having egg shakes like Stallone in Rocky I.
Porridge oats. The plain supermarket branded ones are exactly the same as Mr Quakers!

I can definitely see why there is an obesity problem though. The cheapest foods last longer and are the quickest to cook but at the same time are nutritionally empty. If someone doesn't know/like to cook and are poor their in for a world of nutritional hurt.

There's no evidence that eating organic is better for you. "Organic" is just an arbitrary list of rules that some people think makes food better (generally by sticking to old fashioned pesticides) but cannot provide clear cut evidence for. Don't let the marketing make you feel bad.

Keith_Arnold_2

I have consistently purchased "Tesco's finest" pork and apple and chipolata sausages. Over recent weeks the amount of fat rendered from the cooked product has been considerable, so much so I now visit my local butcher.

If we really were considering healthy options, we would all be compiling our weekly menu and cooking and freezing our own meals. Lack of time is often raised as an argument in favour of supermarket meals. Managing your time to maximise production when you do cook produces extra food to freeze and thus save time in the future. With the advent of microwaves we really don't have any excuse!

Lets be honest, schools let our young people down with regard to basic culinary skills. We generaly don't bake and prepare scones, buiscuits flapjacks or cakes, and yet they are far superior in taste and texture to any bought product.

Come on folks, lets really save some money, turn off the sky, get your pinni on, warm up the oven and have some family time making something worth eating.

My wifes just burnt the mince!!!!!!! Oh well!
Keith

Fire_Fox

peasantboy wrote: »

I used to buy 6 large organic eggs. For the same price I can get 30 caged eggs. Practically every other meal I've had has been something with eggs. Poached, fried, scrambled, boiled, omelettes. If I keep going at this rate I'll be having egg shakes like Stallone in Rocky I.
Porridge oats. The plain supermarket branded ones are exactly the same as Mr Quakers!

I can definitely see why there is an obesity problem though. The cheapest foods last longer and are the quickest to cook but at the same time are nutritionally empty. If someone doesn't know/like to cook and are poor their in for a world of nutritional hurt.

You have just contradicted yourself! By and large eggs are eggs, oats are oats. These foods are far from nutritionally empty, and don't last any longer if you buy the value version. Value eggs are quicker to cook because they tend to be smaller, and value oats are quicker to cook because the flakes are finer.

The cheapest junk may last longer and be quicker to prepare, but I don't class much of it as food. It's edible, sure, but much of it has a tenuous relationship with what grows in or on the ground. There are as many longlife instant premium products on the market as Smartprice.

Organic crisps/ biscuits/ cakes/ pies are not 'healthier', they are simply marginally less toxic. Eaten regularly they will still increase your risk of heart disease, certain cancer, diabetes, etc.