Food Moment

As a registered dietitian, I am hungry for change truth. I have to admit that I was quite hopeful when I first saw the movie, “Hungry For Change.” I have “liked” their page on Facebook and have been following their “movement.” I have to say I am rather disappointed at this point and wanted to dissect more of their messages for you. I feel that it is my job as a trained food expert to help people find the truth in today’s world of nutrition.

The film producer and director James Colquhoun was recently interviewed by MSN.  I am talking about a web site that is read by millions of people daily. Hungry For Change has more than 60 k followers on their Facebook fan page who probably follow their movement. This was all groovy until I saw additional myths  that they are promoting in their interview with MSN. Not okay and not on my watch! So let’s dive into the article a little bit.

First off, I want to say that I love the idea of not following fad diets and returning to the basics of nutrition for a better and healthier lifestyle. This is how they tricked me into thinking that their movement is worth following and not another money making fad. However, how can you say “ditch fad diets” and then try to convince people to jump on your wagon, yet another fad diet in itself.  So what exactly about this article did I not appreciate? You can read the  full article here and then come back to my article for my “analysis.”

1. Colquhoun: What the experts in our film and in the book have shown is that there are so many things that need to be added back into our diets, such as green juices, salads, and fermented foods, that help to balance everything that the modern diet has put off-balance.

“Put off balance?” It is my favorite when people try to find foods that “will balance their body back into health.” Once again, like your liver and kidneys don’t do that for you! It will really be the spinach juice that cleanses you out otherwise you will be poised for life! And who are these experts they are referring to? Better yet, “leading experts?” Do they mean the people that tried juicing and lost 200 lbs in 5 months?

 2. Choose Organic: Organic fruits and vegetables contain more vitamins and minerals than their non-organic or conventional counterparts, particularly if they have been picked ripe and are locally grown.

Show me a study that suggests that organic foods have more nutrients in them than conventional foods. I haven’t seen evidence. We simply don’t know this. And if you don’t know, don’t say you do unless you’re trying to LOSE credibility which you just did in my book.

3. Limit Gluten-Containing Grains: Gluten is a protein found in most grains, namely wheat, rye, barley, spelt, and kamut. An allergy to gluten—known as Celiac Disease—and intolerance to gluten is becoming more prevalent. Even if you’re not sensitive to gluten, you can do your body a world of good by cutting back on your gluten intake.

Excuse me? Due to the gluten-free FAD, only a small percentage of people who follow a gluten free diet actually need to be on this diet due to a real allergy. There is NO evidence out there that suggests that following gluten free diet will do “your body a world of good” unless you have an actual allergy! So why are we telling people to avoid gluten?

Yet in the beginning of the article, it is written in response to, “ What issues are addressed in your book and film that you feel are most important for people to know?” 

Answer:  “The first is how people should be steering away from restriction-based diets, since we know that for many people struggling with weight issues, they don’t work.”

So, Hungry Change is not a fan of restrictive diets but yet they promote limiting gluten containing grains which is a rather enormous restriction. Some grains that contain gluten are wheat, barley, rye – these are WHOLE grains that high in protein, fiber and minerals.

Here is what a dietitian, Dee Sandquist has to say:

“There is nothing magical about eliminating gluten that will improve your health or enhance weight loss unless you are intolerant to gluten,” says Dee Sandquist, MS, RD, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association who has celiac disease.

In fact, she says, ”a gluten-free diet can be high in calories and contribute to weight gain if you’re not careful.”

Hungry For Change makes some great points about improving our diets and our lifestyles but they are also promoting FAD diets while doing so. You cannot say that fad diets don’t work but then jump straight to promoting “juicing” and “gluten-free” diets that are scientifically not proven beneficial. Secondly, you cannot mix these messages with words such as “leading experts” (nutritionists and medical doctors) in the same paragraph! Who wants to listen to an expert that is promoting these ideas without scientific back up?

Additionally, the “nutritional consultant” James Colquhoun who is the director and producer of this documentary as well as Food Matters , had completed the following online course which is referred to as, “After extensive research and formalizing that knowledge in studying Nutrition through the Global College of Natural Medicine in Santa Cruz, California.”  I apologize for putting him down or on the spot like this but you have to earn the title “expert” before you start claiming yourself as one. We are talking about a five hundred hour course that can be taken online in less than 12 months. Anyone with a high school diploma can take this course on a computer at home. It does sound rather cool when you start throwing “global college” and “natural medicine” around.  I guess this is one of the “leading experts” they are referring to in the movie.

So in conclusion, I would like to repeat what I always say, “take everything you hear about food an nutrition with a grain of salt and check your sources.” Who are the people making the movie? Are there scientific studies that back up their claims? What kind of studies are they?  For food and nutrition related questions, consult a registered dietitian.

Whenever I talk to people about food, the first thing I tell them is, “take anything you read about food and nutrition with a grain of salt!” You absolutely have to as there are a lot of “experts” out there claiming all sorts of things. Most of all, you should ask yourself, “does this make sense? is this logical?”

I recently watched a documentary called Hungry For Change. If you are already a Food Moment’s Facebook fan then you probably saw the link, if not you can watch the movie here.

My first impression of the movie was, “wow this is great! yes! someone is finally waking up! there is hope out there!” Only after a while I realized, “ok you got some good stuff there but you’re also promoting questionable practices!”

So let’s get to the bottom of this. I will list some of the “messages” they were sending throughout the movie. I won’t type them word for word (sorry I don’t feel like re-watching the movie again with a note pad! lol) but I will try to be as close as possible. Then I will write out my own thoughts.

1. Diets Don’t Work

I totally agree!!! Any time I hear someone say they are going on a “diet” I want to vomit. Yup, that’s how I feel about the whole, “I am starting a diet on Monday.” I want to literally walk up to that person and choke them and save them the pain and disappointment that will come with their failure. Diets do NOT work! This is because you suddenly try to change your eating habits in a DAY. You go from eating like a hog (excuse me here!) to three healthy meals and 3 healthy snacks, you hate every minute of it but you’re doing it because you’re on this diet and you will soon be the healthiest person ever. You last 3 days and before you know it, you’re chugging down a cup of lard because you cannot handle another fat free Greek yogurt with almonds. We have all been there. It doesn’t work! So on day 4, you are back to your old self feeling like a total loser. You then decide to wait till January 1st to make another attempt at dieting because New Year is new life!

2. One Small Change at a Time

In order to make a life long lifestyle change, you have got to commit to something permanently. Just like drinking soda right now might be a regular event for you, NOT drinking soda has to become a regular event for you in order for it to be a permanent change. The movie did not specifically say “one small change at a time,” however, I appreciate how they suggest ways on how to make changes. You don’t go to the grocery store on a Sunday and replace all contents of your fridge with “healthy stuff.” Their suggestion is to just do one thing at a time. So for instance, maybe you will start buying more fresh fruits and vegetables. To make this even less overwhelming, perhaps you will start with buying fresh cantaloupe every week. Then eventually you will buy some tomatoes. The next week you will get even more wild and get an avocado. They’re hoping that you will start getting used to these fresh, healthy foods and you will start pushing the junk away. Before you know it, you will be at a grocery store choosing bananas over Doritos. That is the idea here. This is likely going to be a success as you’ll change slowly. This slow change will sneak in your personality, your habits hence will become your permanent lifestyle. 

 3. Our Nation is Starving on a Cellular Level

I love, love, love this message and how well they explained this concept. It is so easy to eat about 4000 calories in a day and barely get  any vitamins nor minerals. Some of these high calorie, nutritionally empty foods are: sugary drinks (sodas, juices, etc), pastries, refined breads, refined flours, other refined grains, candy, cookies, fast food meals, alcohol, chips, crackers, granola bars, etc etc. You fill up on calories and some protein but where are the vitamins? phytochemicals? fibers? calcium? antioxidants? Yikes! So while we are meeting , better yet exceeding out caloric needs, we are lacking in essential nutrients, starving our body.

4. Sugar = Addiction 

Ya think?! This is the eye opening part in the movie. Food companies don’t care about your health. They care about making money! This means that they will go as far as putting anything in that food that they can get away with while leaving you wanting more. They have quickly learned what ingredients make foods addicting. The main three that I can think of are sugar, salt and fat. These three mixed together are a dangerous combination but an advantage to a food company.

5. Banning Grains From Diet = Weight Loss, Better Health?

This was mentioned by one of the speakers in the movie, from what I could tell she is a doctor. She stated that she lost weight over time after she stopped eating grains. OK. First of all, how do we jump from refined sugar to GRAINS? And what kind of grains are we speaking about?  Whole grains are not REFINED SUGAR. Whole grains have complex carbohydrates and have been used for decades as staple foods in many parts of the world. Sure, through metabolism, they are broken down to glucose. Same glucose molecule that you also get from juicing fruits/vegetables which is encouraged by the speakers in the movie. Whole grains are also full of fiber and minerals. They even contain protein. Why in the world would anyone cut them out of their diet? I really hope she meant refined grains like white bread, etc.

6. Detox Great For Eliminating Toxins

Seriously?! So we need to juice fresh fruits and vegetables and eat chia seeds to cleanse our bodies and lose weight. How about leaving that to our kidneys, liver and colon since that’s what they do? And OF COURSE you will lose weight on a detox diet as you’re probably only consuming about 600 kcal or less a day. So if you’re burning about 1500 calories and consuming 600 calories, well, you do the math. Most of your weight loss will be water loss and once you get back to eating solid foods, you will regain the weight. There is NO EVIDENCE that detox diets/cleansing/juicing etc etc has any benefits to the body. And if there is no evidence, no one should be ever saying “you should do that.” This is purely a practice that some people just do as that is their personal choice and opinion. So leave those toxins for your liver to deal with, will ya? Here is a good article to read on webmd on this topic. PLEASE read it if you’re a detox find or if you are thinking about starting some kind of detox regimen.

7. Start Juicing!

I feel that it is definitely beneficial to supplement your diet with healthy smoothies and juices. This especially holds true if you don’t know what to do with most vegetables. So you buy a Vitamix or a juicer and you start blending/juicing spinach, beets, carrots, etc, etc. This makes sense. Fruits and vegetables are rich in phytochemicals, antioxidants, vitamins, minerals, fiber, and so on. Do I feel there is a need to detox our bodies from toxins? Not necessarily. You can incorporate vegetable/fruit smoothies into your current diet. Now remember, smoothies are full of sugars as well. These, however, are natural sugars but STILL sugars. You will still end up with GLUCOSE in your blood either way :)

Last but not least, practice moderation. This is it for now. If I can think of anything else then I will definitely create a post part II. Also, just because someone weighed 300 lbs then lost 100 lbs and their main method was juicing fruits does not make them an expert nor does it mean it will work for you. Do what is reasonable and logical. Eat a balanced diet. Don’t deprive yourself of anything, however,  do try to improve your diet by avoiding processed, empty calories and eating more of the superfoods. Balance is key!