A Dundee fitness guru is calling for better education on the dangers of processed and sugar-laden foods.
Shelley Booth spoke out this week to coincide with World Food Safety day to remind people to think twice before they dial for a takeaway or reach for a sugar-laden snack.
She argues obesity, diabetes and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease are a growing problem and is asking more be done to inform people about the impact of unhealthy food choices.
The World Health Organisation’s World Food Safety Day is June 7 and the theme for this year’s event is “Safe food today for a healthy tomorrow.”
Health data shows 28% of people were classed as obese in a recent survey.
And the number of people in Scotland with diabetes has also risen every year since 2010.
Recently, campaigners hit out at junk food advertising and called on the Government to ban online ads.
It was also recently revealed a diet created to help people who have type 2 diabetes enter remission also lowers blood pressure and reduces the need for medication.
The benefits of eating well is a concept echoed by Shelley, who has spent 20 years educating and working with clients to reverse lifestyle-related disease.
She said: “Without the right education we’ll simply continue as we are. Literally eating ourselves to death.”
She said: “Cheap, mass produced foodstuffs are the go-to choice for so many people. They’re so packed full of sugar and chemicals that any relation to food that grows in fields and on trees is tenuous at best.”
“Sugar goes directly to the liver to be processed. But the liver recognises it as a toxin, like alcohol, and has limited ability to metabolise it so the excess is stored as fat.
“Liver fat causes type 2 diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, cancer, dementia, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease – all of the chronic illnesses a large percentage of the population are living with today.”
World Food Safety Day (WFSD) aims to draw attention and inspire action to help prevent, detect and manage foodborne risks, contributing to food security, human health, economic prosperity, agriculture, market access, tourism and sustainable development.
This year’s theme stresses production and consumption of safe food has immediate and long-term benefits for people, the planet and the economy.
