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a fantastic programme fronted by gloria hunniford that you can watch on iplayer all about what’s in the food we buy, the misconceptions and how actually we are so unaware of what that really is on the super market shelf
Methyl cellulose is a substance that manufacturers put in ready meals that have had a good proprtion of the fat taken out of……….ie a healthy eating low fat meal……..this substance provides bulk to the food so you feel full up ………..on the other hand it is also used in wall paper paste………prefectly legal
the advice seems to be……..good old fashioned cooking from scratch but then we’ve known that all along……yes?
Methylcellulose is also completely natural, from plants, soluble and used to treat various colon disorders…I can think of worse things to have in my food…saccharin, aspartame, hydrogenated vegetable fats and on and on.
I remember when wallpaper paste used to be made with flour, didn’t stop my mum from baking cakes with it. :wink:
i still wouldn’t want it in my dinner…
i can remember when i was a child all meals were cooked from fresh ingredients as ‘convenience foods’ were some way off…….infact we didn’t have a freezer until 1979 …..and that was bought because my mother wanted the storage not because the GEC fridge had conked out….
with times changing and progress, i wonder if we accept way too much all these additives in food whether they be from plant extracts or born from the testube?
as i’m getting older, more and more i am going back to the raw ingredients in my kitchen as labelling is becoming misleading ……..that was the good thing about watching the programme i mentioned.
I cook most things from scratch as I have a compromised liver and need to keep my intake of toxins to a minimum. I do buy some convenience foods but I am a label expert, partly because of the above, partly because t’other half is a diabetic so we need to keep on top of fat and sugar content and partly because of allergies.
However many things that people think must be bad because they have a chemical-sounding name aren’t at all, whereas other things that sound natural aren’t and can be worse for you than those chemical-sounding names.
As far as methyl cellulose goes, if you’ve ever taken a coated tablet or capsule, you’ve probably ingested mc; if you’ve ever drunk a milkshake you may well have ingested mc; if you’ve ever eaten icecream you may well have ingested mc; if you wear cosmetics or use liquid soap or shower gel, you may well have absorbed mc through your skin…and if you’ve ever had Burger King onion rings you have definitely ingested mc!
I tend to mostly cook from scratch… its a habit I got into when my kids were small….my daughter became veggie at age 8 so I used to read every label, seeing all the additives sort of turned me off ready made stuff….. I do think there is a place for it though its just you get into a routine… mine is to cook from fresh if I can….. however when Im trying to lose a few lbs I often buy M&S count on us… they are calorie counted… makes dieting easier :D .
the calorie counting part of the programme was really interesting…….although products have the information there for us to read, if you look a little more closely some ‘low calorie’ products actually have more sugar in them than the ordinary item…….they put more sugar in to compensate for the lost flavour that the withdrawn fat would have had…….if you don’t burn off the sugar calories they turn to fat any way…..it’s quite interesting and………if you stuck to the ordinary product you would save yourself some money as ‘healthy eating’ items are usually that little bit more expensive
You’re right Tinks – the best advice is the stuff we’ve known for years.
I cook almost everything from scratch these days – it’s usually cheaper and you know what’s in the food.
Not sure I always agree with Gloria Hunniford though that some of what she talks about really is a scandal. You’ve always had to read labels to be sure, e.g. juice “drink” has always been different to pure juice. The science bit is really trying to put you off by showing stuff in a lab. Whey extract isn’t an evil unnatural substance – it’s a natural by-product of cheese production, surprising then that happens to be a white powder.
It is however quite entertaining and it does remind you to think.
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Well thats me well and truly buggered…..I can’t cook, hate cooking what I do…make nothing from scratch…thought I would start to make an effort some time back when I started Kenty’s Kitchen thread but I got bored :lol:
But I will say I am quite healthy regardless even though I have an extremely sweet tooth and I do eat rubbish and ready made meals….think I will give the program a miss though :lol:I’m more relaxed about food. My aim is to eat what’s good for me, eat when I’m hungry, stop eating when I’m no longer hungry, don’t eat when I’m not hungry, don’t avoid treats, but make them treats not regular. I fail cheerfully and often, but I’m reasonably content.
If I want to change shape, I exercise rather than diet. I find that changes my appetite and taste anyway. As for additives, I’m not a great reader of labels, but I reckon if I’m not overdoing one particular food and eating and drinking in moderation, I should be OK.
This might change in time, we’re all going to live longer, barring accidents or disasters, and I really should try to reach old age in good shape. However there are no guarantees, I’ve had acquaintances who have watched their diets carefully and exercised strenuously and have ended up slim, but in terrible health.
Eat and drink well, sleep well, enjoy each day, treasure those precious to you and try to leave the people around you better than you found them.
And moisturise.
You could be the new F3 life coach Wordy, helping F3 to keep you physically and spiritually healthy, as well as entertained.
It’s an unpaid position of course but who can put a price on supporting your fellow posters?
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