You are what you eat: Do we give a shit?

Nutrition is an important factor in our day to day life. We are inundated with guidance about what we should and should not be consuming. Does the old adage “You are what you eat” really hold water?

Dieting is big business: in the US the diet ready meal sector is worth $800 million; fad diets come and go, while making their creators mega rich; newspapers and magazines peddle their own 'nutrition gurus'. As consumers we have to navigate this precarious minefield; who's advice do we listen to?

Food is a serious issue: The WHO estimates that over 1.6 billion people are overweight, with over 400 million of those clinically obese. It affects the health service we are provided in the UK, and affects the lives of many across the globe. Obesity killed 400,000 people in 2000 alone, and has exceeded smoking as the number one killer.

The human body is amazing; we have evolved to become a very complex beast with the most fantastic ability to be omnivores. We have adapted to be comfortable in many different climates, with varying staple foods: nomads in the desert can survive with very little water; The Inuit can survive almost exclusively on raw meat; Japan has fish and rice; and yet in the west we seem to be getting it all wrong (as Asia's diet 'modernises' they seem to be catching us up).

The revolution in food preparation, preservation, and transport that has happened in the last hundred years has shocked our digestion system. We now have access to most foods, whatever season, whatever country of origin. Does this increase in access and choice equate with healthier eating?

We crave 'leisure time'; the abundance of 'instant' foodstuffs that laden our supermarket shelves is evidence that we are spending less time preparing, consuming and thinking about the food that we consume. We are omnivores, but we also require a balance and wide variety of food in order to fuel our complex bodies.

With the increase in our understanding, we gain an insight into the our nutritional needs. Nutritionists have sprung up who proclaim the harms and benefits of many common foodstuffs. In the UK there is no national accreditation or body for nutritionists, all those people who call themselves 'experts' are self proclaimed. 'Dr' Gillian McKeith, the stick thin, intimidating food 'guru' has a doctorate from a non accredited correspondence course in the US. Yet television networks give people like herself primetime spots in which she stands upon her high horse and cackle, peddling her myths about food (have a read at badscience). Is entertaining 'expert advice' worth the danger it poses to our health?

We must be very careful about nutrition, there are so many factors that we need to consider when we study food and it's consequences. What priority do we assign to various aspects of our bodies? Are our hearts more important than our quality of life? We do not know enough about the consequences of what we eat; a recent study which is due to be published this year looks into the effect of following a fast food diet. The outcomes are less than clear, and do not wholly coincide with Spurlock's 'Super Size Me'.

There are so many fingers in the nutritional pie. Supermarkets are the most common supplier of foods, what are their motives and aims? Private companies often have their financial future as their prime concern. If their future is linked with keeping us healthy, they will market themselves in that direction. In the run up to Christmas, we are inundated with adverts proclaiming the indulgent feasts that we can conjure up to wow family and friends. Once New Year comes around, they swap it for a keep fitter, eat healthier and live longer campaign. Harvest seasons are now replaced with the marketing campaigns, built to extract our cash in the most efficient way. (Supermarkets are the front end of food distribution, we could extend this discussion all the way back to some farmers.)

There is a backlash against this 'for profit' image of food, take a look at organic food. Care and concern about the actual animals and plants becomes a prime issue when considering what to consume. This direct responsibility and understanding of how our food comes to our tables is a more primal outlook on food production.

There are so many factors to consider when we look at how we should eat. At the end of the day, does it really matter? Are we condemned to be obese if our DNA dictates it? Can we really fight for our right to good quality, nutritious and balanced food on our tables? Should we embrace modernisation in order to gain an increase in choice; or an increase in ease and possible decrease in quality? Should the government step in and ensure that they have a healthy populous in order to benefit society? Can we really navigate the food minefield?