South African adults are eating a whopping 12 teaspoons of sugar per day, according to research (The USA average is around 17 teaspoons per day).

It is a well-known fact that our food system is overloaded with added sugar. Sugar is nutrient- and fibre-poor yet packed with energy, making it a poor choice, diluting the nutritional value of our diets with loads of empty and wasteful energy (kilojoules/calories). 

Added sugar is broken down in the body into glucose and fructose. The muscles and brain can use and store glucose as glycogen. However fructose is almost entirely processed by the liver. The trouble is that fructose is regarded as the more ‘dangerous’ sugar being linked to fatty liver disease and metabolic disease.

Let’s be sensible about sugar. While we all need to actively watch our sugar intake, we need to especially focus on avoiding added sugars from foods like soft drinks, treats like cakes, cookies, sweets and pastries, and ultra-refined foods. Many people tend to demonise a nutrient, suggesting that we should eliminate all/most whole fruit because of the fructose component. But we need to also realise the incredible benefits of fruit that is rich in nutrients, antioxidants and more. It is important to note though that natural sugar, like that found in fruit, has not been linked to inflammation, behaving very differently to added sugar when consumed and digested in the body. In fact, many foods containing natural sugars, such as fruits and vegetables, are actually anti-inflammatory foods. Fruit and vegetables are rich in phytonutrients and antioxidants that soothe inflammation and are also accompanied by fibre which slow down the digestion and absorption of the natural sugar which prevents blood sugar spikes.

Fruit juices, even when unsweetened, are still unnaturally high in fructose sugar. Drinking large amounts of fruit juice instead of sodas is not recommended as this can certainly contribute to metabolic diseases. Rather choose mostly eating the whole fruit instead of the fruit juice version. At least fruit juices do contain a lot more nutrients than soft drinks or energy drinks. Fruit juices have a place in a balanced and healthy diet, but we need to use them very carefully and responsibly.

The FitChef Way

This is why FitChef does not add sugar to any of our foods, rather utilising the natural sweetness of fruit and vegetables in our meals and the occasional touch of honey. FitChef does understand that adding honey is considered adding sugar, which is why we only do it occasionally. However we do regard honey as a better nutrient source than other refined sugars, honey has health properties that other sugars do not. This statement is not true. While there may be some minerals in honey, the minute amounts do not warrant eating it in place of sugar and should still be eaten with the same caution applied to added sugar.

References

• Vorster HH, Kruger A, Wentzel-Viljoen E, Kruger HS, Margetts BM. Added sugar intake in South Africa: findings from the Adult Prospective Urban and Rural Epidemiology cohort study. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2014;99(6):1479-86.
• Jegatheesan P, De Bandt JP. Fructose and NAFLD: The Multifaceted Aspects of  Fructose Metabolism. Nutrients2017, 9(3), 230; https://doi.org/10.3390/nu9030230
• Hannou SA, Hasmal DE. McKeown NM, Herman MA. Fructose metabolism and metabolic disease. J Clin Invest.2018;128(2):545-555. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI96702.
• Joseph SV, Edirisinghe I, Burton-Freeman BM. Fruit Polyphenols: A Review of Anti-inflammatory Effects in Humans. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr.2016;56(3):419-44. Doi: 10.1080/10408398.2013.767221.
• Zhu F, Du B, Xu B. Anti-inflammatory effects of phytochemicals from fruits, vegetables, and food legumes: A review. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. 2017;58(1):1-11.

Man-made, artificial sweeteners are chemicals that can have a detrimental effect on gut health, and perhaps even our weight. There is evidence that artificial sweeteners make you hungrier, potentially causing us to overeat. Gut health has become one of the most important aspects of our health. It is important to look after the good bacteria in your gut for overall health. Your body has about 30 trillion human cells and around 40 trillion bacteria cells weighing as much as 200g. Without bacteria we cannot function. Avoid artificial sugars and eat a lot of whole food in order to look after your important gut bacteria.

The FitChef Way

The sweetness in our FitChef meals comes naturally from whole, real foods like fresh fruit. We need to eat for future health, by avoiding compounds that disrupt our gut health, like artificial sweeteners.

References

• Farup PG. Are Non-nutritive Sweeteners Obesogenic? Associations between Diet, Faecal Microbiota, and Short-Chain Fatty Acids in Morbidly Obese Subjects. Journal of Obesity. 2019. https://doi.org/10.1155/2019/4608315
• Khan TA, Ayoub-Charette S, Sievenpiper JL, Cornelli EM. Non-Nutritive Sweeteners and their Effects on Human Health and the Gut Microbiome. Encyclopaedia of Gastroenterology, 2nd Edition; 2020. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-801238-3.62162-1
• Rother KI, Conway EM, Sylvetsky AC. How Non-nutritive Sweeteners Influence Hormones and Health. Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism. 2018;29(7):455-467.
• Sender R, Fuchs S, Milo R. Revised Estimates for the Number of Human and Bacteria Cells in the Body. PLoS Biol. 2016;14(8).

It is likely that one of the worst mistakes of modern food is that its fake, based on food that tastes ‘like’ something without containing the real thing. Why not use the real thing? Real vanilla is delicious, and it has all the complex natural aspects of real whole food. Chicken flavour should come from properly roasted free-range chicken.

Artificial flavour come on the form of white powders that mimic the flavour without any of the goodness. In effect when companies use fake flavourants it is because they are 100% after profits before health. You can add fake flavourants to water and refined flour mix to thicken, then add colourants and sugar to create cheese sauce without the cheese, chicken, or roasted onion flavours without any of the goodness of the real ingredient (i.e. vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, fats, protein, carbs, or fibre).

The FitChef Way

Variety is the spice of life. At FitChef, we optimise and enhance the natural flavours of fresh whole foods like high fibre starches, grass-fed meat, healthy fats, and fresh fruit and vegetables. Our FitChef meals have an extra kick from natural flavours like lemon juice, mint, ginger, cacao, and healthy fats like peanut butter. This means FitChef is proudly free from added flavours.

Adding real food to create more flavour is far more expensive than just adding a flavour powder, but your health must come first.  The one aspect you need to be aware of is that when using real foods only, our batches of food will never taste the same. Mother Nature is continually changing flavours, colour, sweetness and wateriness slightly based on the weather, seasonal, and environmental factors. We believe this is a good thing and it creates a diversity in your diet.

Food is complex: It is not just about the 13 vitamins, 102 minerals, carbs, fat, and proteins. You actually have over 351 754 chemicals present in your body, called metabolites, that we know very little about. Nature focuses on balanced, change and diversity and the full scope of nutrition. Man-made chemicals generally do not have the full spectrum nutrients at the core and clearly, we know that even the most advanced scientist does not understand a fraction of what makes up food and affect health.

The FitChef Way

With our strict #eatclean ethos our food has no man-made chemicals like artificial sweeteners, preservatives, additives, and colourants. Rather we choose to optimise the natural sweetness, colouring and preserving properties of whole, real food in FitChef meals.

References

1. The Human Metabolome Project. Accessed 21 April 2021. Available at: https://hmdb.ca/

Preservatives are additives that were not in our food historically. The use of food additives in food production is inevitable in this modern world. While we understand that in modern city life, we need convenience, we cannot allow convenience at the cost of your health. Be smart and use your freezer and fridge which are natures perfect preservative. Studies have shown that food additives like preservatives have a negative effect  on our gut microbiota.Preservatives (like the nitrites and nitrates found in processed meats) has been shown to increase our risk of colon cancer and should be limited in a healthy diet.

MONIQUE, can you add a bit more about findings LIKE: Problems posed by essential food preservatives
 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/764906/ This is a VERY old paper from 1975. Anything newer?

The FitChef Way

FitChef meals are preservative free, and we use only natural preservatives like in-land salt, citrus fruit like orange, lemon, and grapefruit, and vinegar to keep our food safe  to eat.

References

• Word Cancer Research Fund/ American Institute for Cancer Research Continuous Update Project Export Report 2018. Preservation and processing of foods and the risk of cancer. Available at dietandcancerreport.org.
• Gultein F, Oner ME, Savas HB, Dogan B. Food additives and microbiota. North Clin Istanb. 2020;7(2):192-200.

We seem to have this unwritten contract with food companies where the public supposedly expects food to always be the same colour or be bright, even if that means artificial colourants are used to adjust that. In reality some green tomatoes are sweeter than red tomatoes, but we expect red colour.

In nature, colour represents ripeness, sweetness, antioxidants, and nutrients. Colourants add colour without the nutrient bomb. Let’s rather be real! People who eat a variety of different coloured fruits and veggies may have lowered inflammation and therefore a reduced risk of certain diseases, such as stroke, diabetes, and cancer. This is because the natural plant pigments that give fruits and vegetables their colour are also important nutrients that may provide health benefits.

The FitChef Way

FitChef is proudly free from added colourants, using only the natural colourants of nature’s real foods, like the deep purple of beetroot or dark brown of cocoa powder. It is important to note that because FitChef is 100% whole food company, we do expect that our meals will never be the same colour, and we are ok with that. Sometimes beetroot is exceptionally dark, other times light. Tomatoes change intensity, sweetness and wateriness and so do all other ingredients like chilli and even salt. Various batches of salt do change the intensity or depth. This is all good, nature embraces change for the sake of diversity and our health.

References

• Joseph SV, Edirisinghe I, Burton-Freeman BM. Fruit Polyphenols: A Review of Anti-inflammatory Effects in Humans. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr.2016;56(3):419-44. Doi: 10.1080/10408398.2013.767221.
• Zhu F, Du B, Xu B. Anti-inflammatory effects of phytochemicals from fruits, vegetables, and food legumes: A review. Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition. 2017;58(1):1-11

Healthy fats should always be on the menu. These omega-3s are beneficial for our health with good anti-inflammatory properties. However seed oils like sunflower oil, corn oil, safflower oil and soybean oil have pro-inflammatory properties and may contribute to our risk of coronary heart disease.

The FitChef Way

Olive oil is without a doubt one of the healthiest oils to use in our diet and why FitChef proudly uses extra virgin olive oil in our meals. Research shows that regular consumption of extra virgin olive oil (compared with refined olive oil) might help in the prevention, development, and progression of type 2 diabetes. In addition, olive oil contains other bioactive compounds and phytonutrients for good health. Seed oils promote inflammation and too much inflammation is a bad thing (causing aging etc). Most coconut oil is either rancid or has additives (often not declared) so we are wary of using coconut oil.

References

• Martinez Gonzalez MA et al. Olive oil consumption and risk of CHD and/or stroke: a meta- analysis of case–control, cohort, and intervention studies. British Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2014;112:248-259.

Schwingshackl L et al. Olive oil in the prevention and management of type 2 diabetes mellitus- a systematic review and meta-analysis of cohort studies and intervention trials. Nutrition and Diabetes. 2017;e262.

Studies have shown that food additives such as artificial sweeteners, sugar alcohols, emulsifiers, food colorants, flavour enhancers, thickeners, anticaking agents, and preservatives have a negative effect  on our gut microbiota. We have no control of the quantity of additives we consume, now found in everything and its mostly bad news for our health. Additives like emulsifiers, preservatives, stabilisers, flavours are not used for your benefit (with some exceptions). Additives make the food producers life easier and products cheaper to produce, without the nutrient density. Additives can reduce cooking time, turn water into gel, add flavours without cooking the old-fashioned  nutritious way by slow cooking, reducing, browning, or roasting. Ultra-refined and junk food look and even taste like the real thing sometimes, but always without the long term nutrient density with health benefits.

The FitChef Way

Preservatives, colourants, artificial sweeteners, emulsifiers, and stabilisers are all no-go additives in FitChef meals.
Old fashioned techniques usually include the use of whole foods and whole foods have natural colour, flavour, fibre, minerals, vitamins and all the other great nutrients to optimise your body and mind. It is certainly harder to produce FitChef food, way harder. We use more raw whole food ingredients than anyone else… but if you put health first then this is the only way. Real food is the answer. The world is not sick and overweight because of too much broccoli consumption… we are in this state because of fake foods!

References

• Gultein F, Oner ME, Savas HB, Dogan B. Food additives and microbiota. North Clin Istanb. 2020;7(2):192-200.

Emulsifiers are food additives used to alter the food’s texture and extend the shelf life. Examples of emulsifiers inlcude sodium stearoyl lactylate, mono- and diglycerides, ammonium phosphatide, locust bean gum, xanthan gum, guar gum lecithin, carrageenan, and canola oil.

New research has shown that emulsifiers may impact on  our gut health, weaking the gut microbiota which may drive inflammation and increase our risk of metabolic syndrome. Emulsifiers are generally not considered real food or whole food ingredients. Free from emulsifiers, FitChef sticks to its #eatclean ethos. While emulsifiers are useful to get oil and water to bind (and not split back into water and oil again) it is also used to make cheap sauces that are not reduced the old fashioned way to be nutrient dense. An example of a natural whole food emulsifier is mustard, often used in salad dressings to bind oil and vinegar.

The FitChef Way

Call us old fashioned but we use real ingredients, with slow cooking and reducing techniques to thicken sauces, sometimes using a touch of tapioca after reducing to bind sauces. Our food is nutrient dense because of this.

References

• Partridge D, Lloyd KA, Rhodes JM, Walker AW, Johnstone AM, Campbell BJ. Food additives: Assessing the impact of exposure to permitted emulsifiers on bowel and metabolic health – introducing the FADiets study. Nutr Bull. 2019;44(4):329-349. doi: 10.1111/nbu.12408

Stabilisers are additive ingredients in foods that increase stability and thickness and maintain it is structure. Studies have shown that food additives such as artificial sweeteners, sugar alcohols, emulsifiers, food colorants, flavour enhancers, thickeners, anticaking agents, and preservatives have a negative effect  on our gut microbiota.

The FitChef Way

Since FitChef is all about real, whole food, stabilisers are unnecessary and not used in our meals.

References

• Gultein F, Oner ME, Savas HB, Dogan B. Food additives and microbiota. North Clin Istanb. 2020;7(2):192-200.

While yeast or nutritional yeast are often beneficial, we have found that it can make meals acidic or cause heartburn (We had tested nutritional yeast in some meals but general feedback from customers and industry professionals made us question the side effects).  It is our personal preference not to use nutritional yeast (for now) It is probably not the yeast but that fact that the yeast is in a highly refined carbohydrate, as is usually the case with bread and cakes.

The FitChef Way
We also prefer getting the flavour from whole food, nutrient dense, fibre-rich herbs, spices, and natural inland salt.

Some food processing can be of benefit to our health and minimally processed foods can have a place in a healthy and balanced diet. But the real worry is when food becomes heavily processed with the addition of copious amounts of sugar, salt, preservatives, flavourants and colourants, and the removal of healthy nutrients like fibre, vitamins, and minerals. Diets high in ultra-processed food are nutritionally unbalanced, and have been linked to a variety of poor health issues such as overweight/obesity, several cancers, diabetes heart disease, irritable bowel syndrome, and even depression.

The FitChef Way
FitChef is the perfect blend of convenient and healthy eating while avoiding all things ultra-processed.

Developing your FQ (Food Intelligence Quotient) is an important part of healthy conscious eating where you are aware of the impact of your food choice on your long term health, energy, focus, happiness, aging and impact on the world and others.

References

• Elizabeth L et al. Ultra-Processed Foods and Health Outcomes: A Narrative Review. Nutrients; 2020:12,1955. Doi:10.3390/nu12071955