Nutrition is broken

I talk about nutrition everyday with people, and one thing I hear the most is…

“Nutrition is too confusing, everyone’s got an opinion, and the research just contradicts itself”

And because of this, people don’t take action with improving their food, nutrition and health.

But does it have to be like that?

Is the whole thing really such a mess that you, I, we, our clients, are always going to be left not knowing what to eat?

I mean, are we making this a bigger issue than it is?

Maybe…

I hope you’ll agree that the real question we need to be asking is, “what is the problem here?”

Without knowing the problem, we can’t discuss a solution.

See, if I was to hand on heart think, with just me using common sense (which apparently isn’t that common)…

“What should I eat?”

My instincts tell me REAL FOOD.

Maybe the quote from Michael Pollan comes to mind…

“Food, not too much, mostly plants”.

Get some fruit and veg, get some meat, get some eggs, grab some grains and pulses, use these to make meals.

Like grandma used to do.

Now of course I am oversimplifying this, but this is the purpose of this exercise.

Let’s get right back to basics.

Because if we are hand on heart standing here saying “Nutrition is confusing” we need to question this and ask why, how, where did it get so complicated?

When I continue my discussion with people about ‘nutrition confusion’ I often get follow up comments like:

1. Influencers all say different things
2. News articles contradict themselves
3. Research is confusing to read
4. My friend did X plan, but it didn’t work for me

So, lets explore each of the above quickly:

1. Influencers

Since when did a large online following make you an expert?

Influencers are often so self-centred and interested in their own online image that they will say anything to get your attention, to get a like, to sell a ‘thing’ they have created or been asked to promote, or pump up their own sense of self-worth by posting more drivel on Instagram

Are there a few ‘influencers’ out there doing good work? 100%, but most just make money from ‘likes’, engagement on their social media, and selling things brands ask them to promote. They have no obligation to do anything other than generate income and so it’s always a risk taking their advice

Influencers… ❌

2. News articles

News websites have ONE primary aim, to get you to click on their articles and then keep you on there.

They don’t make money by providing you with the news, they make money through advertisers who pay them for clicks. This means that the more sensational the story is, the more money they make – not a recipe for honest nutrition reporting.

Do some news sites create some useful news articles grounded on science, 100%, but it’s rare, and the statistics they quote are often mis-interpreted or over inflated to again, get you to click to read the article

So, are these the best resources for nutritional advice?

❌ NO

3. Research is confusing to read

It is.

No word of a lie, I agree with you, I struggle with it too.

But research is important because it’s only through objective research that we can understand how what we eat really affects our body

So it’s hard to read, it’s time consuming, but it’s important – the solution is to read a distilled version of the literature in textbooks, research reviews, and evidence based courses

I don’t expect you to be up at night reading PubMed, but you will want to know where to go to get credible, unbiased accounts of what the research says.

But yes ✅ to credible summaries and accounts of that research to make your life easier to understand the science

4. My friend did X plan and it didn’t work for me

When this is quoted it often relates to weight loss.

Weight loss, or more specifically for most fat loss, is simple.

It’s all about calories.

That’s 100% proven by science, categorically.

But what it is not is easy to achieve.

Fat loss is complex as it’s not just about food, but the way we live our lives, our sleep, our relationship with food, everything that essentially feeds into what we eat and the way we eat.

This is why one plan can work for one (because it was easy enough to stick to and caused an individual to eat less calories than they burn daily, consistently, over time) and not another.

Don’t seek ‘plans’, seek to understand principals to live by, principals that can be manipulated for a desired, ever evolving outcome.

❌to plans

✅ to principals to live by

Ok, moan over, well, sort of…

With that being said, back to the start…

is nutrition confusing?

If we ignored what diet an influencer is on that week, and crappy news articles based on half-truths designed to get clicks, and what diet our mate is following this week, and started to find places to understand what credible science looks like…

Do you think you would be closer to the truth?

To being less confused?

I’d like to think so….

And if I can help today, I will.

Today I hopefully want to give you clarity.

NOT more confusion.

There is a lot of confusion out there, I’m not trying to add to that.

So today I offer you ONE thing, a chance to get some clarity.

I’ve been a nutrition and habit change coach for 15 years now, and since 2013 have been a nutrition educator, running the UKs very first online nutrition education company, The BTN Academy.

Unfortunately, I can’t give you a one-page PDF with all the nutrition advice you’ll ever need, it’s not as simple as that because principals take a little time to explain and thus understand.

But, if you’re willing to invest a little more time into learning about nutrition, health and habit change, and ditch the 5 minute read blogs to get “5 nutrition tips for X”, then I can help.

Tom and I, our Head of Education at The BTN Academy (our Certified Nutrition Education Company) have created a 100% free 5-day video course on nutrition.

One for Coaches, and one for Non-Coaches

There are 5 videos, all of which are 20 minutes, ish, long

I know that’s 1 hour and 40 minutes of your time I’m asking for…

But, if you are committed to getting around the ‘confusion’ and getting clarity with nutrition, I’d like to think this is time well spent.

It’s also not for my benefit, it’s for yours.

To start to understand nutrition better, to get clarity, and avoid the confusion we are presented with daily on social media and on news websites.

Simply drop your name, email, and check the box, and I’ll send it over on email over the next 5 days to you.

And, should you wish to stay on the journey (opt out at ANY time), I’ll continue to send you resources you can learn from after those 5 days.

Below the sign up box you can then read more about me, if you so wish, to check I’m not another ‘influencer’ try to sell you a plan.

Enjoy getting clarity with nutrition…