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00:00Fatty burgers, greasy pizzas, salty chips.
00:06We all know this is bad for us.
00:09And we all know that this is good for us.
00:12Fresh fruit and veg, whole foods, packed with vitamins, fibre and all the good stuff.
00:19Delicious.
00:20But what about all of this?
00:22The supermarket where we buy pretty much all of our food.
00:25Here is where we find ourselves in murky waters.
00:28Bombarded by endless choice, irresistible deals and confusing health claims.
00:34This is ultra-processed food.
00:37If you're trying to be healthy, this is the new battleground.
00:41In the UK, we're starting to realise that ultra-processed foods could be having a major impact on our health.
00:48Definitely tired, like, all the time.
00:50I have acid reflux.
00:52My blood pressure.
00:53Constipation.
00:54I'm Professor Tim Spector, a leading world expert in gut health and nutrition.
00:59And along with GP and dietary advisor, Dr Candy Ejafor, we're going to show you how to transform your health.
01:07As we meet four families whose ultra-processed diets may be making them ill.
01:12My main problem is my weight.
01:14Because of diabetes, I had to remove one of my toes.
01:18By showing them...
01:19Oh, my God!
01:20...how much ultra-processed food...
01:22...is bad.
01:23...they're really eating...
01:24That's crazy.
01:25...and it's making me feel really sick, actually.
01:28...will reveal what these foods are doing to you.
01:31You are at increased risk of cardiovascular disease.
01:34That's really quite scary, actually.
01:36Your heart health is 78 years old.
01:39It's kind of make or break.
01:43We'll show you how to spot an ultra-processed food.
01:46It's really like a sort of glue.
01:49We'll find out how they're made.
01:51Oh, that looks really horrible.
01:53And give you simple swaps to make healthier choices.
01:56That is delicious without costing you any more money.
02:00We are still within our budget.
02:02But can our families ditch ultra-processed food?
02:06A brown sauce!
02:08And transform their lives.
02:10It's a fantastic result.
02:11For good.
02:12Whatever signs I'll look for.
02:19We don't yet have a universal definition of ultra-processed food.
02:23But for me, it means food that has been industrially processed
02:27that has a negative impact on health.
02:30And when it comes to eating,
02:31most ultra-processed foods are hyperpalatable,
02:35meaning you can't stop eating them.
02:38Calorie-dense.
02:39They have large amounts of additives and chemicals
02:43you really don't want in your body.
02:45They're soft and easy to eat.
02:47And crucially, they're lacking in any real nutrients and fibre.
02:52UPFs make up over half of our diet in the UK.
02:56And eating these foods in large quantities is associated with rising levels of obesity,
03:02increased heart disease, dementia and even some cancers.
03:07But less than 40% of us feel confident identifying ultra-processed foods.
03:11So where do we start?
03:14Let's take corn as an example.
03:17Raw, uncooked corn on the cob is unprocessed.
03:20It is exactly as you would find it in nature, packed with fibre and lots of healthy nutrients.
03:26Tinned sweet corn is processed.
03:28It has been cooked and canned but is otherwise in its natural state and is still a healthy choice.
03:34And then you have cornflakes or corn tortilla chips.
03:38These are ultra-processed, broken down, reconstituted and combined with a host of other ingredients.
03:43The original field corn kernel is now completely unidentifiable.
03:49My aim is to get you looking at the back of packets every time you go shopping,
03:53giving you the power to make the right choices.
04:01Let's get started with our next family, whose diet is a daily dive into ultra-processed food excess.
04:10Hi, I'm Claire from Buckinghamshire.
04:14I thought you were doing it for all of us.
04:17No, am I meant to do it?
04:18Hi, I'm Claire, I'm 44 and I'm responsible for these two.
04:23They're both my children and I'm a mental health social worker.
04:26These two are 24-year-old teacher Georgia and 19-year-old stonemason Jay.
04:33I'll open that for you up.
04:36Ooh, that is proper fart chicken, isn't it?
04:39In this tight family unit, there's a problem.
04:42Different working hours means they're not having meals at regular times.
04:46And when it comes to food, it's everyone for themselves.
04:50I would happily trade lunch for a slice of cake and a cup of tea.
04:54And then I won't eat until the evening, but then I won't stop.
04:59Skipping meals means that when they do eat, they're gorging on sugar-heavy, ultra-processed foods, which activate the reward
05:06centers in the brain, keeping them coming back for more and more.
05:10OK.
05:12This is how we measure it out.
05:14That, and then I say that's like a nice portion.
05:17And then the measuring is until I can't see the...
05:21Yogurt.
05:21Yogurt, yeah.
05:22But even though she can't see it, Claire's healthy bowl of cereal is anything but.
05:28I'm a cereal fiend.
05:31Once we have our evening meal, I want something sweet immediately afterwards.
05:35I have been known, if we haven't got anything sweet in, to then have another bowl of cereal.
05:40But the children aren't without their vices either.
05:43My least healthy habit is snacking.
05:45I love crisps and cheese and I quite frequently eat them together.
05:49I do like a cookie with milk as well.
05:51If I take the packet upstairs, it won't come back downstairs.
05:56That packet of biscuits accounts for almost half of Georgia's daily calorie requirement.
06:02With mum constantly craving cereal and Georgia content with a whole packet of cookies, baby of the family Jay has
06:10a kitchen compulsion all of his own.
06:13I am seriously addicted to garlic bread.
06:19Garlic bread is the nation's favourite Italian-themed dish.
06:23But these frozen supermarket slices are a long way from the Mediterranean diet.
06:28They're packed with emulsifiers, high levels of which have been linked to an increased risk of inflammation and even certain
06:35cancers.
06:37I hear the ping of the air fryer at random times throughout the night.
06:41So I can be in bed and it'll be...
06:43And I'm like...
06:45Jay's making garlic bread.
06:46Jay is averaging 10 slices per visit to the air fryer.
06:50That's a staggering 1,090 calories and 60 grams of fat.
06:59Time to send in Dr Candy for a wake-up call.
07:04And get the lowdown on this family's diet and what it's doing to their bodies.
07:10Hello, Claire.
07:12Hello, lovely to meet you. Come in.
07:14Take a seat.
07:15Thank you for having me in your home.
07:17You're very welcome.
07:19First up is Mum, Claire.
07:22How can we help?
07:24I think my main problem is my weight and my rheumatoid arthritis.
07:29OK.
07:30So I was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis in my early 30s.
07:33Oh, gosh.
07:34Must be really difficult.
07:35Yeah.
07:36How does that affect you on a day-to-day?
07:38I've got used to the chronic pain, but the main problem for me is I'm absolutely exhausted all of the
07:43time.
07:45Rheumatoid arthritis is a long-term autoimmune disorder that causes painful joints and saps energy.
07:52And while diet isn't going to be a cure, a poor diet isn't going to help.
07:57Tell me what your dinners are like.
07:59We'll have frozen pizza that you just shove in the oven and things in the air fryer sometimes.
08:04And with that, do you have a good spread of vegetables on it?
08:08No.
08:08It's all beige on those nights.
08:11What Claire is eating is the exact opposite of what she needs.
08:16It's time for a complete diet overhaul.
08:19So tell me, Claire, a bit more about your motivations.
08:21Why do you want to make the change?
08:23For 25 years, I've had other priorities and I've never really put myself first.
08:28And I realised that if I don't start doing that, my health's really going to get worse.
08:33Sounds very sensible.
08:36The beige bland diet is also affecting 19-year-old Jay and 24-year-old Georgia.
08:42Tell me a little bit about your health.
08:44I'm just tired quite a lot of the time.
08:47And I come home and I tend to have about at least an hour nap most days.
08:51So that nap is an hour and it's a regular occurrence?
08:54I just fall asleep.
08:55Next thing I know, it's half past seven and we're all hungry.
08:58So I've heard that you can sleep anywhere at any time.
09:03Yeah.
09:03And how many hours are we talking?
09:06One hour?
09:06Two hours?
09:07An hour for much time I've got.
09:09Oh, really?
09:09Yes.
09:12Eating a lot of ultra-processed foods has been shown to impact your sleep quality.
09:16This, combined with regular sugar crashes, will see you feeling like this family, plain old knackered.
09:25Tell me a couple of meal examples that you're having.
09:28Garlic bread, chicken wraps, chicken wings, chicken dinosaurs.
09:34There's a head.
09:35He does have a diagnosis of autism and ADHD.
09:39You know, I've read that there are possible links between digestive health and those conditions.
09:43So I don't know, maybe that's something.
09:46So he's quite comfortable with the air fryer.
09:48He's quite comfortable with his beige foods.
09:50A lot of it's about the preparation.
09:52Okay.
09:52So he will only eat things that are prepared in a certain way.
09:55This is art form.
09:58Bereft of energy and with serious underlying health issues.
10:02Okay, come on in.
10:03It's time to confront this family with the ultra-processed horrors lurking in their larder.
10:08So let's begin over here.
10:11So I'm reaching up here and I can see some instant noodles.
10:15It might look bad, but for most of the UK, this kitchen is probably a familiar sight.
10:21Salt, acids, emulsifiers, mono and diglycerides, glucose fructose syrup.
10:27Over half of our daily diet is made up of ultra-processed food, making us the worst in Europe.
10:34So let's have a look in the fridge.
10:39Lots of sauces.
10:40We've got barbecue sauce.
10:42Oh my gosh.
10:44Mustard sauce.
10:45Love that.
10:45Yeah.
10:47So this one is a spicy mayo.
10:50It's got modified starch, salt, acids, whole egg powder, antioxidants, which include calcium, disodium, EDTA and sweeteners as well.
10:59Of the carbohydrates, which is 9.9 grams, we've got 7.9 grams of sugar.
11:03Store-bought sauces are a prime example of ultra-processed foods.
11:09Packed with chemicals that prolong shelf life, enhance taste and improve the product's appearance with virtually no nutritional benefit.
11:18Tasty but calorie dense, ultra-processed sauces are easy to overconsume, leading to weight gain and they're associated with an
11:26increased risk of diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
11:29Not the right thing to be adding to the family's already sugar-rich diet.
11:37It was so lovely to meet Claire, Georgia and Jay, but after rifling through their cupboards, it's clear that we
11:43have a job on our hands.
11:45But a challenge is a challenge and I believe that by radically changing their diet, we can reverse their ill
11:51health and get them reinvigorated and re-energized.
11:55We're going to help this family swap beige UPFs for colourful, nutrient-rich foods and encourage them to start eating
12:04the rainbow.
12:09Coming up, we find out what might be lurking in your chicken nugget.
12:14It can be all the parts of a chicken you really don't want to be eating.
12:18Three, two, one.
12:21And Claire, Georgia and Jay come face to face with their ultra-processed diet.
12:26Oh my God.
12:27Wow, that's a lot of garlic bread.
12:36Ultra-processed food is an inescapable fact of modern life.
12:41If you're trying to be healthy, this is the new battleground.
12:45And to try and eat healthily means constant vigilance.
12:49Dr Candy and I are on a mission to help Claire and her family fix their health and help you
12:55spot the enemy.
12:56But why are we so addicted to these super-convenient snacks?
13:00And what exactly are they made of?
13:04Claire, Georgia and Jay are big fans of beige food and they particularly love their chicken nuggets.
13:11But, have you thought what's actually inside them?
13:15If you take a chicken nugget and open it up, you'll see what looks like 90% chicken breast with
13:21a covering of breadcrumbs.
13:23Looks pretty good, doesn't it?
13:24But when you look at the back of the packet, you're in for a bit of a surprise.
13:28The average supermarket brand only has 40 to 50% chicken.
13:33This can be any quality chicken, it can be all the parts of a chicken you really don't want to
13:38be eating.
13:38So, if that so-called chicken is only making up 40 to 50% of this nugget, what's in the
13:45rest of it that we're eating?
13:47Well, it's bulking agents, it's emulsifiers, it's products that have no real nutritional value, they're dirt cheap,
13:54and they just make it look like a solid piece of chicken when it's not.
13:59But the one ingredient that surprised me most that's in some of our nuggets is chicken skin.
14:06Just look at that, it is quite revolting.
14:10It's there for two reasons.
14:13One, it's really cheap.
14:15The second is it contains two compounds, gelatin and collagen.
14:20This gelatin here, which comes from boiling up skin and bones, is really good at retaining moisture.
14:27When you add water to it, it can become five times its bulk in size, and this allows it this
14:34really good consistency and sponginess.
14:37And this is also bouncy and full of moisture.
14:41And this is in part due to the effect of the chicken skin, which retains the moisture even when it's
14:48being cooked.
14:48So the next time you bite into a chicken nugget, think of all the other things they've put into it
14:53and ask yourself, is this real food?
15:00Ultra processed foods are loaded with low quality fats, emulsifiers and artificial additives.
15:07But so far this family haven't let facts get in the way of their feasting.
15:11It's time for some shock tactics.
15:14With a carpet of beige, featuring all the family UPF faves.
15:21Three, two, one.
15:27Oh my God.
15:29Wow, that's a lot of garlic bread.
15:31In fact, over a year, Jay gets 179,000 calories from his garlic bread alone.
15:38And as a family, they eat over 500 kilos of beige.
15:43Chicken nuggets, wraps, waffles, cake, crisps, biscuits and chips.
15:49This is your general diet and what you're consuming.
15:53Oh my God.
15:55What can you see?
15:56Beige.
15:58It is pretty beige.
16:04We're stunned into silence.
16:07Yeah, it's bad.
16:08In a week, how much would you say of this you probably consume?
16:13Probably all of it.
16:15Well, not all of it.
16:16Maybe two weeks.
16:17But I wouldn't say far off.
16:23Seeing it all laid out, it's not very appetising, despite the fact that we eat it all the time.
16:28So a lot of these foods have really high amounts of sugar.
16:32What happens is you get very quick sugar spikes and then very quick sugar crashes.
16:38That's probably what you're seeing in terms of sleeping or napping one to two hours a day,
16:44which is quite crazy to think about, that you can be putting so much inside your body,
16:48but not really getting anything from it.
16:54It really put it all into perspective, didn't it?
16:56Yeah.
16:57It makes me look at it different.
16:58No wonder we're tired.
17:00There's no nutritional value to that food.
17:02So we're fueling ourselves and we're running on empty, really.
17:07It's not just at dinner time.
17:09The first thing Claire does each morning is fuel her body with beige, sugary cereal.
17:15And she's not alone.
17:17In the UK, we spend a whopping £1.8 billion on easy-to-eat cereals
17:22and 42% of us snack on it throughout the day, too.
17:28We need to talk about breakfast cereals.
17:30We've all eaten them.
17:32Kids love them.
17:33But how do you spot the good ones from the bad ones,
17:36the healthy to the really unhealthy?
17:38It's not easy because all of them are blaring out from their labels
17:43how healthy they all are, how many vitamins they're packed with,
17:46how they're low in fats and high in this or that.
17:50The other way they're fooling you is with the size of their portions.
17:53They pretend that we only eat tiny little bowls of it, only around 30 grams for most of them.
18:00You know, you look at the size of that and I'd be eating about four times that amount to feel
18:05full.
18:05We've got this lot over here.
18:07They've got a lot of sugar in them.
18:10They've got very little fibre.
18:11So apart from that sugar rush, they really don't offer very much.
18:15We move into these other categories that are getting a little bit better here.
18:19We can start to see something that resembles a bit of real food.
18:23That means you're going to be getting more fibre generally and less sugar.
18:27Down this end, you're getting mueslis with mainly nuts, lots of seeds in it,
18:32much more fibre for your gut microbes.
18:34So very little processing if any.
18:36These foods are also going to take you longer to eat them.
18:39These ones here, they just dissolve in your mouth.
18:41They explode in a puff of sugar.
18:43So if there's one tip I've got for you, it is to look at the back of the packet,
18:48ignore the front and go for something that has more fibre in it than it has sugar.
18:53Good luck.
19:00To find out what effects their ultra-processed diet might be having on Claire, Georgia and Jay's bodies...
19:05Jay, we'll do your weight.
19:08Dr Candy has carried out some health tests, including taking their bloods.
19:12And now the results are in.
19:15Claire, when we took your BMI, yours was 40.
19:19So it was certainly in the obese category.
19:22Your fasting insulin level was borderline high.
19:25Your CRP level was raised.
19:28That's a marker of inflammation, which I think we would expect given your history of rheumatoid arthritis.
19:36CRP is a protein produced by the liver in response to inflammation.
19:41While Claire's chronic condition will be in part to blame for her elevated levels,
19:45high UPF consumption has also been linked with increased inflammation,
19:49suggesting her diet may play a role too.
19:54When we take all of those factors, they individually can put you at increased risk of things like heart disease,
20:00diabetes, stroke.
20:03Wow.
20:06How do you feel about that?
20:09It's just really worrying, isn't it, that I've let myself get to this through poor diet and not looking after
20:15myself really.
20:16Yeah.
20:17Sometimes you need to hear the stark truth.
20:20Sugarcoating everything's not going to make me want to change, is it?
20:26Jay, Georgia, looking at weight, Jay, your weight was slightly overweight with your BMI around 27.3.
20:34And yours, Georgia, was above 30, which puts you in the obese category.
20:40Yeah, it's interesting. I know I wasn't the fittest person, but I didn't realise it was like in that next
20:48category, the obese category.
20:50OK.
20:51I was really surprised to hear that Georgia was in the obese category, and I know that that will impact
20:57on her emotionally as well.
20:59She might not show it, but that worries me.
21:03The family's love of beige, ultra-processed food may also have contributed to some alarming vitamin deficiencies.
21:10All of you are very low in vitamin D, with Georgia's being the lowest.
21:17Most vitamin D comes from exposing your skin to sunlight, but some foods can also boost your levels.
21:24Vitamin D plays an important role in muscle function and energy levels.
21:29So now is a really opportune time for you guys to take hold of your health, and just giving yourself
21:34the best chance, essentially, for the future.
21:36I'm just glad that we've signed up to do this now, and to try and make those changes before it's
21:41too late.
21:44It was really sad to hear the potential health problems for my children, and the fact that they're already in
21:51the overweight and obese category.
21:53It's one thing feeling like I've let myself down with my physical health and taken my eye off the ball,
21:58but nobody wants to put their children at risk.
22:02I had a feeling that these health tests would tell this story. Claire, Georgia, Jay, they're all overweight, and as
22:09I suspected, their tiredness is probably linked to their diet.
22:12Now, it's a massive challenge ahead of them to change what they eat, but I'm determined to stay with them
22:17every step of the way.
22:23Coming up, Claire, Georgia, and Jay discover the relationship between brain and belly.
22:32And we reveal the secret ingredient in your shop-bought custard.
22:38So this is a fake egg?
22:39Yes.
22:50Whenever you step foot in a supermarket, you'll be confronted by the abundance of ultra-processed foods.
22:58I've been showing you what's in them.
23:01It's bulking agents, it's emulsifiers, it's products that have no real nutritional value.
23:06As well as confronting Claire, Georgia, and Jay with the scale of their ultra-processed food habit.
23:12Oh, my God. It's not very appetizing.
23:18Dr Candy has returned to High Wycombe to kick-start this family's food revolution,
23:23with an experiment demonstrating once and for all how UPFs are often the worst possible diet option.
23:34Tim and I have a little challenge for you, and I know how competitive you all are.
23:40So you're going to enjoy this one.
23:43This family of snackers has been subsisting more or less solely on UPF foods,
23:48and it may be harming their health.
23:51Everything here is of equal calorie, so everything you see here is 98 calories.
23:56It's a simple test to see how easy it is to consume UPF foods, as opposed to whole foods.
24:02You can only choose one bowl, and it's the first person to finish.
24:06Please, choose your bowl now.
24:13So on the count of three, you may begin.
24:17Three, two, one, go!
24:21And they're off.
24:23Georgia's munching a mini chocolate cake, Jay's gorging on garlic bread, and Mum's binging on biscuits.
24:32I'm done. Stop!
24:34Well done, Georgia. So you won that little competition. At 31 seconds, you managed to finish the mini chocolate cake
24:40first.
24:43OK, so I'm going to refresh the timer, and I'm going to give you each a bowl of something a
24:47bit more nutritious.
24:49You have 31 seconds, starting from now.
24:53These whole foods have exactly the same number of calories, remember? So how much can they eat in the same
24:59time it took for the ultra-processed foods?
25:02Jay's on carrot, Georgia's on berries, and Mum's on apple. And this time, the pace is noticeably slower.
25:12Stop. Food down. Jay, how much did you eat?
25:16I had three slices.
25:17Three slices of carrots?
25:18Yeah. Mine was pitiful. I had one slice.
25:21One slice of apple.
25:22Probably a couple of full strawberries.
25:25Fine.
25:26And there's some compelling science behind this challenge.
25:30Ultra-processed foods are typically soft and easy to eat, meaning you can get through a lot more calories in
25:36a shorter space of time compared to whole foods, which tend to require more chewing.
25:42Chewing not only slows down the speed of eating, it also helps send fullness signals to the brain.
25:49Because UPFs largely bypass these satiety systems, it's easy to overeat them without even noticing.
25:58Bad news for these snack fans.
26:01It's really interesting because I could eat a whole bowl of, probably two or three of the other bowls of
26:05the ultra-processed, but I wouldn't sit and eat a whole bowl of carrots or even all that food.
26:12The barrage of beige that was the family's diet has left them tired, overweight and tempting fate with their health.
26:20So it's time for Dr Candy to take radical action and have a thorough clear out.
26:25Let's start in these cupboards.
26:29So we're going to get rid of some of these packets and jars of sauces.
26:33Some of these crackers.
26:37We've got some instant noodles.
26:39It's breaking my heart.
26:41The cereal.
26:42No!
26:44The hoops, the granola, that's going in.
26:48But not all UPFs are created equal, so we're going to leave a few items on their shelves.
26:55Like tin soup.
26:56While many are packed full of low quality ingredients, not all are bad.
27:02A chunky vegetable soup contains minimally processed veg, providing nutrients and fibre, and the extra chewing will leave you feeling
27:11fuller for longer.
27:15Let's head over to the fridge.
27:18Taking your sauces.
27:22Jay, the garlic breads, they've got to go.
27:26Shattered. Soul destroyed, some may say.
27:34Having a look at this, what are your thoughts?
27:37I'm just wondering what we are going to be eating.
27:39Yeah.
27:40Like, that's a lot of what we do.
27:43Like, that's everything.
27:46Everything indeed.
27:47But you can't make an omelette without breaking a few eggs.
27:50And Dr Candy is on hand to make this household an ultra-processed free one.
27:56Ushering in a brighter food future.
28:03Look what we have here.
28:06We've got lots of fruit, vegetables, we've got peppers, avocados, aubergines, courgettes, tomatoes, carrots.
28:15Yeah, we've got the rainbow.
28:16We're giving Claire, Georgia and Jay an array of colourful veg, berries packed with antioxidants, and foods rich in vitamin
28:24D like mackerel, and some mushrooms.
28:28Oh, asparagus.
28:31What I'm hoping for is that you guys do a lot more cooking as a family every night, so wholesome
28:35meals, which will really bring up your energy levels.
28:38A typical day for Claire, Georgia and Jay will include boiled eggs with sourdough for breakfast, a rainbow salad for
28:46lunch, and chilli with brown rice for dinner.
28:51A rainbow salad is a brilliant choice for lunch, thanks to the antioxidants and the colourful veg, which help prevent
28:58an array of chronic diseases.
29:00The chicken, which is a great source of lean protein, helps support muscle health.
29:06Together, these create a salad that is packed with fibre and protein, and will leave you full and satisfied for
29:12a long time.
29:14We've got berries for you, Claire, which is really good for anti-inflammatory properties.
29:19Green leafy vegetables, you've got eggs, you know, lots of options here to really improve those deficiencies.
29:27This new diet should have a major impact on their vitamin levels.
29:31But so low were the family in vitamin D that Candy's giving them a helping hand to turn things around
29:37quickly.
29:38I've also got a little gift for each of you, so vitamin D sprays.
29:43So just a quick spray every day under your tongue, and that should get your levels up.
29:47Brilliant, I think we all need that.
29:51Good luck, and I'm here if you need.
29:53It's gonna be fun.
29:55Yeah.
30:06The humble egg.
30:08A rich source of protein, vitamin D and multiple nutrients.
30:13And it's also a vital ingredient in one of the nation's favourite comfort foods, custard.
30:19How do you make an egg-based product with a shelf life of up to a year, when an egg
30:26alone only has a shelf life of one to two weeks?
30:30That is the question.
30:33To find out the answer, I'm back at Mission Kitchen in London, delving once more into the mysteries of food
30:40processing.
30:41Hi, Emil.
30:42Tim, how are you?
30:43Good. Now I've got a question for you.
30:46Normal custard contains eggs. Those eggs would only last a week or maybe two at most.
30:52So how do you get custard in supermarkets that last for months or even a year?
30:58Well, in essence, you just remove the egg entirely.
31:01So the egg's there for texture and to bind everything together, so you just kind of need to replace some
31:05elements to that.
31:06So this is a fake egg you've got there, is that essentially it?
31:10Yes.
31:10Yeah, in essence, this over here is the fake egg and then we have the other flavours that you usually
31:15find in custard.
31:15OK, show us how it's done.
31:17OK.
31:18So first we have our milk.
31:21Then we have our colour.
31:23So this is just paprika and we have some turmeric.
31:26That's just for show, really, is it?
31:27Just for show.
31:28Without egg yolks, the natural yellow colouring has to be cheated with other ingredients, as does the egg's natural creaminess.
31:35Here we have palm oil and that's used for mouthfeel and that velvety texture.
31:39Right, high in saturated fats, not a very good oil to be eating.
31:42It's certainly not as healthy as an egg.
31:44No, certainly not.
31:46An egg's proteins thicken a custard and bind everything together.
31:50But here, these jobs are done by various powders.
31:54We have these two starches, which is corn starch, and then here we have a modified corn starch, which just
31:59helps bind things a bit more.
32:01So it's both a thickener and an emulsifier, is it?
32:04It just helps keep things together that doesn't like to be together, like fats and liquids.
32:09OK, and that glues it together like the egg would normally do.
32:12Absolutely.
32:13Next, it's more dairy, but not as we know it.
32:17We have our milk butter, but in powder form.
32:19And this will last for a long time, will it, these powdered milks?
32:23Yes. Yeah, so if it's in this format, incredibly long shelf life.
32:27And then we have our sugar, and then we have our vanilla extract.
32:33Just going to blend this up.
32:37And what we're going to do is just sieve this into a pan, get any possible lumps.
32:41How can you have custard without lumps?
32:44That's why my school days always had lumps.
32:47It's a bit thin now, so we're going to heat it up.
32:49And as we heat, it's going to thicken up.
32:50This is where the emulsifiers are coming in.
32:52It's certainly where they start coming in, yes.
32:56Yeah, it's looking nice and thick now.
32:58Yeah, it's certainly there. I think we are at the right texture.
33:02Going to take a little while.
33:04It does look a bit custardy, doesn't it?
33:06Those emulsifiers have really done their job, haven't they?
33:08Yes, they have.
33:09So that's all ready to be pasteurised.
33:11To increase the shelf life even further, the custard is heated in an oven at 100 degrees Celsius
33:17to kill off the natural bacteria in the milk.
33:21That's also part of the reason why we can't have egg in that process.
33:24It's just going to scramble, it's just not going to be good.
33:26And nobody wants scrambled eggs in their custard, do they?
33:29No, it's going to be very, very lumpy if we did that.
33:31Okay, so that's why we're using fake eggs.
33:33That's why we have fake eggs.
33:35That'll take around 15 minutes.
33:37But in the great TV tradition, here's some a meal made earlier.
33:42Good and gloopy.
33:44Here we go, nice and cold custard.
33:48It doesn't taste too bad, actually.
33:50Thank you very much.
33:51It is very sweet.
33:52Yeah.
33:53But it does taste exactly like those cartons of custard you pick up on the shelves of supermarkets.
33:59Exactly.
34:00Cheers.
34:08Let's see how Claire, Georgia and Jay are getting on in their new, ultra-processed-free universe.
34:15Hello.
34:1520 minutes in and up.
34:17Done!
34:18Love it.
34:20I'm not finding that the shopping is any more expensive.
34:23If anything, it's cheaper.
34:24And we're eating better.
34:25And I'm enjoying the food.
34:27But for Jay, who has a diagnosis of autism, this colourful new world is a radical departure from his more
34:34familiar beige diet.
34:37Jay is struggling a little bit more because he just doesn't know what he can and can't have.
34:43The air fryer hasn't been on half as much.
34:46I heard a ping the other day.
34:47What did you put in it?
34:48Yeah, so I put a patty in.
34:50Jamaican patty?
34:52I don't think that's on this.
34:55Maybe that's something we can focus on this prepping lunch every night and see how you feel at the end
35:00of this week.
35:01Oh, I liked having my chicken and broccoli the other day. That was nice.
35:04Yeah.
35:05Has anybody caved?
35:10I had a cherry baked quail yesterday. It was delicious. I had it with a cup of tea.
35:15But the occasional snack lapse aside,
35:19by adhering to the meal plan and recipes left by Candy...
35:24That's nice!
35:26..the family are eating together and getting the fulfilment they'd been lacking.
35:29I'm more than happy with this.
35:32Otherwise it just had something shoved in the oven with a little thought.
35:35Well, mostly.
35:37I'd trade that in for a mini roll.
35:39Would you?
35:40Yeah.
35:41You'd still be hungry?
35:42Yeah, I know.
35:43One mini roll?
35:44Or all of that?
35:47You just can't help some people, Georgia. Two out of three is not bad.
35:53We're having to relearn everything we thought we knew about our diet, really.
35:58I'm not really sure how the next few weeks are going to go, if I'm honest.
36:05Coming up, all the colours of the rainbow on a plate.
36:09That looks fantastic, doesn't it?
36:11A 13-plant rainbow showstopper.
36:14And Claire, Georgia and Jay find out if ditching ultra-processed foods has changed their bodies.
36:20Am I still obese?
36:31Once you know what ultra-processed food is, you'll realise that it's everywhere.
36:36This is your general diet.
36:39Beige.
36:40And to avoid it, I want to help you change up your daily diet.
36:44Peppers, avocados, aubergines, courgettes, carrots.
36:48As well as help Claire, Georgia and Jay become a family that uses whole foods to cook meals they eat
36:54together at the right time of day.
36:57This looks nice.
36:59Claire, Georgia and Jay, like a lot of Brits, have a predominantly beige diet.
37:04So I've prepared a recipe that's full of colour.
37:11First thing to do is to get your chickpeas.
37:14I wash them, dry them out a bit, then you put them in the tray.
37:18Then you take a piece of halloumi.
37:20If you can't find halloumi, tofu works just as well.
37:24And I'm going to chop that up into squares.
37:27And they're going to go into this.
37:29Just sprinkle them over.
37:31Next, we're going to add in some cherry tomatoes and unpeeled garlic.
37:36Then we've got some red peppers.
37:38They're also going in.
37:39Again, green peppers, yellow peppers would work equally well.
37:43So now it's time to deal with the aubergines.
37:46Colourful veg is rich in polyphenols.
37:49Chemicals that protect the plant, but which are also great for gut health.
37:54Right, and we're going to place these in the tray with this scored side up.
37:59Next, mix cumin, chilli and coriander and sprinkle over the chickpeas and the aubergines.
38:05And they'll absorb these spices right down to the core and mixed with the olive oil.
38:12It's just going to bring out all those extra flavours and that sort of meatiness.
38:16And finally, add our olive oil.
38:18Splash around it. You can afford to be generous because, as you know, we love olive oil.
38:23And then some salt and pepper going on there.
38:27And now they're ready to pop in the oven and they'll take around 40 minutes.
38:35My tray bake is nearly ready and I'm going to make my kefir dressing.
38:40Now, in here we've got some tahini, sumac, which is a Middle Eastern spice, which is slightly citrusy.
38:49So if you can't find it, use some lemon zest.
38:51And then the other ingredient here is fermented milk or kefir.
38:56It's usually got about a dozen different microbe species in it, three times, four times more than yoghurt.
39:01But you can use yoghurt if you can't find kefir.
39:05After 40 minutes in the oven at 180 degrees, both trays will be ready.
39:10That's pretty good, doesn't it? Already pretty colourful.
39:14They look great. The overgenes have soaked up all those spices and the olive oil and are looking really juicy.
39:22Now it's time to remove the roast garlic, squeeze it out to make a paste and add it to the
39:27kefir mix.
39:28So that's the kefir mix done. Now I think we're ready to start plating up.
39:39That looks fantastic, doesn't it? And now we're going to add our kefir dressing.
39:43OK, so now finally a little bit of extra sprinkle, even more colour, some spring onions.
39:49Sprinkle those on and then we've got some homie granite seeds.
39:53Finally, squeeze of lime or lemon if you've got it.
39:58There you have it, a 13-plant rainbow showstopper.
40:03Let's taste it.
40:05That's amazing. You can really feel those powerful defence chemicals surging through your system, eating it with your eyes just
40:13as much as your tongue.
40:15Here we have it, the perfect antidote to beige food. Once you've done this, you won't go back.
40:25And that's certainly true for Claire, Georgia and Jay.
40:28Four weeks on, their kitchen is a riot of colour.
40:33Yeah, I don't think Delia's got to worry just about me.
40:36No, no, no.
40:39Now that we're eating more whole foods and knowing exactly what's going into it, it's, yeah, it feels nice.
40:49I thought it was going to be really difficult but actually, now we're in the habit of it, I don't
40:53feel like I'm missing out on things as much.
40:55Although it is still hard in the staff room walking past the biscuits.
40:57What would Candy say?
40:59Eat the rainbow.
41:01Eat the rainbow.
41:02Once this kitchen was just a place to keep the ultra-processed snacks.
41:07Now it's a conveyor belt of wholesome meals like aubergine tray bake, chilli con carne and grilled chicken rainbow salad.
41:15We are loving eating the rainbow.
41:18When I make a salad, it's so embarrassing.
41:21But I'll go up to Georgia and Jay and like, look at the rainbow, look at the rainbow, I'm going
41:25to eat the rainbow.
41:26Yeah.
41:28It's really funny thinking about all that beige food laid out.
41:32I think the fact that I'm taking a salad for lunch is something that I wouldn't have done.
41:37No, it's crazy, isn't it?
41:41Yeah, we haven't had anything beige in four weeks.
41:47But there's only one way to see if it's all been worthwhile.
41:50The family are coming to London to redo their initial health tests.
41:55I'm really looking forward to seeing Candy again and showing her what we've been up to.
42:00Hopefully she'll see a difference in us all.
42:03Because of all the rainbows we've eaten.
42:05Yeah, exactly.
42:07I'm really proud of us for getting this far.
42:10The best outcome for me was just to know that everything's going in the right direction and it's not all
42:14been in vain.
42:15When Candy first met the family, eating times were erratic and meals were beige, big and ultra-processed.
42:22It was a diet making them all overweight and unable to keep their eyes open.
42:27Hello.
42:28Hello.
42:29Hello.
42:29Hello there.
42:30Lovely to meet you.
42:31But the family I'm meeting now seem wide awake, brimming with energy and decidedly lighter on their feet.
42:37So, Claire, Georgia and Jay, Candy's got some exciting results to share with you.
42:43So, Jay, you have lost an inch off your waist.
42:46That's good.
42:47That's great.
42:48Yeah.
42:49And your weight, you've lost over half a stone.
42:51Oh, have I?
42:52Yeah.
42:52Oh, that's quite good.
42:54That's really good.
42:54Did you not realise?
42:55No.
42:56I can definitely see it in your face.
42:57That's just a haircut.
42:59So, Georgia, let's move on to your results.
43:02Am I still obese?
43:05You're not!
43:07Yay!
43:08Oh, well done, George.
43:10And I know that you wanted to...
43:12I know that wasn't the most important part of it, but I think, yeah, that was...
43:16Psychologically, it was.
43:17Yeah.
43:18Absolutely.
43:18And I understand that.
43:19Yeah, that was really, really, really good.
43:22So, Claire, looking at your weight, you have gone down, in such a short space of time,
43:28one and a quarter stone.
43:30Amazing.
43:31It's very impressive.
43:32Wow.
43:33That's good.
43:33That's great.
43:35You've also come down seven inches around your waist, too.
43:37Oh, my goodness.
43:38Yeah, I hadn't noticed that.
43:40Especially important, because the fat around your waist is the one you want to get rid of,
43:44because that's really bad for all kinds of diseases and things, so that's really key.
43:48And that's not all, is it?
43:50No, that's not all.
43:51Because Claire has rheumatoid arthritis, then the inflammation score was something that we looked at as well.
43:56The higher that is, the more stiffness you have, the more your mood might be depressed.
44:00So, anything you can do to bring that down is really, really good.
44:04So, your CRP level has come down from six before to 4.3.
44:09That's good.
44:10That is really good.
44:10Yeah, no, I'm really pleased with that.
44:12It just shows how, you know, these little shifts can have these really big effects on all these other areas
44:17you maybe hadn't thought about.
44:18I do feel really proud of her.
44:20It's been, like, such a long time coming.
44:23You've wanted to change before, but actually, you've put yourself first this time, and it's so lovely to see, because
44:28we are so proud of you.
44:30Yeah.
44:32I will hug you this one time.
44:33Oh, bless you. I love you.
44:39So, I called Jay the air fryer king.
44:42Yeah.
44:43Yeah, I remember now.
44:44And there was a lot of brown, beige food in his diet.
44:48So, tell me, is there more colour?
44:49Yeah, a lot more.
44:51Yeah.
44:52Why don't you tell Candy the thing?
44:53How many pieces of garlic bread have you had through this?
44:56No.
44:57Not a single one.
44:58You haven't had a single garlic bread?
45:01No.
45:01Not one.
45:02What?
45:02Oh, no.
45:03So, what does the colour of your dinner plate look like now?
45:07We are eating the rainbow.
45:09Woo!
45:09Yeah.
45:11The rainbow.
45:12So, you've swapped beige for rainbows, have you?
45:14Absolutely, and we're not going back.
45:18You guys have exceeded all my expectations, so I think you've done a marvellous job.
45:23You guys have really moved the needle so much in such a short space of time, so well done.
45:28And thank you for giving us the tools to get our health and our lives back.
45:36I think it's better than we anticipated it would be.
45:40I've had fun doing it.
45:41I feel genuinely better for it.
45:43Our energy levels have just gone through the roof.
45:46We're much more awake and alert.
45:52The changes that we've made, we're going to keep going lifelong, I hope.
45:58So, yeah.
45:59If we can.
46:00Anyone can, really.
46:05Next time, the unsettling realities of ultra-processed crisps.
46:09We're just going to add silicone dioxide.
46:11It's safe to eat, is it?
46:12Dr Candy meets a couple with some serious UPF addictions.
46:16This, to me, looks like a swamp.
46:18Yeah, it certainly attracted a few flies.
46:20And helps them face the real damage it's doing to their health.
46:2342, you have a heart of a 54-year-old.
46:26It's not something anyone wants to hear.
46:35An intimate film and an astonishing story.
46:39The secret of me is at 10 tonight.
46:41Before that, getting weapons off the street
46:43and just how many are benefiting from the sales of knives,
46:46which have led to serious offences.
46:4824 Hours in Police Custody investigates zombie knives next.
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