- 5 weeks ago
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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.
00:18Delicious.
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.
00:29Bombarded 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.
00:56A 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.
01:25And it's made me feel really sick, actually.
01:27...we'll 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.
01:47It'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.
01:58Without costing you any more money.
02:00We are still within our budget.
02:02But can our families ditch ultra-processed food?
02:05Oh, brown sauce!
02:08And transform their lives...
02:10It's a fantastic result.
02:11...for good.
02:12Whatever assignments I'll look for.
02:20We 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, most ultra-processed foods are hyperpalatable.
02:35Meaning you can't stop eating them.
02:38Calorie dense.
02:40They have large amounts of additives and chemicals you really don't want in your body.
02:44They're soft and easy to eat.
02:47And crucially, they're lacking in any real nutrients and fibre.
02:51UPFs 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.
03:06But less than 40% of us feel confident identifying ultra-processed foods.
03:12So where do we start?
03:14Let's take corn as an example.
03:16Raw, 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 sweetcorn is processed.
03:28It has been cooked and canned, but is otherwise in its natural state and is still a healthy choice.
03:33And then you have cornflakes or corn tortilla chips.
03:38These are ultra-processed, broken down, reconstituted and combined with a host of other ingredients.
03:44The 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.
03:56Let'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.
04:15I 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, they're both my children.
04:24And 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.
04:35Ooh, 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,
05:05which activate the reward centres in the brain, keeping them coming back for more and more.
05:10This is how we measure it out, that, and then I say that's like a nice portion.
05:17And then the measuring is until I can't see the...
05:20Yogurt. Yogurt, yeah.
05:22But even though she can't see it, Claire's healthy bowl of cereal is anything but.
05:27I'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,
06:08baby of the family Jay has a kitchen compulsion all of his own.
06:13I am seriously addicted to garlic bread.
06:17Garlic 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,
06:34and even certain cancers.
06:36I 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.
07:08Hello 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.
07:21How can we help?
07:23I 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, must 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.
07:40But the main problem for me is I'm absolutely exhausted all of the time.
07:46Rheumatoid arthritis is a long-term autoimmune disorder that causes painful joints and saps energy.
07:53And 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. It'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.
08:22Why do you want to make the change?
08:23For 25 years, I've had other priorities and I've never really put myself first.
08:29And I realise that if I don't start doing that, my health's really going to get worse.
08:34Sounds very sensible.
08:36The beige bland diet is also affecting 19-year-old Jay and 24-year-old Georgia.
08:43Tell me a little bit about your health.
08:45I'm just tired quite a lot of the time.
08:48And 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?
08:54Yeah. It's just full of sleep.
08:55Next thing I know, it's half past seven and we're all hungry.
08:59So I've heard that you can sleep anywhere at any time.
09:02Yeah.
09:04And how many hours are we talking? One hour, two hours?
09:08An hour for much time I've got.
09:09Oh, really? Yes!
09:10Eating a lot of ultra-processed foods has been shown to impact your sleep quality.
09:17This, combined with regular sugar crashes, will see you feeling like this family.
09:23Plain old knackered.
09:25Tell me a couple of meal examples that you're having.
09:29Garlic bread, chicken wraps, chicken wings, chicken dinosaurs.
09:34There's a head.
09:36He 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.
09:45So he's quite comfortable with the air fryer.
09:48He's quite comfortable with his beige foods.
09:51A lot of it's about the preparation.
09:52Okay.
09:53So he will only eat things that are prepared in certain ways.
09:56This is art form.
09:58Bereft of energy and with serious underlying health issues.
10:02Okay, come on in.
10:04It's time to confront this family with the ultra-processed horrors lurking in their larder.
10:09So let's begin over here.
10:10So 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.
10:35So let's have a look in the fridge.
10:36Lots of sauces.
10:41We've got barbecue sauce.
10:43Oh my gosh.
10:45Mustard sauce.
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.
10:58Of the carbohydrates, which is 9.9 grams, we've got 7.9 grams of sugar.
11:04Store-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.
11:17Tasty but calorie-dense, ultra-processed sauces are easy to over-consume, leading to weight gain and they're associated with an increased risk of diabetes, heart disease and stroke.
11:29Not the right thing to be adding to the family's already sugar-rich diet.
11:34It was so lovely to meet Claire, Georgia and Jay, but after rifling through their cupboards, it's clear that we have a job on our hands.
11:44But a challenge is a challenge, and I believe that by radically changing their diet, we can reverse their ill health and get them reinvigorated and re-energised.
11:55We're going to help this family swap beige UPFs for colourful, nutrient-rich foods and encourage them to start eating the rainbow.
12:05Coming 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.
12:35Ultra-processed food is an inescapable fact of modern life.
12:41If you're trying to be healthy, this is a 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 spot 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 a 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.
13:35It can be all the parts of a chicken you really don't want to be eating.
13:38So, if that so-called chicken is only making up 40 to 50% of this nugget, what's in the rest of it that we're eating?
13:47Well, it's bulking agents.
13:49It's emulsifiers.
13:50It's products that have no real nutritional value.
13:53They're dirt cheap and they just make it look like a solid piece of chicken when it's not.
14:00But the one ingredient that surprised me most that's in some of our nuggets is chicken skin.
14:07Just look at that.
14:08It 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.
14:32And this allows it this really 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 being cooked.
14:49So, the next time you bite into a chicken nugget, think of all the other things they've put into it and ask yourself, is this real food?
14:56Ultra 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.
15:12It's time for some shock tactics.
15:15With a carpet of beige, featuring all the family UPF faves.
15:21Three, two, one.
15:25Oh 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.
15:50This is your general diet and what you're consuming.
15:53Oh my God.
15:55What can you see?
15:57Beige.
15:59It is pretty beige.
16:05We're stunned into silence.
16:07Yeah, it's bad.
16:09In 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.
16:17Yeah.
16:18But I wouldn't say far off.
16:23Seeing it all laid out, it's not very appetizing, 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, which is quite crazy to think about.
16:46That you can be putting so much inside your body but 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.
16:59No 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.
17:08It's not just at dinner time.
17:10The 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.
17:23And 42% of us snack on it throughout the day, too.
17:28We need to talk about breakfast cereals.
17:31We've all eaten them.
17:32Kids love them.
17:33But how do you spot the good ones from the bad ones, the healthy to the really unhealthy?
17:39It's not easy because all of them are blaring out from their labels how healthy they all are, how many vitamins they're packed with, how 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.
17:54They 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 full.
18:05We've got this lot over here.
18:07They've got a lot of sugar in them.
18:09They'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.
18:18We can start to see something that resembles a bit of real food.
18:22That 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, much more fibre for your gut microbes.
18:33So 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, ignore 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.
19:14Claire, 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.
19:34CRP is a protein produced by the liver in response to inflammation.
19:40While 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, suggesting 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, diabetes, stroke.
20:02Wow.
20:04How do you feel about that?
20:08It's just really worrying, isn't it, that I've let myself get to this through poor diet and not looking after myself, really.
20:16Yeah.
20:17Sometimes you need to hear the stark truth.
20:20Sugar-coating everything's not going to make me want to change, is it?
20:25Jay, 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 in that next category, the obese category.
20:50Okay.
20:51I was really surprised to hear that Georgia was in the obese category, and I know that that will impact on 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,
21:33and just giving yourself the 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 too late.
21:42It was really sad to hear the potential health problems for my children, and the fact that they're already in the 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, but nobody wants to put their children at risk.
22:01I had a feeling that these health tests would tell this story.
22:06Claire, Georgia, Jay, they're all overweight, and as I suspected, their tiredness is probably linked to their diet.
22:13Now, it's a massive challenge ahead of them to change what they eat, but I'm determined to stay with them every step of the way.
22:19Coming up, Claire, Georgia, and Jay discover the relationship between brain and belly.
22:33And we reveal the secret ingredient in your shop-bought custard.
22:38So this is a fake egg?
22:40Yes.
22:49Whenever 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.
23:39So 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.
23:53So 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.
24:03You can only choose one bowl and it's the first person to finish.
24:06Please, choose your bowl now.
24:09So 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.
24:30I'm done.
24:31Stop.
24:32Well done, Georgia.
24:33So you won that little competition.
24:36At 31 seconds, you managed to finish the mini chocolate cake first.
24:42Okay, so I'm going to refresh the timer, and I'm going to give you each a bowl of something a bit more nutritious.
24:48You have 31 seconds starting from now.
24:51These whole foods have exactly the same number of calories, remember?
24:56So how much can they eat in the same time it took for the ultra-processed foods?
25:02Jay's on carrot, Georgia's on berries, and Mum's on apple.
25:07And this time, the pace is noticeably slower.
25:11Stop.
25:13Food down.
25:14Jay, how much did you eat?
25:16I had three slices.
25:17Three slices of carrots?
25:18Yeah.
25:19Mine was pitiful.
25:20I had one slice.
25:21One slice of apple.
25:23Probably 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 a 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.
25:48Because 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 the ultra-processed, but I wouldn't sit and eat a whole bowl of carrots or even all that food.
26:09The 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.
26:26Let's start in these cupboards.
26:27So we're going to get rid of some of these packets and jars of sauces.
26:34Some of these crackers.
26:37I've got some instant noodles.
26:40Breaking my heart.
26:42Cereal. No!
26:45The hoops, the granola, that's going in.
26:49But not all UPFs are created equal, so we're going to leave a few items on their shelves, like tin soup.
26:57While 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 fuller for longer.
27:16Let's head over to the fridge.
27:18Taking your sauces.
27:23Jay, the garlic breads, they've got to go.
27:25Shattered. 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 eat. Like, that's everything.
27:46Everything indeed.
27:48But 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, ushering in a brighter food future.
27:59Look what we have here.
28:06We've got lots of fruit, vegetables, we've got peppers, avocados, aubergines, courgettes, tomatoes, carrots.
28:14Yeah, we've got the rainbow.
28:17We're giving Claire, Georgia and Jay an array of colourful veg, berries packed with antioxidants and foods rich in vitamin D like mackerel and some mushrooms.
28:28Ooh, asparagus.
28:31What I'm hoping for is that you guys do a lot more cooking as a family every night.
28:35So wholesome meals, 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 lunch and chilli with brown rice for dinner.
28:52A rainbow salad is a brilliant choice for lunch, thanks to the antioxidants in the colourful veg, which help prevent an array of chronic diseases.
29:01The chicken, which is a great source of lean protein, helps support muscle health.
29:05Together, these create a salad that is packed with fibre and protein and will leave you full and satisfied for a 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.
29:30But so low were the family in vitamin D that Candy's giving them a helping hand to turn things around quickly.
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.
29:49Good luck and I'm here if you need. It's going to be fun.
29:54Yeah.
29:55Yeah.
29:56Yeah.
29:58The humble egg, a 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.
30:20How do you make an egg based product with a shelf life of up to a year when an egg alone 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 processing.
30:40Hi, Emil.
30:42Tim, how are you?
30:43Good. Now I've got a question for you. Normal 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.
31:01Okay.
31:02So the egg's there for texture and to bind everything together, so you just kind of need to replace some elements to that.
31:06So this is a fake egg you've got there, is that essentially?
31:09Yes.
31:10Yeah, in essence, this over here is the fake egg and then we have the other flavours that you usually find in custard.
31:15Okay, show us how it's done.
31:17Okay.
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.
31:36Here 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.
31:42Certainly not as healthy as an egg.
31:44Okay.
31:45Certainly not.
31:46An egg's protein's thickener custard and bind everything together, but here, these jobs are done by various powders.
31:54We have these two starches, which is cornstarch, and then here we have a modified cornstarch, which just helps bind things a bit more.
32:01So it's both a thickener and an emulsifier?
32:03Yes.
32:04It just helps keep things together that doesn't like to be together, like fats and liquids.
32:09Okay, 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.
32:20And this will last for a long time, will it, these powdered milks?
32:23Yes.
32:24Yeah, 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.
32:33I'm just going to blend this up.
32:34And 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?
32:43That's why my school days always had lumps.
32:46It's a bit thin now, so we're going to heat it up, and 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.
32:54Yeah, it's looking nice and thick now.
32:58Yeah, it's certainly there. I think we are at the right texture.
33:01Going to take a little while.
33:03It 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.
33:12To increase the shelf life even further, the custard is heated in an oven at 100 degrees Celsius
33:18to 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 you?
33:29No, it's going to be very, very lumpy if we did that.
33:31OK, 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.
33:49It 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.
34:01Let's see how Claire, Georgia and Jay are getting on in their new, ultra-processed free universe.
34:15Hello.
34:1620 minutes in and out.
34:18Done!
34:19Love it.
34:20I'm not finding that the shopping is any more expensive.
34:23If anything, it's cheaper and we're eating better and 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 familiar 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, what 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 of 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, by 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.
35:30I'm more than happy with this, otherwise it just had something shoved in the oven with a little thought.
35:35Well, mostly.
35:36I'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?
35:45You just can't help some people, Georgia.
35:46Two out of three is not bad.
35:47We're having to relearn everything we thought we knew about our diet, really.
35:57Not 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 thirteen 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?
36:21Once 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.
36:49As well as help Claire, Georgia and Jay become a family that uses whole foods to cook meals they eat together 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.
37:12First 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.
37:23And 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, chemicals that protect the plant,
37:51but 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.
38:17And finally, add our olive oil.
38:19Splash around it.
38:20You 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.
38:31My 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,
38:46which is slightly citrusy.
38:48So 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.
38:59Three times, four times more than yoghurt.
39:01But you can use yoghurt if you can't find kefir.
39:04After 40 minutes in the oven at 180 degrees, both trays will be ready.
39:10Looks pretty good, doesn't it?
39:11Already pretty colourful.
39:14They look great.
39:15The aubergines have soaked up all those spices and the olive oil
39:19and they're looking really juicy.
39:22Now it's time to remove the roast garlic, squeeze it out to make a paste
39:26and add it to the kefir mix.
39:28So that's the kefir mix done.
39:30Now I think we're ready to start plating up.
39:39That looks fantastic, doesn't it?
39:41And now we're going to add our kefir dressing.
39:43Okay, so now finally a little bit of extra sprinkle,
39:47even more colour, some spring onions, sprinkle those on
39:50and then we've got some pomegranate seeds.
39:53Finally, squeeze of lime or lemon if you've got it.
39:58There you have it, a 13-plant rainbow showstopper.
40:02Let's taste it.
40:04That's amazing.
40:06You can really feel those powerful defence chemicals
40:10surging through your system, eating it with your eyes just as much as your tongue.
40:15Here we have it, the perfect antidote to beige food.
40:18Once you've done this, you won't go back.
40:26And that's certainly true for Claire, Georgia and Jay.
40:29Four weeks on, their kitchen is a riot of colour.
40:32Yeah, I don't think Divya's got to worry just yet about me.
40:36No, no, no.
40:39Now that we're eating more whole foods and knowing exactly what's going into it,
40:43it's, yeah, it feels nice.
40:49I thought it was going to be really difficult, but actually,
40:51now that we're in the habit of it, I don't feel 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?
41:00Eat the rainbow.
41:01Eat the rainbow.
41:03Once this kitchen was just a place to keep the ultra-processed snacks.
41:07Now it's a conveyor belt of wholesome meals like obergine tray bake,
41:11chilli con carne and grilled chicken rainbow salad.
41:14We are loving eating the rainbow.
41:19When I make a salad, it's so embarrassing.
41:21But I'll go up to Georgia and Jay and like,
41:23look at the rainbow, look at the rainbow, I'm going to 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
41:35is something that I wouldn't have done.
41:37No, it's crazy, isn't it?
41:39Yeah, 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
41:57and showing her what we've been up to.
42:00Hopefully she'll see a difference in us all.
42:02Because 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
42:13and it's not all been in vain.
42:15When Candy first met the family, eating times were erratic
42:19and meals were beige, big and ultra-processed.
42:23It was a diet making them all overweight and unable to keep their eyes open.
42:28Hello. Hello.
42:29Hi, Jay. Hello there.
42:30Lovely to meet you.
42:31But the family I'm meeting now seem wide awake, brimming with energy
42:35and decidedly lighter on their feet.
42:38So, 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.
42:53Oh, that's quite good.
42:54Did you not realise?
42:55No.
42:56I can definitely see it in your face.
42:57That's just a haircut.
42:58The haircut.
42:59Yeah.
43:00So, Georgia, let's move on to your results.
43:02Am I still obese?
43:03You're not.
43:04Yay!
43:05Oh, well done, John.
43:06And I know that you wanted to...
43:07I know that wasn't the most important part of it, but I think, yeah, that was...
43:08Psychologically, for you it was.
43:09Yeah.
43:10Absolutely.
43:11And I understand that.
43:12Yeah.
43:13Yeah.
43:14That was really, really, really good.
43:15So, Claire, looking at your weight, you have gone down, in such a short space of time,
43:28one and a quarter stone.
43:29Amazing.
43:30That is very impressive.
43:32Wow.
43:33That's good.
43:34That's great.
43:35You've also come down seven inches around your waist, too.
43:38Oh, my goodness.
43:39Yeah, I hadn't noticed that.
43:40That's especially important, because the fat around your waist is the one you want to
43:44get rid of, because that's really bad for all kinds of diseases and things.
43:47So, that's really key.
43:49And 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
43:55we 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.
44:11Yeah, I know.
44:12I'm really pleased with that.
44:13It just shows how, you know, these little shifts can have these really big effects on
44:16all these other areas you hadn't thought about.
44:19I 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
44:27so lovely to see, because we are so appreciative.
44:30Yeah.
44:31I will hug you this one time.
44:33Oh, bless you.
44:34Love you.
44:40So, I called Jay the air fryer king.
44:43Yeah.
44:44Yeah, I remember now.
44:45And there was a lot of brown, beige food in his diet.
44:48So, tell me, is there more colour?
44:50Yeah, a lot more.
44:51Yeah.
44:52Tell Candy the thing.
44:53How many pieces of garlic bread have you had through this?
44:56No.
44:57Not a single one.
44:58No.
44:59You haven't had a single garlic bread?
45:00No.
45:01Not one.
45:02What?
45:03Oh, no.
45:04So, what does the colour of your dinner plate look like now?
45:07We are eating the rainbow.
45:09Woo!
45:10Yeah.
45:12So, you've swapped beige for rainbows, have you?
45:15Absolutely, and we're not going back.
45:19You 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.
45:33I think it's better than we anticipated it would be.
45:39I'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.
45:48The 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's certainly attracted a few flies.
46:20And helps them face the real damage it's doing to their health.
46:23At 42, you have a heart of a 54-year-old.
46:26It's not something anyone wants to hear.
46:53Subtitles in my life
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