The Truth About Nutrition

Large food companies are not incentivised to improve your health, they are incentivised to maximise profit. How? 

 

Cutting costs: Replacing real, whole foods with cheaper, highly processed ingredients with a longer shelf life.

Repeat Buyers: Engineering foods to be addictive, for repeat purchases.

 

They invest heavily in food science, not to make food healthier, but to make it irresistible.

 

Why do you overeat when consuming processed foods? Processed foods are very high in calories but low in real nutrients. Because of this, they don’t switch on your body’s “I’m full” signal. You end up eating a lot of calories without feeling satisfied, which makes it easy to overeat and crave more soon after.

 

 

Facts in South Africa:
 

According to the Vitality Obesity Index 2023, 54% of South African Adults are Obese or Overweight. 

 

According to the South African National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, roughly 40% of South Africans eat enough calories, but eat food that contains so little nutrition that they are malnourished. This is called hidden hunger.

Start Here

What is the best diet?

 

With so many conflicting opinions about what you should be eating, it’s easy to feel confused and overwhelmed. When everything feels complicated, most people do nothing and fall back into the same old eating habits.

 

Instead of adding dozens of superfoods to your diet, let's start by removing the foods that are doing the most harm.

 

Studies consistently show that the more processed food people eat, the higher their risk of early death.

 

In South Africa, national nutrition data show a heavy and growing reliance on refined and processed foods. 


In order to do something about this we need to start with education, but unfortunately we are fighting against companies with massive marketing budgets telling us that Cornflakes or Milo cereal is good for us. 

 

Remember: There is a difference between real nutrients and fortified nutrients, real nutrients are absorbed more effectively.

 

Fortified nutrients are produced synthetically and are added back into food after processing has removed the natural nutrients

 

The synthetic (fake) nutrients allow products to meet nutrition-label claims and make highly processed food appear “healthy”.

Remove the Problem Foods

These foods can be fine on occasion as a treat, but if they are a part of your everyday diet, you will struggle with low energy, weight gain, poor sleep and over a long enough period of time you may face chronic disease and even an early death .

 

 

1. Sugar (and Hidden Sugar)

 

This includes:

  • Fizzy drinks and fruit juices
  • Sugary coffees and smoothies
  • Sweets, chocolates, biscuits, cakes
  • Breakfast cereals, bars, flavoured yoghurts

 

Why it matters: Sugar spikes blood glucose, drives cravings, fuels overeating, and contributes to insulin resistance and weight gain.

 

 

2. Gluten & Refined Grains

 

This includes:

 

  • Commercial packaged bread
  • Pastries and baked goods
  • Most packaged baked products

 

Why it matters: Modern refined grains are calorie-dense, low in nutrients, and easy to overconsume, contributing to blood sugar spikes and poor satiety. 

 

Better Alternatives: Traditional sourdough bread or whole, unrefined starches such as potatoes, rice etc.

 

 

3. Industrial Seed Oils

 

This includes: 

 

  • Sunflower, soybean, canola, corn, and vegetable oils
  • Foods cooked in or containing these oils (takeaways, snacks, ready meals)

 

Why it matters: Most industrial seed oils don’t come from simply pressing a seed the way olive oil does.

 

Better Alternatives: Olive oil, coconut oil, butter, ghee, avocado oil.

  

 

To get oil out of small, hard seeds at large scale, manufacturers usually:

 

  • Crush and heat the seeds
  •  Use chemical solvents to extract more oil
  • Refine, bleach, and deodorise the oil to remove smells, colours, and bitter flavours
  • Heat it again so it looks clear and neutral on the shelf

 

By the end of this process, the oil is far removed from its natural state.

 

 

 

4. Processed Meats

 

This includes:

Sausages, viennas, polony, ham, salami, Breaded (crumbed) or reconstituted meats.

 

Why it matters:

Processed meats contain additives and preservatives that the body doesn’t handle well when eaten often. Over time, this can increase inflammation and raise the risk of chronic disease.

Moving Forward:

Keep whole-natural foods in your house. Small treats can be in moderation, but if they are easily accessible in your home you will tend to overindulge and give in when you are tired or emotional.

 

If healthy food is all you have in your house, that is what you will eat.

 

To truly achieve your desired fitness and health goals you need to find a long-term sustainable diet that is healthy, nutritious, convenient and full of foods that you look forward to eating. You need to enjoy the foods you eat otherwise your diet will be unsustainable.

 

80% of achieving fitness results depends on the foods you put into your body. 

 

Food is your fuel! Don't put low-quality processed fuel into your body and expect it to run properly. Put the highest quality, natural, whole-food fuel into your body and nothing else.

 

Remember: Your mood influences your food and your food influences your mood.

 

Adjusting to this can be hard at first but there are hundreds of healthy alternatives, which are nutritious and delicious. 

Bonus Info 

Beware of Traditional Dietary Advice
 

We were taught to follow the food pyramid, which encouraged us to eat mostly grains like bread, cereal, and pasta, while placing healthy fats at the very top, grouped together with sweets and chips.

 

We suggest you mostly avoid foods made from commodity crops such as soy, wheat, and corn. These crops have been genetically engineered for mass production and contain very few nutrients.

 

We were also told that eating fat would make us fat. As a result, natural fats were replaced with margarine and industrial seed oils, which were promoted as the “healthier” and “heart-friendly” option as natural fats were said to increase cholesterol. This narrative is still repeated today.
 

What Actually Increases Unhealthy Cholesterol

  • Refined carbohydrates and sugar
  • Chronic inflammation
  • Lifestyle factors
  • Poor sleep

 

Cholesterol is strongly affected by how your body processes food and manages inflammation. Replacing natural fats with seed oils will only contribute to more inflammation, which can worsen cholesterol.


Blood Sugar Spikes 


Over 60% of People are Prediabetic. The South Africa Demographic and Health Survey (SADHS) shows that 64% of women and 66% of men over 15 years old are prediabetic. Prediabetes is diagnosed when your blood sugar levels are above the specified range but not high enough to be classified as having diabetes.

 

1 in 9 People have Diabetes. The SADHS shows that diabetes has risen dramatically from around 4.5% in 2010 to 12.7% in 2019. 

 

Sugary foods and high-glycaemic foods made from refined grains, such as bread and breakfast cereals, cause rapid spikes in blood sugar.

 

Regular spikes in your blood sugar can lead to Prediabetes or Diabetes.

 

Even if diabetes never develops, frequent glucose spikes still cause glycation, a process where excess sugar binds to proteins and damages cells and tissues. Over time, this accelerates inflammation, disease risk, and premature ageing.

 

 

Sugar, Processed Food & Energy
 

Sugar and processed foods cause inflammation in your body and stop your mitochondria from working properly.

Mitochondria are tiny structures inside your cells that produce the energy your body needs to function.
 

Processed and sugary foods can also affect your sleep. When you don’t sleep well, your body craves quick energy the next day, usually in the form of more sugar and processed foods.
 

We all reach for unhealthy food when we’re tired, stressed, or irritable. The problem is, these foods only drain your energy further.
 

This creates a self-perpetuating cycle of low energy, cravings, poor sleep, and fatigue.

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Disclaimer:

Reader assumes the responsibility to consult health care practitioners or do their own research regarding any products which claim to support and maintain health and general wellbeing and which concur with their beliefs and understanding. Regards, The Herbalist International (Pty) Ltd