Should runners avoid all ultra processed foods?
Should Runners Avoid All Ultra Processed Foods?
This week on Cook Eat Run, we tackle the ever-controversial topic of ultra processed foods with renowned dietitian Nichola Ludlam-Raine, better known as NYX Nutrition. Join Charlie as she delves into Nicola's new book, "How Not to Eat Ultra Processed Foods," and uncovers practical advice for runners who often rely on these foods for fuel.
Understanding Ultra Processed Foods
Nicola breaks down what ultra processed foods (UPFs) are, tracing their origins and explaining why they have garnered such a negative reputation. Learn about the spectrum of UPFs, from junk foods like sweets and fast food to healthier options like hummus and wholemeal bread, and why not all UPFs are created equal.
Making Informed Choices
Discover how to make better food choices without eliminating convenience. Nicola shares tips on identifying healthier alternatives and balancing your diet to include nutrient-rich whole foods alongside occasional UPFs. She also offers practical advice for busy parents and athletes on how to navigate the complexities of food labels and ingredient lists.
Sports Nutrition and UPFs
Are sports nutrition products considered UPFs? Nicola addresses this pressing question and reassures athletes that using gels, bars, and drinks designed for performance is perfectly acceptable. Learn how to balance your diet to include these products without compromising your overall health, and get tips on pre-run and post-run fuelling strategies.
Connect with Nic on Instagram at @nicsnutrition for more tips and to learn about her group coaching programme launching this July.
Grab her new book “"How Not to Eat Ultra Processed Foods” Here:
Connect with Charlie online @therunnerbeans / www.therunnerbeans.com
Grab a copy of Charlie’s book ‘Cook Eat Run’
The Cook Eat Run Podcast is sponsored by XMiles - the One Stop Nutrition Shop - use discount code COOKEATRUNJULY10 for 10% off site wide at Xmiles.co.uk
This podcast is produced by Buckers at Decibelle Creative decibellecreative.com / @decibelle_creative
Transcript
>> Charlie: Hello and welcome back to the Cook Eat Run podcast with X
Speaker:Miles. I am so excited about today's episode because
Speaker:I feel like it's a topic I get loads of questions about
Speaker:online, especially when I share any food that I'm
Speaker:eating. So I'm excited to get down
Speaker:to business with dietitian Nicola
Speaker:Ludlam Rain to talk about ultra processed
Speaker:foods. So Nicola's better known to
Speaker:me anyway, and those who followed her online for a while as
Speaker:NYX nutrition.
Speaker:>> Charlie: I followed her blog and Instagram for.
Speaker:>> Charlie: Probably ten years and I'm so thrilled that her debut
Speaker:book is out next week on the 18 July
Speaker:how not to eat ultra processed foods. Her book is
Speaker:a four week plan to help you reduce the amount of ultra
Speaker:processed foods in your diet. But today's
Speaker:episode takes it back a little bit, outlining what ultra processed
Speaker:foods, are, why we should be limiting them in our diet,
Speaker:and crucially, what to do as runners that often
Speaker:rely on ultra processed foods to fuel our, miles
Speaker:for pre post and on the run fuel.
Speaker:Spoiler alert, Nick doesn't suggest that we stop using
Speaker:sports nutrition products, thankfully. Otherwise it would be a
Speaker:bit awkward for a podcast sponsored by XMiles, a sports
Speaker:nutrition specialist. You can save 10%
Speaker:off site wide this month with code
Speaker:cookeatrunjuly ten. So it's the ideal time
Speaker:to stock up on electrolytes to ensure you're hydrated for your summer
Speaker:runs.
Speaker:>> Charlie: So, Nick, thank you so much for joining me. I'm so
Speaker:excited to talk about something that's really a hot topic
Speaker:at the moment, which is ultra processed foods.
Speaker:You've got a book are, all around the subject coming out soon, which we will
Speaker:go into a little bit later. But first, can you just
Speaker:explain what ultra processed foods actually
Speaker:are?
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Yeah, so the word ultra processed foods, it seems
Speaker:to have been in vogue in the last year or so, but
Speaker:actually it was first coined around the
Speaker:2009 mark in Brazil. And
Speaker:basically, ultra processed foods are foods that have been
Speaker:heavily modified, made in factories,
Speaker:and contain ingredients that you wouldn't usually
Speaker:find in a home kitchen. So basically, like a
Speaker:classic example is a packet of skittles. You
Speaker:cannot create them at home, they have to be
Speaker:industrially produced. So that's what in essence,
Speaker:UPfs are. However, some
Speaker:healthy foods also fall into the category.
Speaker:So it was designed as a
Speaker:population like tool, was the
Speaker:nova, which is where ultra processed foods, the definition has come
Speaker:from. It was never designed to be like, that food is
Speaker:healthy, that food is unhealthy.
Speaker:>> Charlie: So why is it that we or the media
Speaker:has jumped on this bandwagon and said,
Speaker:ultra processed foods are awful. We need to avoid
Speaker:them.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: It's because studies are coming out that
Speaker:shows that, people who have diets that are high in
Speaker:ultra processed food, say, 80% or more,
Speaker:have poorer health outcomes. So whether that be
Speaker:weight gain, type two diabetes, high blood pressure,
Speaker:high cholesterol, even mortality.
Speaker:However, when you look at these, like, systematic
Speaker:reviews and meta analyses, the studies tend
Speaker:to be of poor quality. In general, there are
Speaker:some good quality, and, sometimes they
Speaker:haven't taken into account maybe a person's bmi,
Speaker:or do they smoke their socioeconomic
Speaker:status. So I do
Speaker:believe that there is problems with diets that are really
Speaker:high in UPF, but we can put a blanket
Speaker:ban on upfsitive. and as with all foods,
Speaker:it's the portion size and the frequency in which we eat
Speaker:them that matters the most.
Speaker:>> Charlie: Okay, so we've kind of said ultra
Speaker:processed foods, upFs, are processed in a factory.
Speaker:I mean, I think that when I think
Speaker:of food, I think of a lot of like, our food has been processed
Speaker:in a factory at some point, whether it's just the packaging
Speaker:or creating the food product, things like
Speaker:granola and things that we typically think of
Speaker:as quote unquote healthy. Are, there
Speaker:some that you can give advice on? Like,
Speaker:these are ones you should be. These are ultra
Speaker:processed foods that you should be limiting and enjoying in
Speaker:kind of moderation. And some that you're like, actually, this
Speaker:is still fine. It does need a certain amount of processing to
Speaker:get from wherever it was grown or
Speaker:reared or whatever to your table.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Exactly. So I would say like 90 odd percent of the
Speaker:foods that we eat are processed, quote unquote,
Speaker:in some way. So, whether that be washing, drying,
Speaker:freezing, even at home, we do
Speaker:processing. But then ultra processing takes
Speaker:it that one step further. And it
Speaker:requires these additives to
Speaker:preserve shelf life, to make it look good, to
Speaker:make it tastier. Three months down the line.
Speaker:Now, upfs, come on. Spectrum. And this is
Speaker:why I was so passionate about writing the book. Because not all
Speaker:ups, like all foods, are created equal.
Speaker:So you've got ups on one side of the
Speaker:spectrum. the typical kind of like, your soul
Speaker:foods, often referred to as junk foods,
Speaker:like McDonald's foods,
Speaker:chocolate, bars, sweets, ben and
Speaker:Jerry's ice cream. You know, all these foods that taste
Speaker:delicious and they nourish us. maybe
Speaker:from a mental health, psychological point of view, for out
Speaker:celebrating with friends. However, they don't do that
Speaker:much for us physically in the long run. Especially
Speaker:if we have too much of them. But then on the other side of
Speaker:the UPS spectrum, you've got
Speaker:healthier. So basically higher
Speaker:nutrient value foods such as hummus,
Speaker:oat, milk, weetabix, whole mill bread,
Speaker:that can definitely feature within a healthy, balanced
Speaker:diet on a daily basis, but
Speaker:technically are classed as ups because of
Speaker:the ingredients. Now, there is
Speaker:research emerging and I can always link, sending the
Speaker:link to a paper that shows that foods, for example,
Speaker:that are high in whole grain, even though they might have a
Speaker:UPF, tagline to them, they
Speaker:are not associated with those poorer health
Speaker:outcomes because of the benefits that they
Speaker:provide. They're high in fibre, the high in B vitamins.
Speaker:So actually, I don't believe. And you
Speaker:can't bundle all upfs into the same
Speaker:category. yes. So there is problems with the
Speaker:research and, you know, the clickbait headlines that we're reading.
Speaker:>> Charlie: Yeah, I think it can be quite scary for people, especially,
Speaker:like, you've got kids, I'm trying to work out, what am I
Speaker:feeling, Bertie? And often it is like
Speaker:convenience and needing something that is
Speaker:going to be stable in a
Speaker:nappy bag, that I can then be like, here you
Speaker:go. Like you're hungry. Out on the go.
Speaker:so when we're choosing, like, what would you give advice in
Speaker:terms of, like, when we're choosing the foods? Because
Speaker:sometimes, let's be honest, we need the convenience.
Speaker:How would you suggest people kind of make that
Speaker:decision? Or what. What information can we give to people
Speaker:to help make informed decisions when it's kind of like,
Speaker:this is the ultra processed food that we want to kind of avoid and this
Speaker:one is fine, like everyday
Speaker:consumption, like you said.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Yeah, and it's a great question. And I'm, you know, a busy
Speaker:working mom with two little kids, like age two and
Speaker:five, and we do have things like. Like frozen fish fingers
Speaker:and baked beans and, although some
Speaker:supermarkets do sell non upf versions of
Speaker:them, I do not have the time to go around all these individual
Speaker:supermarkets selecting it. However, what I would
Speaker:say is that, let's say you've got a food item that
Speaker:you consume on a daily basis and you
Speaker:would like to reduce your intake of
Speaker:additives associated with ups. Ask
Speaker:yourself, is there an alternative? And, like, one of the easiest
Speaker:switches that we often do, not
Speaker:always, but is, for example, bread. So, like
Speaker:Jason's sourdough, even the
Speaker:own brand, sourdough bread, tend to be like,
Speaker:emulsify free. There's nothing wrong with
Speaker:emulsifiers, but if you're just trying to cut
Speaker:down on your additive consumption, trying to increase whole
Speaker:foods, that might be a good starting point. And then
Speaker:taking it a step further, what quite a few of my family
Speaker:members have done, because they eat bread every single day, so
Speaker:making one little change has a big impact on the
Speaker:diet. They've actually got themselves a bread maker,
Speaker:which they actually say over the course of, I think it's like a year or
Speaker:two is going to save them money. It doesn't require much
Speaker:time. And, they've now got really creative
Speaker:making different flavoured breads, adding, you know, olives and sun dried
Speaker:tomatoes and things like that. So that's
Speaker:one way that we can reduce ups. But
Speaker:ultimately, as a dietitian, I always focus on what should
Speaker:people be doing more of? And if you are
Speaker:focusing on whole foods, reaching five a day,
Speaker:having more whole grains, two parts of fish a week, one of which is
Speaker:oily, all these guidelines, which we've been spouting for,
Speaker:like, decades now, your consumption
Speaker:of ups will naturally decline.
Speaker:So I always say the 80 20 rule, if you're living your life,
Speaker:you know, 80% whole foods and nourishing foods, you can
Speaker:have 20% of what you fancy. and
Speaker:interestingly, I would bundle those more
Speaker:nutritious upF foods that I mentioned, the
Speaker:hummus, oat, milk, even like, weetabix, into my
Speaker:80%. Because let's take
Speaker:weetabix, for example. The non UPF version of weetabix
Speaker:would be shredded wheat, but shredded wheat isn't
Speaker:fortified. So I choose to give my kids
Speaker:weetabix because it's got added iron. It's
Speaker:plant based iron. But, yeah, so
Speaker:there are lots of nuances depending on what food. And
Speaker:that's why you can't just say, don't eat upfs.
Speaker:>> Charlie: It's so, like, you and I have degrees in this, and I
Speaker:sometimes find myself in the supermarket being like, what is the best
Speaker:option to give for me and also for my son?
Speaker:And I'm like, if this is taking me this long, to make this
Speaker:decision, like, it's so
Speaker:overwhelming that no wonder there's so much kind of
Speaker:confusion and misinformation.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: When I first started writing the book, I had to do some serious
Speaker:talking to other dietitians and reflecting, thinking,
Speaker:like, what does this information mean and how best
Speaker:is the information to be translated? And that's like, I've got
Speaker:15 years of experience doing this. So, yeah, you're
Speaker:not alone. And, like, I think a classic example, when I
Speaker:really started looking at food labels and ingredients
Speaker:lists, is I went on the train and I ordered a
Speaker:sandwich, and this sandwich, the ingredients
Speaker:list, there might have been about
Speaker:hundred ingredients in this one sandwich if
Speaker:I had made the sandwich at home, which I
Speaker:probably would do if I was going on a train regularly, but I
Speaker:don't. So once in a blue moon is fine. It might have
Speaker:had less than ten ingredients in total. So
Speaker:that's just like, one great example of how,
Speaker:you know, it depends on how often you do something, you know, what do
Speaker:you need to change your book?
Speaker:>> Charlie: How not to eat ultra processed foods is a 30 day plan to
Speaker:help people make small changes to their diets. And out at the end of
Speaker:July, we'll make sure to link it so that people can buy it.
Speaker:And can you tell us a little bit more about the book, the
Speaker:recipes, the advice kind of included? Obviously, don't give away all of
Speaker:your secrets. We want people to get the book, but just
Speaker:a little summary.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Yeah, so the book so. Well, it's 60,000 words,
Speaker:so I'm not going to give away all of it. But
Speaker:it's kind of in two parts. And the first part is kind
Speaker:of like the reasons why we should be eating
Speaker:more whole foods and fewer ups.
Speaker:And I talk a lot about the psychology of eating
Speaker:as well. So, like, understanding the different
Speaker:types of hunger. And I think that this is really important
Speaker:because we know, you know, that if you give someone a
Speaker:diet plan, nine times out of ten, like, it might
Speaker:sound like a good idea, but it doesn't work out
Speaker:because you need the backstory and you need the why. And what
Speaker:the book does is it gives people the tools
Speaker:to make informed choices and decisions.
Speaker:And what I do is I walk you through week by
Speaker:week. Week one, we look at drinks and snacks.
Speaker:We then look at breakfast, lunch, evening meal, and then there's
Speaker:an optional week five for desserts. So
Speaker:often when people are wanting to make changes to their diet, it can be
Speaker:really overwhelming. They've got all this information and
Speaker:misinformation, and they don't know where to start. So I
Speaker:always say, start with a food diary. Be
Speaker:your own diet detective. Write down what you're eating, and, most
Speaker:importantly, why, for example, are you
Speaker:having a packet of biscuits at 03:00 p.m. because your lunch
Speaker:was a tomato soup, there was no protein,
Speaker:there was no whole grains. So actually, it's not
Speaker:about taking away that packet of biscuits. It's about
Speaker:adding in nutrients at lunch. And then you might just have
Speaker:a couple of biscuits at, mid afternoon, or maybe none at all,
Speaker:because you haven't had that craving hit because you're satisfied from
Speaker:lunch. So that's like the premise of the book. And I've
Speaker:included, I think there's over like 20 recipes and
Speaker:I like over 100 different meal and snack
Speaker:ideas that are easy to do.
Speaker:and especially if you're busy. There's a premise
Speaker:that I encourage people to cook once, eat twice. So
Speaker:there's lots of different tricks and things,
Speaker:practical ideas and ways that you can modify your environment
Speaker:to make the healthy choice. The easy choice, like opening the
Speaker:fridge, other crudites and healthy dips.
Speaker:Is there a fruit bowl on the side? Where is your biscuit tin? Is it
Speaker:next to the kettle? Or is it in an inconvenient location,
Speaker:like a cupboard?
Speaker:>> Charlie: I love that. Yeah. And I've definitely been guilty and being like, why am I
Speaker:starving? And then I'm like, oh, yeah, I had soup and, nothing for lunch.
Speaker:And like 304:00. Mine is
Speaker:like starving. Bit of boredom,
Speaker:you know, like kind of wanting to get to the end of the workday
Speaker:habit, other people's choices. So, yeah, I can't wait
Speaker:to read the book. So this
Speaker:podcast is aimed primarily at,
Speaker:runners, at, cyclists, at endurance athletes,
Speaker:many of whom rely on sports nutrition to fuel
Speaker:their long runs, their training, their races.
Speaker:Do we count sports nutrition products as
Speaker:upfs, as ultra processed foods?
Speaker:>> Speaker C: That's a big question. I mean, so there's lots of different
Speaker:products that fall under that term, everything from whey
Speaker:protein to sports drinks and sports gels.
Speaker:And I had a little Google before we were
Speaker:speaking at, the actual ingredients in these
Speaker:products. And, so I'm sorry to say that, yeah, most of
Speaker:these products would be classed as ups because there's things like
Speaker:maltodextrin, there's a lot of ingredients that you wouldn't
Speaker:have in a home kitchen. However, there
Speaker:is a caveat. These health
Speaker:complications, for example, like type two diabetes and
Speaker:high blood pressure, are arising from
Speaker:people basing their diets on,
Speaker:ultra processed foods. And the problem with
Speaker:ultra processed foods in general is that they
Speaker:encourage the overconsumption of calories
Speaker:because they're very easy to eat and they're very moreish, you know, because
Speaker:they taste good. And secondly, they
Speaker:displace other nutrients because if you've got a
Speaker:diet that's really high in UPF, then you're not
Speaker:eating the whole foods. However, runners and
Speaker:athletes are a completely different kettle of fish. They
Speaker:in general will have a healthy,
Speaker:balanced diet based on whole foods with sufficient
Speaker:carbohydrates and protein to fuel their training. And then
Speaker:these products are an add on to
Speaker:support your training. And let's say you're
Speaker:having an energy gel partway through a run,
Speaker:that glucose is going to be metabolised almost
Speaker:instantly. You don't need the presence of insulin to absorb that
Speaker:glucose because your muscle cells are, contracting and
Speaker:are absorbing it from the blood. So you're not going to get a
Speaker:prolonged sugar spike, which can
Speaker:cause problems to do. The eyes and
Speaker:kidneys and such like. So it's a completely different
Speaker:kettle of fish.
Speaker:>> Charlie: I'm really glad you said that because I personally know
Speaker:that I feel better
Speaker:and perform better on
Speaker:gels that are designed specifically for me to be
Speaker:taking mid run rather than a banana
Speaker:or something that's going to be higher in fibre or higher in fat
Speaker:or just take longer to digest. So, yeah,
Speaker:that's, that's really good to hear. And, what about
Speaker:our, pre run and our post run fuel?
Speaker:So I personally really like
Speaker:Rice Krispies squares as a pre run. When
Speaker:I'm doing a really early morning run, I don't have
Speaker:time to make a whole breakfast and I don't have time to
Speaker:sit, eat it and digest it. I
Speaker:choose a Rice Krispies square, which
Speaker:is definitely ultra processed. but
Speaker:should I be making that change or is it okay
Speaker:because I am doing it maybe twice a
Speaker:week? There's a reason I'm having that Rice Krispies
Speaker:square to fuel my run and then I'm coming back and having like, eggs
Speaker:on toast or something.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Exactly. So first of all, the frequency, so you're maybe
Speaker:doing that twice a week. And second of all, you're having
Speaker:it a certain time before a
Speaker:run. So as that glucose is being broken
Speaker:down, your muscle cells are literally mopping it
Speaker:up. And also there is goodness
Speaker:and adverted commas in all foods. So that Rice Krispies
Speaker:Square has probably got some added nutrients in there as well. And
Speaker:then you're following it up with whole foods.
Speaker:And let's say if we said, right, we're going to swap
Speaker:that rice Krispies Square for a banana and nut
Speaker:butter, that banana and nut butter could actually sit
Speaker:quite heavy on your stomach and then cause you to feel sluggish
Speaker:and then you're not going to get a great workout in and it might
Speaker:affect you psychologically. you and I both know that health
Speaker:is more than just what we eat. It's how
Speaker:we're feeling, it's how we're working out how we're feeling from
Speaker:a mental health point of view, as well as socialising and stress management.
Speaker:So it's all of these things together. So I think
Speaker:it's doing what is right for you. But
Speaker:keeping in mind, what does your diet look throughout the week? So
Speaker:if, say, you were following it up with another rice Krispie bar,
Speaker:we could say, well, maybe afterwards, you know, we
Speaker:could think of, you know, more adding in some whole grains and
Speaker:protein, which you are doing naturally.
Speaker:but let's say it was, it might be the flip side.
Speaker:Someone's having a fairly wholesome lunch and
Speaker:then a couple of hours later they're going on a run and
Speaker:actually they have to get back to work really quickly. So maybe
Speaker:in that scenario, maybe a protein shake is the best
Speaker:thing because we rather them have a protein
Speaker:shake than leave it four or 5 hours before their
Speaker:next meal. Because there's that window of opportunity. It's not 30
Speaker:minutes, but within 2 hours after a workout, you really want to
Speaker:be getting in some carbohydrate and protein. So I would
Speaker:say either before or after getting those whole
Speaker:foods. But then the other side of, you know, if
Speaker:it's a high GI food, then it doesn't really
Speaker:matter because it's for a purpose.
Speaker:>> Charlie: Okay. So we're kind of looking at as a, as
Speaker:a whole week rather than necessarily
Speaker:each day. Like, how often you having them. What's
Speaker:the purpose for having them? Is it just because
Speaker:you haven't eaten a good enough, you know, a
Speaker:fulfilling enough lunch that you're reaching for this ultra
Speaker:processed food? Or is it that it actually, because it digests so
Speaker:quickly, because you get the glucose spike
Speaker:that's perfect for your run?
Speaker:Yeah, that reassures me.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Yeah. A food diary would give you that information and
Speaker:reassurance.
Speaker:>> Charlie: Yeah. My cupboard is literally full of rice krispies squares. I
Speaker:feel like the local, supermarket think I'm completely mad,
Speaker:but, yeah, it's the only thing that sits really well for
Speaker:me. in terms of. So
Speaker:for marathons, we car blowed
Speaker:and that's like the three days before the race.
Speaker:And thinking about what I used
Speaker:to carb load, quite a lot of it is going
Speaker:to have been ultra processed. I used rice
Speaker:krispies, I used sports nutrition drinks. I
Speaker:had random crackers from Trader
Speaker:Joe's. I had Gatorade. I had,
Speaker:I did try and have some whole foods. So I had like
Speaker:coconut water and orange juice. Like fresh orange
Speaker:juice,
Speaker:bagels, pancakes.
Speaker:So I mean, a real mixture.
Speaker:>> Charlie: The.
Speaker:>> Charlie: We probably do that. most people are running a marathon
Speaker:less often than twice a year. Three times. I mean,
Speaker:maybe some people are running more often than that. But is that
Speaker:okay for us to be using those
Speaker:when it is over a longer period of time? So it is
Speaker:over that three day period, but still serves a
Speaker:purpose?
Speaker:>> Speaker C: That's a really good question. And I would say, I mean, I would
Speaker:almost like write down all of the different carb options
Speaker:which you're going to be getting in and, just have a look to see if
Speaker:there is a balance because as well
Speaker:as, the carbohydrates, you want to be asking yourself,
Speaker:like, what other nutrients do I want to get in? Like, do I want
Speaker:to get in some b vitamins? Do I want to make sure I'm getting
Speaker:in some protein as well? and within the
Speaker:whole foods, for example, pasta is not
Speaker:an ultra processed food, it's just wheat and a bit of
Speaker:water. You've got a couple of questions there. is it white
Speaker:pasta or is it wholemeal? You might
Speaker:choose white pasta when you're carb loading because it's got less
Speaker:fibre in. So you're going to be able to get more
Speaker:of it inside of you. And the same, for example, with rice, you might
Speaker:go for white basmati or even white long
Speaker:grain as opposed to whole grain. So
Speaker:there's always, I always say, make informed
Speaker:decisions based on your lifestyle and
Speaker:scenario. So I would say, ideally, yeah, go for whole
Speaker:foods, but if you need to get in those ups, then it's
Speaker:fine. And, I think I gave an example recently on social media.
Speaker:You mentioned some crackers. I love
Speaker:these Ritz crackers. And I had a look at the ingredients and they
Speaker:totally were ups. I would say just serve
Speaker:them alongside some whole foods. So why not have some
Speaker:crudite, some carrot sticks and cucumber and
Speaker:hummus alongside to make it into a little bit more
Speaker:of a nourishing snack. So you still got your carbohydrate, but then
Speaker:you've also got some nourishing foods in there as well.
Speaker:But really, you know, three days or
Speaker:six days out of a year is not going to have a
Speaker:massive impact. So yeah, I would
Speaker:say, yeah, keep in mind balance, but also in
Speaker:context of, the whole year and it's not that many
Speaker:days, I think, with.
Speaker:>> Charlie: The studies and I'm sure you've found this, but often
Speaker:it's looking at sedentary people, people that
Speaker:you don't take into consideration or they don't necessarily
Speaker:take into consideration the rest of the lifestyle choices these
Speaker:people are making. and so
Speaker:actually, if you are
Speaker:healthy, exercising, eating whole foods the
Speaker:majority of the time, choosing these kind
Speaker:of the ultra processed foods,
Speaker:as you say, like kind of having some in the 80% that
Speaker:are like the healthy ones and then having some in the 20%
Speaker:actually makes you. Gives
Speaker:you balance. Because I think we can become obsessed,
Speaker:especially as athletes, with what we're putting in our body
Speaker:and it can become an unhealthy obsession.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Exactly. I was actually just before you said that, I was
Speaker:going to say, I feel like the whole conversation around ups
Speaker:is creating a lot of unnecessary health anxiety.
Speaker:It's almost like worrying the worried. Well, even
Speaker:more if you've got athletes who are out there running,
Speaker:I could guarantee that they're not going to have an excessive amount of
Speaker:alcohol in their system, they're not going to be
Speaker:smoking. the stress management should be pretty good
Speaker:because they'll be outside and running, so they
Speaker:shouldn't have to worry about the amount of
Speaker:upfront. something that does spring to mind, actually,
Speaker:especially when you're like carb loading for a
Speaker:marathon and we're talking about fibre intake is
Speaker:just for runners, especially to keep an eye on their
Speaker:bowels. And if you are, for example,
Speaker:training for a marathon, why not carb load for three
Speaker:days, as a practise, and
Speaker:see how your body responds? Because it would be
Speaker:horrendous if, for example, you were like, do you know what? Healthy eating is
Speaker:going to go out the window. I'm going to have a load of UPF carbs, a load of white
Speaker:cubs, and then you get constipated and like, on the marathon
Speaker:day, you know, your bowels haven't opened, so that's something
Speaker:to keep in mind as well.
Speaker:>> Charlie: Yeah, definitely. Like, the pre race poo is
Speaker:essential. I feel like runners talk about these
Speaker:kind of things way more than the average person. But
Speaker:your line of work, you talk about them. I'm sure it's just as much as I
Speaker:do. But, on that note,
Speaker:thank you so much. Where can people find you if they've got more
Speaker:questions? Want to learn more about the book? And I know you share
Speaker:a lot of really good, helpful,
Speaker:evidence based nutritional information, so
Speaker:where can people find that?
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Thank you. So I usually hang out over on Instagram.
Speaker:I'm ixnutrition nicsnutrition. And,
Speaker:yeah, the book, how not to eat ultra processed
Speaker:is out very soon. 18 July. Available from
Speaker:Amazon and all good bookshops. But yes, spoiler alert,
Speaker:it's not about never eating upfs again.
Speaker:>> Charlie: Thank you so much. I will link all of that below. and
Speaker:yeah, I'm, so glad to hear that we can keep in our
Speaker:hummus and our rice Krispies squares and
Speaker:m most importantly, our sports nutrition.
Speaker:>> Speaker C: Cool. Thank you so much for having me, Charlie.
Speaker:>> Charlie: Thank you so much for listening to this episode
Speaker:of the Cook Eat Run podcast.
Speaker:Really appreciate any feedback, any reviews you
Speaker:can leave wherever you listen to your
Speaker:podcasts. Don't forget you can use code
Speaker:cookeatrunJuly 10th for 10% off site
Speaker:wide at ex miles and they've actually got a really cool new
Speaker:nutrition calculator to take the stress out of
Speaker:calculating your endurance fueling strategies.
Speaker:You can create a personalised nutrition plan tailored to your
Speaker:sport, distance, predicted time, and then build your
Speaker:nutrition list by adding products to match the plan.
Speaker:So it'll give you targets like pre run carbs, on the
Speaker:run carbs, post run carbs, protein,
Speaker:etcetera and you just drag and drop. Or you kind
Speaker:of search for the products that you know you like. Or
Speaker:you can have a look and search through their list of products and it will give you
Speaker:some suggestions. So definitely give that a go.
Speaker:Give it a try. Use code cookeatrunjuly ten to
Speaker:save on your list. Thank you so much for listening to today's
Speaker:episode. Please don't forget to subscribe and like leave a
Speaker:rating and review. Share the episode if you enjoyed it. Thanks
Speaker:so much to Nicola for coming on and chatting with
Speaker:me and so much luck with her book. You can can
Speaker:get it at all good bookshops from the 18th of, July.
Speaker:It's called how not to eat ultra
Speaker:processed food. So definitely give that a look up and
Speaker:see how you get on. Let me know what you think.
