I found this to be a startling article, showing how far our modern food production is from what we AF people are advised is healthy.
It made me wonder how many tens of thousands will join the ranks of AF as a result of eating such adulterated ‘food’ - not to mention the other grave health issues involved.
Wow, quite an eye opener when you read through all of it. Not sure what the answer is, but since food nutrition is no longer taught in schools (I'm old enough to remember 'Domestic Science' and what I learned then has stayed with me) and healthy eating is often marketed as too expensive, or faddy, it would probably take a series of programmes by David Attenborough to bring this to our attention and take the manufacturers to task!!!
Thanks Finvola for posting this.
I was amazed at the high percentages of highly processed food intake in northern Europe.
I don’t know how or if the problem can be tackled as we are now three generations from the type of upbriging I had too - Dom Sc with ‘proper’ ingredients and a rural, post war agricultural economy.
Couldn't agree more! Food that is touted as healthy and marketed as having the nutrients we need is a pet peeve of mine and, I believe really healthy food is a thing of the past. We are given numbers re magnesium/potassium/etc amts and led to believe if we eat these foods in the amounts currently recommended (at least here in the US) we will stay healthy. That may have been true 2-3 generations ago but not now. Depletedsoil, imported food without knowing how it was grown, what chemicals were used, and long transport times have changed our food for the worse. And many processed foods have necessary nutrients removed and a few 'token' vitamins/minerals added back. What is wrong with this picture? What the answer is I don't know, but maybe much more public education about what people are really eating might be a good place to start. Also, healthy food tends to cost more while white flour/sugar/added chemicals for longer shelf life are much cheaper. Many people can't feed their families without the help of these unhealthy foods. OK, I'm climbing off my soapbox now. Thanks for listening. P.S. And don't even get me started on hospital food!!! Burma (user name irinq1975
Where I live the sheep become ill without magnesium supplements so I imagine crops grown in intensive ways are equally lacking in nutrition.
Big food companies such as those mentioned in the article probably have an annual advertising budget way beyond what a real food education programme would cost.
I’m a maniac about reading food labelling and returning things ostentatiously to the shelf with a ‘humph’ if I see something I don’t like. I’m sure the supermarkets couldn’t care less - lol.
Hospital food? I can still see the greasy pink hamburger, soggy chips and eyebrow-raising green peas served to me after an abdominal op many years ago. Surely it has improved. 😀
Hi Finola, We are on the same page. I read labels but even doing that is not 100% informative. Here (US) there are many little'labeling loopholes' that allow processed food labels to leave out certain ingredients. That's sad about the sheep. My sister was married to a Scotsman in the 90's and they lived in Haverigg/ Millom area in Cumbria. Their house was on a small dirt road overlooking a field and Black Coomb Mtn. You could see the sheep in the field and we would walk down the road to a farm for fresh eggs. I grew up in big American cities and I remember being so envious of her lifestyle. I hoped they would stay married because they told me I was welcome to live with them when I retired. But here we are:I'm inAtlanta which I do not like-too big/crowded/lots of crime and my sister is in a suburb of Orlando, Florida which has it's own set of big American city problems. Oh well, what do they say? Life is what happens when we're making other plans! Great relaxation for me is British TV. I love the settings and lifestyles.I know it's tv and not real life but it really gets me away from my here and now. Right now I'm wading thru reruns of Doc Martin and my all-time fav is AS TIME GOES BY. I have the whole series. Take care, Burma (irina1975)
I did laugh Burma - I love old American TV series like Benson, Mash and Magnum PI amongst others. Real escapism and life lesson humour. We are fortunate to live in a similar landscape to Cumbria and I would never go back to cities.
There is a law in the UK (I think) that below a certain percentage additives may not need to be on the label. ☹️
Enjoy your TV!
Thanks. You too. This even on PBS is Father Brown followed by Death in Paradise. Then back tomy Acorn tv channel for more Doc Martin!!!! By the way, I wonder how much a-fib is due to years of not getting nutrients starting at a young age?
Very scary. I fear for my grandchildren. I have one son where everything is cooked from scratch from local ingredients and the other where I won’t even visit and always take them out. Both grew up with Home made food and both cook.
One grandchild has endgame beans as a snack whilst the other family - bought pies, cakes and biscuits rule - I despair!
I was a bit puzzled there for a moment, thought the other child would be having 'endgame' food, but I've got it now 😀
Some people seem to have trouble not eating processed foods. We live near two of the best salmon rivers (now sadly declining) in the area and a friend hates the taste of fresh salmon and will eat only tinned stuff.
I can relate. We do our best. I am and always have been such an anti-smoker. My daughter is 50 and smokes. She won't smoke around me or in other people's homes but I worry so much. I can hear the changes in her voice. You know-that smoker'svoice that is so recognizable! Yet she believes in and eats healthy!!!
I do agree that this is very worrying for our health. An interesting read is Joanna Blythman’s “Swallow This” if you want to be truly horrified by the methods used by the companies that produce our processed food - pies, ready meals etc. It even made me wonder whether it is worth studying food labels as these can be deliberately misleading. I think eating healthy these days means cooking from scratch and even then you cannot guarantee your ingredients haven’t been adulterated by some means - fresh carrots sprayed to brighten colour and extend shelf anyone?? Not sure what the answer is but I do worry about the health of future generations......
We have had an allotment for a few years now, and I do my best to grow our own fruit and veg, that way I know what they have been sprayed with - if I could just beat the slugs to eat them it would be good!
Hi Vanna-C. I envy you your room for a veg garden. I think that's an answer; grow your own food! I'm no gardener but I did read somewhere that slugs drown or something in beer. Could be something worth looking into or maybe just an oldwives' tale and a waste of good beer.! Take care, Burma
Going to try this, not sure Paul will approve of me using his beer!
Hi Vanna. You could buy really cheap beer for the slugs. They don't have to have Guinness. LOL. The only bad part is cleaning up the dead slugs. Or maybe just move them aside and let them be compost. I'm not sure about this step.
Thanks Finvola, just tweeted the article #spreadingtheword
I am not sure we have got the right answer but we eat out a lot less and the money saved is spent on buying the best biodynamic organic food, which of course we cook from scratch. It takes time and money to find the right sources and pick it up or get it delivered but I wonder is it cheap compared to more supplements and ill health. nb I still eat some processed as if you stop it all as well as being impractical the body can revolt big time if it has 'forgotten' how to process processed.
We stopped eating out too as it was impossible to know what was in the food, how it had been treated and (my worry) had the lettuce been washed and in what?!?
Interesting comment about the body forgetting how to process processed food. I found that ‘lapses’ in eating rubbish make my heart go bonkers more quickly now that I have shunned all processed food for four years.
I believe we save money with healthy food. It's more labor intensive but processed food-at least here(US) costs a lot because of the prep by others. Also when we're not buying junk food-chips,cookies etc we save. And eating out less saves too. Although we still have to eat some goodies. I had a doc once -long time ago- who believed in the 80/20 rule for eating. If you eat 80% healthy and 29% not so healthy you're probably eating pretty well. I sin with chocolate now and again and other things I like but I have a few rules I don't break anymore: I don't eat fast food (like McDonalds, etc. and I don't go to all you can eat buffets-which are very popular over here. And I never, ever eat anything with artificial sweeteners in them. If I want sweet coffee occasionally(love coffee-usually bliack) then I go ahead and use sugar and milk. No artificial chemicals. Otherwise no more rules apply. Oh, and I don't cook with salt anymore. I always have several different kinds of salt on the table for guests and they can add their own.(Sea salt/pink salt/etc like condiments. Re supplements. Yes, I take certain ones but I research brands and don't waste money on supplements that may not be all they say they are. Like yesterday I ordered the Cardiovascular Research brand of magnesium taurate recommended by Dr Sanjay Gupta after reading his article on magnesium on a site called lowthyroidmom.com. It was very reasonable onamazon.com..
I've recently become a fan of his (the York Cardiologist- not to be confused wih a well-known Dr Sanjay Gupta who is a neurosurgeon and commentator for CNN (here in US). He also is a good resource.
Hi Finvola 
if eating a bad diet is going to increase the number of cases of AF, looking at the rubbish that fills some supermarket trollies I fear for the NHS which is going to be overpowered by cases of AF (in addition to type 2 diabetes ) if eating such foods continues 
.
Having grown up in a generation that ate fresh 'healthy' food and having continued to do so throughout my life I feel a bit cheated if my diet has contributed to my AF. Ok, maybe I have eaten slightly more than I should and wine may not have helped but compared with many people I have had a good lifestyle where food (and exercise) are concerned but with room for improvement.
I think we still have much to learn about the causes of AF and I would guess its many contributory factors. I go along with Dr Sanjay Gupta's theories about 'inflammation' being a factor in the development of AF and continual stress=release of hormones= inflammation. I think a very stressful life has contributed a lot towards my AF and more so than diet.
I was delighted to see my Daughter in law adopt 'Baby Led Weaning' with my grandchildren, for the uninitiated it means no processed baby food/salt/sugar and organic food when possible . The food is left in large pieces and the baby feeds itself while closely supervised . It is a lot of work and very messy particularly if you have two sets of twins as my DIL did but I think worth it.
I am pretty sure there is some kind of a genetic predisposition to AF as a number of family members had it. Hopefully my grandchildren are off to the good start with their diet so it won't be one of the contributory factors to developing AF for them
Love the image of babbies dining doodle but, isn’t it so sensible? All power to your daughter in law. I think the causes of AF will eventually turn out to be genetic and that they will be very complex and bound up with immune factors and immune reactions.
Having had a healthy life until the onset of this darned thing, I was initially angry but soooo glad that I had tried almost every wine produced by France!! I asked often ‘why me’ until I asked ‘why not me’ and proceeded to cope as best I could.
The more I check food out, the more depressing it is - yoghurt trumpeted as LOW FAT!! which has more sugar than Hagen Daz ice cream or fancy cheese which contains 13% sugar.
Hopefully, your grandchildren will feel the benefit of the advances in AF diagnosis, understanding and real treatment but the food industry’s drive for profits and people’s assumption that advertising is truth will surely have serious implications for the nation’s health and its NHS.
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