Health eating advice from nhs

[hellomyfriendhello]

I took the test on my nhs app re healthy living.
For full disclosure I am a healthy bmi, more towards the low end, although it didn’t ask weight and height.
I scored in the green 8/10 overall but my diet was in the red.
To improve my diet I have to switch to low fat dairy (cheese, milk and yogurt) or plant based alternatives.
I eat full fat yogurt, milk and cheese as I believe these keep me fuller for longer and contain less additives and sugars?
Am I wrong? I am mindful of portion sizes so probably eat less of the full fat versions than I would have the low fat. But it didn’t ask about portion size.
I know it’s just generic advice but is low fat really healthy for everybody?

Oh OP you know you’re not wrong don’t you! You just want a pile on to nhs diet advice and a pat on the back for being so clever 😂

full fat or non fat dairy makes no difference to your satiety, weight or health. It’s a nothing point.

if you’re calorie counting, you will be able to eat more calories elsewhere by eating low/ no fat dairy. That’s about it.

I don’t want a pat on the back, I’ve done the low fat and know I feel fuller on the full fat. I’ve not always been a healthy weight.
And I thought they put extra sugar and preservatives into low fat so was surprised they advised me low fat.
There were other things in my diet that probably put me in the red, white bread and not enough fruit and veg, but it didn’t mention that, just the switching to low fat.
so genuine question on which is better?

The only dairy with added sugar will be obvious- such as fruit flavoured yogurts or milkshakes.

Sugar isn’t added to low fat dairy- ie semi skimmed milk. The fat is just removed. As it says on the label!

I would say that the only things you've done "wrong", OP, are 1) to download the NHS app (why?), and 2) to take seriously what it says about food! I shouldn't think there is a single person who eats a so-called perfect diet, so this app is just in the business of scaremongering. Remember, "good enough" is indeed good enough!
Eat what you like and stop stressing about it all - that will be much better for you in the long run.

My understanding is that a key thing to check with yogurts is that they contain live yogurt cultures, as that's better for the gut microbiome. I recently noticed that the yogurts we usually get contain artificial sweeteners, so am planning to look for an alternative, as my understanding is that artificial sweeteners are generally bad for us.

The NHS is stupid, most doctors and dieticians have been screaming against low fat for years and years now. Low fat is usually upf junk
Perhaps just swap to non upf diet and listen to podcasts from the Zoe app and read the Why we eat too much book, it's probably more up to date and reputable than the NHS
I've also been researching the glucose goddess and tips like having a sweet treat with something more filling alongside to prevent a spike in blood sugar etc

You need to understand that the NHS healthy diet has to provide maximum nutrients for our entire body. Its the amount of dairy in the diets thats important, just because you feel better on full fat it doesn't mean everyone will. To me it makes other foods taste slimy. I check the labels to ensure there's no nasties in my skimmed or semi skimmed.

A lot of people think it's too carb heavy but carbs are really important for our digestive system.

Also having lots of variety of veg nuts and seeds in your diet. Eating kiwis with the skins on etc
Sorry I post really fast and lose nuance, of course lots of low fat stuff isn't upf you just have to look into it

you know the glucose goddess is a clueless charlatan don’t you?

how is low fat dairy UPF? Its dairy with fat removed.

It’s generic advice. For most people low fat milk is the right choice because most people are overweight these days (a quick glance at the size of clothes in a vintage shop clearly shows this) for some foods the answer is simply to eat less in my opinion but for those who for whatever won’t eat less eg cheese, cake, or whatever low fat/low calorie makes sense

NHS dietary advice is bollocks. Way behind the times.

I think I need to check labels a bit more. I’m trying hard to ditch diet/slimming world culture and obsessing over mullerlights so have gone full fat and smaller portions
It’s only very recently I’ve started adding flavoured yogurts back into my diet after my Greek yogurt era. I’ve not read any labels just chose full fat ones

OP, if you know you're not eating enough fruit and veg, that's likely to be the more important thing to focus on rather than whether you're eating the full fat or low fat version of dairy products. Do you eat a range of plants (fruit, veg, nuts, seeds, herbs and spices) over a typical week?

@hahabahbag now that makes perfect sense

I do eat a variety of veg just don’t always get five in every day. Sometimes it’s just laziness at preparing them so I know I need to do better on that. And I always forget seeds, but love them.

Sigh. We have this thread approximately once a month. If you know so much better than the NHS then why do you bother to ask? It's generic health advice for the majority population who need simple, accessible advice and is based on the science for which there is a really solid evidence base not the latest tik tok speculation so yes it won't feel uber-modern or personalised to your own middle class lifestyle and preferences.

So the reason it will be recommending you eat low(er) fat because (a) we're pretty certain being overweight is bad for your health, reducing calories is pretty much the only way to lose weight, reducing full fat dairy or replacing with lower fat alternatives is an easy and convenient way to reduce calories for many, if it doesn't work for you fine but doesn't make the advice wrong (b) we're pretty definite that too much saturated fat is bad for your heart health and other health markets. Eating loads of full fat dairy (and red meat) will likely mean you're having too much saturated fat (something low carb/keto proponents don't tend to mention/mitigate). Again you might prefer to manage this in other ways if you're very clued up on dietary stuff but then you probably don't need the NHS app? And there's definitely no need to eat lots of UPF to reduce your fat intake (yes some flavoured yoghurts etc are UPF but lots of lower fat foods are definitely not), and no need to demonise artificial sweeteners either, there's in fact little to no evidence they're harmful and actually quite a lot of evidence they're quite helpful, replacing sugar with sweetener is an effective way for many people to lose weight for instance. Again if you don't like them that's fine, you don't have to have them, it's just a quiz on an app not the law...

Sorry I posted before I saw this. I didn't mean to be rude. I'm sorry you're struggling, diet culture is so toxic and it's messed up lots of us middle aged women's relationships with food. I just get riled because lots of people are treating this silly little quiz in particular as tailored, personalised dietary advice when as you say it doesn't even ask many personalised questions such as portion size etc, then they complain when it gives them very basic generic answers, when all it's meant to be is some very easy tips and swaps for a very average person who knows little about dietary stuff and needs some very easy ways to make changes.

If you want proper personalised advice you need to see a qualified dietician, or at least keep a detailed food diary with careful portion control and plug it into one the apps to do a macro / nutrients check. But if you tend towards the obsessive / disordered way of thinking about food this may not be the best idea. If generally your current diet is working for you, you feel good and you're enjoying your food then really try not to worry. The quiz isn't wrong as such, it gave you 8/10 and a green so that's fine. No need to ditch your full fat yoghurt if that's working for you. But It sounds as though you have some good ideas of other healthy habits you could add like more whole grains or more fruit and veg, that would be great too. I know for the obsessive of thinking (can be that way myself) a quiz with a score and the possibility of being 'perfect'/ 10 out of 10 is attractive but try and let that go, no-one achieves a perfect diet ever, nutrition science is complex and evolving so no-one knows what a perfect diet even is and anyone claiming otherwise really is a charlatan...

Thank you @NoctuaAthene that is some good advice. Yes my relationship with food has been difficult and yes I can tend to the obsessive