Mix And Match

ONE VEGAN BLOGGER SWAPPED ALMOND MILK FOR COW’S MILK WHEN SHE DISCOVERED ALMOND MILK IS HIGHLY PROCESSED AND COW’S MILK IS NOT!

“Dipping in and out of the 5:2 diet – five days ‘normal’ calorie intake interspersed by two ‘fasting’ days a week – is very popular,” says Allene. “The motivation is not to be super-skinny, but to be lean and toned. Consumers feel confident to create personalised dietary choices guided by the beliefs of people they follow on social media, and their own lifestyle. Belief beats science.”

“Common sense and reliable sources of diet and nutrition information are ignored,” says dietitian Aisling Pigott, spokesman for the British Dietetic Association. “Consumers prefer to trust opinion presented as fact by self-styled experts like Gwyneth Paltrow, the Hemsley sisters and Ella Woodward. They don’t trust real experts; they believe food bloggers who think eating a vaguely normal diet risks ingesting ‘toxins’. Three portion-controlled meals a day containing fruit and veg should be the norm but that doesn’t offer the magic consumers seek.”

“Consumers tell us they are sceptical about experts because they change their minds,” says Allene. “Consumers fail to differentiate between news about small one-off discoveries and expert advice, or government guidelines based on large-scale studies. They make up their own rules and decide for themselves.”