Rebels without applause go hands-free

is always so much in the news around what we eat and drink, and it’s a lot to take in and make sense of.

Last week the results of a new study emerged showing that artificial sweeteners found in diet drinks could damage our gut bacteria and should no longer be seen as a healthier alternative to sugary products.

Artificial sweeteners have already been linked to obesity, cancer, diabetes, headaches and more, and the findings of this new study did make troubling reading. It coincided with news that promotions around soft drinks and junk foods could be restricted in a proposed clampdown by the Scottish Government to try to improve public health.

I suppose diet drinks are a result of companies trying to find ways to minimise sugar and they’re almost using sweeteners like masking agents, but the reality is they can cause just as many problems, as can food additives in general.

When I was over in New York for the US Open, I had a conversation with someone who had studied allergies and food intolerances, which are just so much more prevalent these days.

She told me the number of allergies people have now could be linked to additives, including those in creams that we put on our bodies not just in what we eat.

I try to exercise common sense. I’ll have a fizzy drink once in a blue moon, but generally I just drink water. Sometimes I’ll add a tiny amount of elderflower cordial or a slice of lime, and for me you just can’t beat a glass of ice-cold water.

I never got into the whole diet drink thing, and I think these products are best avoided.

If I watch a black and white movie or an old film on TV you rarely see an overweight person in them because these additives and junk foods just weren’t around in those days. All the natural things – fruits, vegetables, unprocessed meats – don’t do us any harm, but when we start adding things for flavour or colour we don’t know what we’re putting in our bodies. That’s why eating foods in their original form is a good idea. It’s what nature intended. Earlier in the week I tweeted a clip of Spanish tennis player Fernando Verdasco berating a young ball boy at the Shenzhen Open for being too slow to bring his towel. I suggested players should get their own towels and leave the ball kids to look after the balls. My tweet was liked and shared thousands of times. The child involved should have been inspired by the occasion but was instead subjected to a horrible experience. It was unforgiveable.

Now tennis authorities are looking into placing towel rails at the back of the court. It’s one thing snapping at an adult, but with children, especially when there’s a language barrier, there needs to be a degree of understanding and good old common courtesy. On a flight last week I read that student union reps at Manchester University have voted to ban clapping and cheering in favour of “jazz hands” to avoid causing problems for people with sensory issues. We’ve seen so many great changes over the last couple of years which would probably never have happened in the past.

It’s all symptomatic of us becoming more aware and accepting of people with different needs and views.

However, clapping is what people do out of instinct in appreciation for what they are seeing or hearing and I’m not sure you’re going to be able to persuade them not to do it.

That said, you rarely see spectators without a mobile phone in their hands at events these days, and that makes clapping difficult. So maybe waving them in the air might actually catch on.