May 27, 2025 • 31 mins
Are potatoes really bad for you? Can packaged foods still be healthy? What tomato sauce should your kids actually eat?
This week on The Nutrition Couch, dietitians Leanne Ward and Susie Burrell bust myths and share real-world food advice to help you make better choices without cutting out your favourite meals.
Inside this episode:
The Great Potato Comeback
We unpack the surprising research that links cooled potatoes to better blood sugar control and even fat loss.
Ultra-Processed Foods, Explained
How to tell the difference between smart convenience foods and those silently hurting your health.
Budget-Friendly Soup Pick
Our favourite $2 winter soup that’s high in fibre, vegan-friendly, and actually tastes good.
Kids & Sauce: Smart Swaps
The best tomato sauces with less sugar and more flavour — tested by our toddlers (and passed).
Whether you’re feeding your family, watching your weight, or just want no-nonsense nutrition advice, this episode has something for you.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Do you love potato.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Maybe you prefer your potatoes fried and made into chips.
However you enjoy your spunts. Today we have very good
news for you. There's some new research to show that
regular potato consumption can be part of a healthy diet
and may even support weight loss. But it's all about
how you cook them. Hi, I'm Leanne Ward.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
And am Size Burrow, and together.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
We bring you the Nutrition Couch, the weekly podcast that
keeps you up to date on everything that you need
to know in the world of nutrition, as well as
the latest.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
On the best ways to eat potato.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
We take a closer look at the definition of ultra
processed foods and what that actually means in terms of
foods that we consume. We also have a yummy new
pre made soup that we found in the supermarkets for winter,
and our listener question is all about a very popular source,
especially for kids. But to kick us off today, Susie,
(00:55):
we are talking a little bit more about ultra processed
foods because it came out. I've got a recent podcast,
didn't it about basically the difference between a process food
and an ultra process food. And you see it a
lot online where you know health bloggers and health coaches
will say stuff like, don't.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Eat process foods. Process foods are.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
So bad, But there's a big difference between a process
food and an ultra process food because rolled oats, yog it,
even you know, some really healthy smoothies could be are
deemed process foods. But it's really that next level up
to ultra process foods that we really need to be
concerned about as part of our diet. So there was
a recent article on news dot com and it was
(01:35):
a good study that really highlighted the significant health risks
that are actually associated with consuming too much ultra process foods.
And basically the article suggested that ultra process foods, with
regular consumption it may actually contribute to more deaths every
year than some types of dangerous drugs. And that's a
pretty powerful statement, right, So let's bring us back and
(01:58):
talk about what our ultra process foods. Because ultra process
foods and I'll go through what's called the nova definition
or classification in a moment, but they're basically industrial manufactured
foods that are designed by food companies for pure convenience
and high palatability. They're foods that taste let's be honest,
(02:19):
really really good, but they often contain multiple different types
of additives, things like preservatives, emulsify, sweetness, colors, and these
additives are not typically found in a home kitchen or
a home pantry, so really common examples of these things
include things like packaged snacks, biscuits, some bars, some chips,
(02:40):
soft drink, even some ready made meals or things that
you might demon a little bit healthier like newsley bars,
protein bars, process meats. These may all fall into the
category of ultra processed foods as well, and from a
nutritional perspective, ultra processed foods, what they call upfs are
genuinely lower in fiber and much higher in calories and fat,
(03:02):
and also much higher in added salt and added sugar
as well, which is where the issue comes from from
a health perspective, When these foods are consumed in excess,
that's where we generally have a lot of health implications.
So basically, this study was showing that a high consumption
of upfs is linked to a range of serious health issues.
(03:24):
So studies have often been associated with an increased amount
of upfs increasing the risk of things like obesity, hypertension,
type two diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and even some certain types
of cancer as well. So back in twenty twenty three,
there was a meta analysis involving over four hundred thousand participants.
(03:44):
That's a big study, and it found that for every
ten percent increase in ultra processed food consumption, it led
to a twelve percent higher risk for type two diabetes.
And more so, ultra processed foods have also been associated
with structural changes in different types of the brain regions
that regulate appetite and reward, and that's what researchers think
(04:08):
potentially leads to a lot of overeating and weight gain
in obesity because these foods are designed by food companies,
and these food companies are spending millions, if not potentially
even billions to design foods that are hyper palatable that
make you over consume them, I mean the whole What's
the slogo of pringles is like once you pop, you
(04:29):
can't stop, right Like they're designed to be hyper palatable,
so you over consume them. You have a really hard
time stopping at them because they're high in fat, they're
high in sugar, they're high in salt, and all of
this enhances the flavor and the texture and it can
actually disrupt the gut microbiome and disrupt normal kind of
appetite regulation. So it's this significant issue, and it's a
(04:52):
significant issue that has a large scale, particularly in countries
like Australia and America, because for the modern diet in Australia,
proximately forty two percent of the typical Australian's diet is
made up of ultra processed foods. That is very, very concerning,
and the high consumption of this is leading us to
have more significant health risks. You know, we're seeing ten
(05:15):
fifteen year olds diagnosed with diabetes. The rates of obesity
in children are skyrocketing. People aren't just getting cancers in
their you know, sixty seventy eighties, it was a quote
unquote older person thing to care. We're now seeing kids
in their twenties and thirties, you know, developing different types
of cancers and different types of metabolic conditions. So it's
a huge issue. And when we bring it back to
(05:35):
what is the classification of an ultra process food, there's
something called the Nova classification, So that is a.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
It's a system.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
It's a food classification system that was developed by a
bunch of researchers in Brazil, and it essentially categorizes food
based on the extent and the purpose of their level
of processing. So it has four different categories or groups
of processing, and ultra process food falls into the last
group of group four. So group four is ultra processed foods,
(06:06):
and as I mentioned before, it's industrial formulations of food
made from substances that are extracted from foods. They're added
in different types of food derivatives and constitutes like hydrogenized fats,
modified stanches and mulsifiers, additives, and often they're synthesized in labs,
so they've got added flavor enhances, they've got added.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Colors, they've got added preservatives.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
So they often also undergo multiple processing aids as well,
and basically by the time they're done, they contain very
little to know actual whole food ingredients. So often ultra
processed foods are very very small from a volume perspective,
so really big common characteristics of ultra processed foods are
things such as they're very highly palatable and they engineered
(06:50):
to promote over consumption. They often have a very long
shelf life. If you made a banana bread at home
in your kitchen using whole food ingredients that would be
moldy in a couple of days, particularly if you're up
in like a you know, a hot climate area. But
if you were to buy a banana bread off the shelf,
you know, from the coal's bakery section, you can have
wicks on that banana bread, and that's because of the
(07:11):
additional ultra processing of that banana bread to give it
a longer shelf life. Other characteristics of upfs are that
it has heavy marketing associated with it, and it's a
package based food, and it's often very convenient. It's basically
either ready to eat or ready to heat up and eat.
So other examples, you know, we've got packaged snacks, we've
got biscuits, we've got chips, we've got chocolates, we've got
(07:34):
soft drinks, other sweetened beverages. We've got instant noodles, and
convenience meals, fast food options. A lot of those fall
into the ultra processed food category. Sometimes different types of
flavored yogurts, particularly more those dessert type, you know, chocolate
type yogurts. Sometimes they can have a lot of additives,
ice creams, and even different types of supermarket breads and
wraps with added emulsifiers and preservatives may actually fall under
(07:58):
the ultra process food food category as well. So that's
sort of a little bit of a background or a
rundown on upfs. Are we sitting on the same page here, Susie.
Obviously it's not great for our health. We want to
reduce it as much as possible. But Australians have a
real issue, like we're just we're really over consuming them,
aren't we.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
True.
Speaker 4 (08:17):
I think that it's actually pretty simple for me because
a lot of the time is spent on semantics.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Is it ultra processed? Is it not?
Speaker 4 (08:24):
Like you know, debating whether vegimite's ultra process like veggimite
is not a significant issue in the food supply. Like,
let's talk about what the big issues are. The big
issues are those center aisles in the supermarket packed full
of bright package biscuits snap food that have little to
no nutritional quality. Now I would say sixty seventy eighty
(08:46):
percent of those aisles are packed with ultra processed foods.
So for me, the take home message is pretty simple.
If it is that high calorie discretionary food you look
on an ingredient list, and you see white flour, sugar,
vegetable oil, it's probably ultra process. If it's got extreme
flavors like nutscho cheese, it's probably ultra processed. And if
you steer well clear of those aisles, you're not going
(09:07):
to have a massive issue. If you are avoiding those
foods and occasionally you eat a crumb piece of chicken
or fish, which in theory or technically is ultra process,
but the bulk of your diet is fresh, natural, whole foods,
and you're not snacking on commercial biscuits and cakes and pastries,
you're going to be on the right track. So I think, yes,
it's a classification system, but the take home message for
(09:31):
people listening is the same, that kind of junk discretionary
food belongs in that category. And where I see it
filtering into diets more routinely is in young kids diets,
because if you think about our children and school and
packaged food, most of those items are biscuits and ultra
(09:52):
process snack foods. So I think for parents, it's good
to be aware of how many of those foods kids
are eating and routinely having, because what's happening in supermarket
is that they're so common that it seems to be
okay that we throw some tiny teddies into a lunch box.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Well it's actually not.
Speaker 4 (10:08):
These are the daily food decisions that add up over time.
So for me, it's our children what they're eating routinely,
and for adults, minimizing our intake of those discretionary foods
and fast food to not once a week to more
like once a month. And then I think for us
as dietitians, the tricky place we're playing in is these
(10:29):
formulated foods which masquerade is healthy. So these are the
low car bars, these are the high protein foods in supermarkets,
and that's where we struggle because on one hand, there's
some benefits that might come from those foods, so they
might be lowering, calories lower and sugar higher in protein,
but then on the other they are technically ultra processed.
And I think that's why it's coming up more within
(10:50):
health media because that's where I struggle with it, because
at what point is it a good choice versus NSHE
and I think that's the blurry area of the moment.
I think, in general, if the benefits outweigh the negatives,
it remains a plus. So for example, protein bread in
some cases may be ultra process, but it may still
offer positive nutritional properties and be better than an other alternative.
(11:15):
Whereas we've reviewed some products on the podcast, like pizzas
high protein pizzas or high protein burgers, which are actually
more ultra process and the negative out weighs the positive.
So I go back to my take home messages. If
you see an ingredient list a while long, generally it's
probably a problem and it's probably one to put back
on the shelf, because, for example, the higher protein breads
(11:36):
I'm talking about the better options have quite a short
ingredient list, So to me, that's sort of a relatively
easy way rather than spending hours in the supermarket or
debating something is as silly as whether vegimight'es ultra process
when it's contributing five killer duels or serve. So yeah,
I think it's something that will continue to evolve. But
you know me, Leanne, I don't like to waste time
(11:56):
on things, and I think for me, shortly ingredient short
of the ingredient unless the probably better it is for you.
And if you steer clear of the chip and biscuit
and sauce aile. In many cases, you're probably on the
right track with things.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
All right.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
I've got some data on potatoes now, poor potatoes. They're
often the first or one of the key foods people
think they shouldn't eat when they're trying to actively lose weight.
But as we know, Leanne, how do Australians consume their potatoes?
Is it a nice jacket spud on the plate.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
No, it's covered in fries and soap creams, covered in bacon,
it's covered in cheese.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
It's always fries. It's in a packet fries.
Speaker 4 (12:36):
So they're either shoe string fries there. And actually it
was funny. I was at a kid's party yesterday and
it was like a typical pub and the kids that
ordered a burger and or chitzel or pizza, and a
lot of the meals came with chips, as they do
at a pub.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
And do you know how many kids didn't eat the chips?
And you know why.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
Because apparently there's a whole shift that the kids only
like shoe string fries now. So in there after score
Chargirl Charlie's where they do the two dollar chips. Chargo
Charlie's is a chain in Sydney, which has got a
lot of barbecue chicken outlets. I don't know if you've
got it in Brisbane, but it's quite big here in
Sydney and Chargol. Charlie's do two dollars after school chips,
but their shoe string fries and apparently this is programming
(13:17):
the kids. Now they don't want chips anymore, They're only wanting.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Shoe string fries. I was like Jesus talk about privileged anyho.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
That is all processed potato, which is not great for
us now in our diet. As soon as you process
a potato, whether you deep fry, you mash it, you
lose a lot of the positive nutritional properties. But I've
got some data on general potatoes old school spuns. And
this was a study that was published a couple of
years ago in the Journal.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Of Medical Science.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
Now, admittedly that is not an overly well known journal
to the best of my knowledge, so it's probably just
a small boutique type study looking at potatoes. Possibly is
sponsored by potato groups, but that's okay because they are vegetable. Ultimately,
there's far worse consumer groups to be sponsored by the
potato But it was more an interesting study, I thought
because it was quite specific in terms of dietary outcome.
(14:05):
So it was conducted by the Pennington Biomedical Research Center
in Louisiana, and that is, by chance, a very big
potato eating group in Louisiana, and they looked at the
diets of thirty six people aged between eighteen and sixty
who were overweight or had insulin resistance. So insulin resistance
is the clinical condition that precedes type two diabetes, in
(14:25):
which whenever you consume carbohydrate foods, you will have relatively
high levels of glucose in the blood and high insulin
over time will cause weight gain and also diabetes. So
it was quite an interesting study looking at blood sugar
response in response to potato consumption. So the groups of
participants were given two different diets. Both had a lot
of fruit and veggies, but one of the groups swapped
(14:48):
forty percent, so almost half of their protein intake, so
their meat chicken or fish with some extra beans, peas
or potatoes, so on the basically the same size, but
you got rid of some of the meat chicken, fish,
and you're popped in there some extra potato. But specifically
the potatoes were consumed with the skin on and placed
(15:13):
in the fridge for twelve to twenty four hours to
increase the fiber or specifically the resistance starch in that potato,
which is known to have a protective effect against blood
sugar and diabetes over time. So then they were consumed
as mashed in shepherd's pie, wedges, salads, or even scallops
so like sliced down, but they all were sort of
(15:35):
pre cooked in that way to increase the resistance starch.
So what they found was that there was no negative
impact on blood gluecrese control even when the participants consumed
significantly more potato, and they lost weight that group, So I.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
Think, I'm just having a look at the numbers.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
It was five point eight kilos I think over an
eight week period, so it was a complete dietary intervention
where they were eating more fresh food in general. But
basically they found that replacing the protein with potato on
the plate had no negative impact on insulin or glucose
levels and still resulted in significant weight loss over the
course of the study. So I thought it was quite
(16:14):
a fun study looking at potatoes in general and a
little trick that here we go. We found that the
average weight loss was five point six percent of body
weight or five point eight kilos in eight weeks, and
insulin resistance improved, so there were benefits for black glucose
control as well as weight loss over the eight week
period even though they were consuming potatoes daily, which is
(16:34):
a lot of potato. So I think the take home
message is that when it comes to potato, first of all,
you need to consume it as with skin on where possible.
It increases the fiber content and increases the vitamin C,
and in this instance it is increasing the resistant start
or dietary fiber aspect of the potato if you actually
store them, cook them, store them in the fridge, and
(16:56):
then readd them to a meal. So that's a good
one for all of our potato lovers out there. Lean
Do you think I love it?
Speaker 2 (17:03):
I've always been a massive fan of resistance starch, and
you can actually get the same effect with most of
your starches.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
So if you cook and cool rice.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
And if you cook and cool pasta, you will also
get the benefits of the resistance starch the next day.
Which is why I've always been such a massive fan
of meal prep because you do get those beneficial gut
based types of fibers in that resistance starch, and even
if you reheat it the next day, because I often
get that question, it will still also contain the beneficial
resistance starch in there as well. So I'm a massive
(17:30):
potato fan. I love potato.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
It's got to be. Is it my favorite carbohydrate? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (17:34):
I think it is my favorite carbohydrate hands down. And
I couldn't eat potato would be a very very sad girl.
But yeah, I love the research. I think it's really important.
But like you said, it's really how we eat potato, right,
people hear, Oh my goodness, potatoes good.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
We'll deep right, we'll cover it in cheesy sauce.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Well, you know, leather on the sur cream and the bacon,
and sadly, you do not get the same results than
if you were just to have the humble jacket spud
with a little a little bit of salt on there
and your veggies and a bit of lean pro with it.
So I think a really great little study just to
show us that healthy, balanced eating, you know, without restrictions,
without cutting out and tire food groups always wins at
(18:08):
the end of the day.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
True, and coming into the cooler months of the year,
there's nothing better than for lunch. You know, I love
a hot lunch because I think they're more filling, they're
more satisfying. When you've had a hot meal, you're less
likely to snack, You're naturally more likely to have veggies
with it. And I would say a jacket potato lunch
topped with cottage cheese, red salmon, shuna, beans, leftover lean
mince is a great filling lunch and then have it
(18:32):
with it a side of veggies or salad, like it's delicious,
So a really good one to include there. And in
that case, you would pre cook your potato, you'd cool
it and then you'd reheat it to get that resistant
starch benefit. Potatoes are not significantly different nutritionally, so it
doesn't matter if you want a pontiac or a brush,
but you do want to consume all of them with
(18:53):
the skin on. And something I always get her a
bigger potato, well, just an average potato, like it's a potato,
like not a ginormous potato, like you know, one hundred
hundred and fifty grams, like not one on spud bar
in Melbourne they're enormous, but you know, like.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
A medium sized potato.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
That's a size safe fist, right, like a closed fish.
About the size of clothes.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
Yeah, like a little bit more than a tennis ball.
Maybe a baseball.
Speaker 4 (19:19):
Good reference, good reference, not a football, not a rag people,
good reperence.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
All right, Well, moving from potatoes to soup. One of
our other favorite winter warmers. I found a really great
one in Wolworst when I was browsing the shelves. They're
actually some really good soup options in wal West, and
I moved out of the cold section because I didn't
really love the cold, the cold ones, you know, the
ones in the in the yeah, the cold refrigerated section.
I couldn't really find anything there that I love, So
(19:45):
I moved into the aisle and was looking at the
different soups where all the tin soups were. But there's
quite a lot in these packages now that are really
really good. So the one I picked up and I
was quite impressed with. And I've got a client at
the moment who's vegan, and we do struggle to get
enough sort of protein into her, and she does take
creatine side note, because it's incredibly important for vegans and
(20:05):
plant based lifestyles. But the one I picked up which
I really liked was the Hinds Eat well range. It's
the pouch soup of the pea and broccoli, so it's
three hundred and eighty gram, so I think per pouch
you're supposed to get is only one serving per pack.
And currently, although we are recording at advance, is half
price at two twenty five, which is very very affordable,
(20:26):
but normally four price it's four to fifty, so what'd
absolutely wait till it's half price. I would grab multiple
of those, having them in the back of the pantry
for a quick and easy lunch option, you know midweek
when you don't feel like cooking, particularly as of weather
warms down. So heines eat while soup three eighty gram
pouch ingredients are excellent SUSI so forty nine percent vegetables
like so good, and the forty nine percent vegetables is
(20:49):
made up of peas, broccoli, spinach, and the humble potato.
Next ingredient is water, which we love to see in
a soup, followed by cornstarch, salt, navy bean powder extract,
lime juice, natural flavors, brown sugar, and some spices. So
this is a definition of a processed food, but not
an ultra processed food in my books anyway. And then
(21:11):
nutrition ingredients, nutrition label wise, a serve is the entire packet,
so three eighty grams with six hundred and seventy five
kilo dule, so actually very lean. So it's a very
lean lunch option. Nine point nine grams of protein. I'd
say ten grams of protein, so to me, I would
use something with that. That's where I might use a
slice of high protein toast. I might use a nice
(21:32):
slice of berg and so lin. I might put a
little bit of extra sort of chickpeas or something in
there to bulk it out.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
A bit bit of chicken, some more veggies.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Total fat one point five grams with zero being saturated fat.
Twenty two point eight grams of carbohydrate. It's about a serf,
about a servi or slightly over of carbohydrates, which is great.
Eight grams of dietary fiber, So for your gut health,
this is an excellent addition.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Eight eight to ten grams of dietary fiber in a meal.
I think outstanding.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
My only con and as a sodium which, let's be honest,
most packaged types of suits have a very.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
High sodium level. It makes it really delicious.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
So if you had issues with you know, fluid restrictions
or cardiac issues, you would want to be wary of that.
But I think for the general population, who's eating well,
who's healthy, who's active, I don't really have a huge
concern with a bit of extra salt in some soup.
And then I in one point two milligrams of iron
about ten percent of RDI, and about thirty two milligrams
of magnesium, which is again about ten percent of the RDI.
(22:29):
So a very strong ingredient list, a very strong nutrition panel,
a great light lunch option, or for active people, this
is a really great little snack to tie you over
between lunch and dinner. I just think it's an outstanding product.
I think it's really strong, and I think well done.
Hindes keep bringing better products to the market. Good amount
of protein, good amount of dietary fat, some added iron
(22:49):
and magnesium, and two serves of vegetables for a small
patch like that, I don't think you can really find
a better well rounded soup. It is a bit leaner
and lighter in calories in protein, so I wouldn't exactly
call it a fully balanced lunch, but I think as
a light lunch or for a small person or you know,
for kids in teenagers. It could be a really great option,
particularly when it's half price at two twenty five.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
Well, that's a great price.
Speaker 4 (23:11):
And the good thing is that they've actually included a
decent serve, because sometimes they'll do a half serve for
the pouch and it's really not very much then, but
three eighty will keep you really full.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
We haven't tried it, but it looks strong, and I'm
with you.
Speaker 4 (23:23):
You know, in the old days, at even ten varieties
of soup, you would say a process in the sense
that had a lot of additives. But most of the
pouch is now, the fresh and the longer life ones.
You can't fault them, like you'd have to say, why
would I bother making a soup that's going to cost
me twenty thirty dollars to make six serves By the
time you get a good quality stock and all the
(23:44):
more boutique vegetables and the leg humes like they do
add up in price when you can buy one for
two dollars a serve, like, it's hard to justify. They're
pretty clean, those lists, and I could give you five
ten different pouch soups or fresh soups, which are nutritionally
just as good as a fresh soup, you have to argue.
So I think, yeah, it's a great way in budget
(24:06):
times to get a lot of nutrition in the good
thing about veggie based soups as well, as they often
can be a low color accompaniment to a toasted sandwich,
a wrap, you know, to really bulk it up, and
you're getting plenty of veggie serves and filling and warming,
and you added a bit of fetter on top or
some parmesan to flavor it up, and you've got a
delicious option and quick and easy lunch on the go.
(24:27):
So yeah, love it. I haven't tried it, but I
think most of them are pretty good. Now we might
beg to differ. Some people write sometimes and tell us
it's not some taste good, but they.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
Look pretty good.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
There's a whole range of them, So yeah, I like
it a lot. So hopefully you can add it to
your grocery shop rightly and well. For our final segment
of the day, a question that will resonate with plenty
of parents out there if they have children who are
fairly obsessed with adding tomato sauce to foods. Now certainly
encouraging kids to eat different kinds of foods when strategy
can be to add different tomato sauce to it, or
(24:57):
some people just like sauce. I actually really like tomato sauce.
I'll often add it. But there's certainly a wide range
of sources. You know, they can range from twenty thirty
percent sugar, which doesn't sound a lot in a small
portion of sauce, but if you're adding you know, a
couple of tablespoons of sauce, that can be upwards of
ten grams of added sugar. And really we should be
aiming all of us, including our children, all even more
(25:17):
so our children, to less than twenty five grams of
added sugars in the diet, which is about six tea
spoons a day.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
And it sounds a lot, but it's very easy.
Speaker 4 (25:24):
To get that if you are simply having a snack
or two us adding a sauce like this, you might
be having some breakfast cereal. It's very very easy to
reach that twenty five grams a day, and I'd be
hastened to say that most children are getting more than
that easily. So you want to be minimizing it on
products like tomato sauce. So I've got a couple of
options now. Previously, Leanne and I have reviewed different sources
(25:46):
and we have preferred the Hinds Tomato Catchup for both
flavor and nutritional profile. Now since that time, given that
we've been running the podcast for almost four years, now
is it four years? Have we been going out for
four years?
Speaker 1 (26:01):
That's a long time? Wow?
Speaker 3 (26:03):
God, No, when are we getting tetchy?
Speaker 2 (26:04):
No?
Speaker 4 (26:04):
Wonder we have a little passive aggressive text message.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
Four years I think it is. And almost how many episodes?
Two hundred and ninety almost three hundred episodes?
Speaker 2 (26:14):
This is two ninety five, Yeah, nearly three. Oh, we
should do something to celebrate three hundred.
Speaker 4 (26:19):
Yeah we should. Okay, maybe we'll do something. We'll talk
about that AnyWho. Originally, when we've done product review, we'd
looked at and preferred the heins Toamato Ketchup.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
But since that time, they have actually.
Speaker 4 (26:28):
Released a lower sugar version of Heinz Tomato Ketchup, which
I've got the nutritionists here just to go through. Because
there's true I'd probably lean towards one. Is either the
Fountain Reduce Sugar Tomato sauce. This is actually the one
that I buy in my house, and I'll just read
you the grams of sugar perserve. I think it's two
(26:51):
point three, but it's also got a sweet and I'd
just bear with me one second, and I was going
to find it on the Wolies.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
I find Wollies easier to get the nutrition off.
Speaker 4 (26:58):
I'll just say tomato pure eighty five percent sweetness, Manitour
syrup and Stevia apple paste, food assets, acid, salt, natural flavor.
I'm pretty happy with that ingredient list. It does have
a sweetener, but they're natural. And then per fifteen meal serve,
which is just shy of a tablespoon, you're coming in
at less than one gram of sugars.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
So I quite like that one. Now.
Speaker 4 (27:19):
The other one that you've we've got that we don't
mind as well is the Hines Ketchup Tomato sauce, which
is fifty percent so it's got a bit more sugar
ingredients concentrated tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, salt, spice, and herb extracts.
It does also have a little bit of a bit
less sweetener in Stevia seventy nine percent tomatoes and that
(27:40):
one has a little bit more one point eight grams
of sugar, so very low, and I would say that
the Fountain's got more sweetener and the Hinds less, But
they're my two top choices for kids tomato sauce. You
do get significantly less than the very cheap options. You
do pay a bit more, but they often come on
half priced sale. And yeah, so they're the two I
would recommend. You know, there's evidence with cooked tomatoes for
(28:02):
people with risk of prostate cans say, getting the lycopene
in cooked tomatoes is actually very good for us, so
there's reason it's nothing bad to be adding a little bit.
I agree that slot like smothering meals in it is
an ideal, but a little bit on the side of
a meat or as a dipping sauce or on some
homemade fries with skin on is no cause for concern.
(28:22):
But they are definitely our standout brands. The Hinds fifty
percent reduce sugar or the Fountain Reduce sugar varieties are
pretty good nutritionally and far better sugar wiys. If you've
got a child or even adult who wants tomato sauce
with everything.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
Yeah, I agree. One hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
I really like that Hines on me until you are
big tomato sauce girls as me or and David not
so much for me until it. Always we sample the
new brands, but this is the one we keep coming
back to because we quite like it. But should I
say the other one I tried the other day that
I really didn't like.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Maybe I should mention.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
It anyway, there's a few out there that have better ingredients.
But it's a nice brand. It has a better reading profile, absolutely,
but it was not nice.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
I binded it. It was like six dollars a bottle
as well, and I was like, I can't.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Do this till she's not even too yet and she's
looking at me, and she was no, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 3 (29:11):
Six bucks. God, I wouldn't pay six dollars for a surt.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
You know. I was going to review it for the podcast,
and I thought, I can't review that.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
I see she probably did you put that on our account? Probably?
Speaker 1 (29:20):
Oh no, No. I just bought it and binned it
and was like, no, hard those six dollars.
Speaker 4 (29:25):
Yeah, And that's the problem because people, when we're always
complaining about this clean eating, it's nobody if the food
doesn't taste good, people don't eat it, so you've got.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
To have a fine line.
Speaker 4 (29:34):
And I, you know, think sometimes a little bit of sugar,
as the cases in the Hines one is actually creating
a very palatable product and then you still get much
lower levels, so it's a wind win.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
I think it's actually not added sugar though, like that
sugar naturally comes from the tomatoes. So it's eighty percent
concentrated tomatoes. There's no day know it does is a
little bit adedy, not yet a little bit.
Speaker 4 (29:55):
It is listed, but it's pretty like you said, it's
very overall, like less than a cup of gram will
is insignificant.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
Yahru.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
Sure it tastes good.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
And I think if it makes your kids eat more vegetables,
I don't think it's a bad thing.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
I'm a huge fan.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
If you want to make the broccoli with cheesy sauce,
if you want to add the tomato to the roasted
carrot so that the kids eat them, I think it's
a really good habit to get into because Susie and
I both work with so many adults who just really
don't eat vegetables, and it's very, very difficult to get
an adult to eat a vegetable if they haven't routinely
in them when they were children. So build a healthy habit,
build a healthy foundation when their kids, even if they
(30:27):
have to put extra sauce on it to get it down,
it's a habit worth maintaining, particularly as they get a
bit older, into the teenage years, into adulthood, because if
they don't eat the veggies in the childhood, it's very
rare they're going to come back and eat them in
their teen years or into adulthood.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
All running well.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
That brings us to the end of another episode, episode
two hundred and ninety five of the Nutrition Couch podcast.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
If you've been with us from the beginning, thank you
so much for your support.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
If you're a new listener.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Stick around because despite doing two hundred and ninety five episodes,
we still have things to talk about every single week. Amazingly,
and if you haven't heard, we have a evidence based,
scientifically formulated range of protein powders, functional hot chocolates and
creatine at designed by dietitians dot com, so check that out.
Thank you for your support and we will catch you
in next week's episode.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
Have a great week.
Do you love potato.
Speaker 2 (00:02):
Maybe you prefer your potatoes fried and made into chips.
However you enjoy your spunts. Today we have very good
news for you. There's some new research to show that
regular potato consumption can be part of a healthy diet
and may even support weight loss. But it's all about
how you cook them. Hi, I'm Leanne Ward.
Speaker 1 (00:23):
And am Size Burrow, and together.
Speaker 2 (00:24):
We bring you the Nutrition Couch, the weekly podcast that
keeps you up to date on everything that you need
to know in the world of nutrition, as well as
the latest.
Speaker 1 (00:33):
On the best ways to eat potato.
Speaker 2 (00:35):
We take a closer look at the definition of ultra
processed foods and what that actually means in terms of
foods that we consume. We also have a yummy new
pre made soup that we found in the supermarkets for winter,
and our listener question is all about a very popular source,
especially for kids. But to kick us off today, Susie,
(00:55):
we are talking a little bit more about ultra processed
foods because it came out. I've got a recent podcast,
didn't it about basically the difference between a process food
and an ultra process food. And you see it a
lot online where you know health bloggers and health coaches
will say stuff like, don't.
Speaker 1 (01:11):
Eat process foods. Process foods are.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
So bad, But there's a big difference between a process
food and an ultra process food because rolled oats, yog it,
even you know, some really healthy smoothies could be are
deemed process foods. But it's really that next level up
to ultra process foods that we really need to be
concerned about as part of our diet. So there was
a recent article on news dot com and it was
(01:35):
a good study that really highlighted the significant health risks
that are actually associated with consuming too much ultra process foods.
And basically the article suggested that ultra process foods, with
regular consumption it may actually contribute to more deaths every
year than some types of dangerous drugs. And that's a
pretty powerful statement, right, So let's bring us back and
(01:58):
talk about what our ultra process foods. Because ultra process
foods and I'll go through what's called the nova definition
or classification in a moment, but they're basically industrial manufactured
foods that are designed by food companies for pure convenience
and high palatability. They're foods that taste let's be honest,
(02:19):
really really good, but they often contain multiple different types
of additives, things like preservatives, emulsify, sweetness, colors, and these
additives are not typically found in a home kitchen or
a home pantry, so really common examples of these things
include things like packaged snacks, biscuits, some bars, some chips,
(02:40):
soft drink, even some ready made meals or things that
you might demon a little bit healthier like newsley bars,
protein bars, process meats. These may all fall into the
category of ultra processed foods as well, and from a
nutritional perspective, ultra processed foods, what they call upfs are
genuinely lower in fiber and much higher in calories and fat,
(03:02):
and also much higher in added salt and added sugar
as well, which is where the issue comes from from
a health perspective, When these foods are consumed in excess,
that's where we generally have a lot of health implications.
So basically, this study was showing that a high consumption
of upfs is linked to a range of serious health issues.
(03:24):
So studies have often been associated with an increased amount
of upfs increasing the risk of things like obesity, hypertension,
type two diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and even some certain types
of cancer as well. So back in twenty twenty three,
there was a meta analysis involving over four hundred thousand participants.
(03:44):
That's a big study, and it found that for every
ten percent increase in ultra processed food consumption, it led
to a twelve percent higher risk for type two diabetes.
And more so, ultra processed foods have also been associated
with structural changes in different types of the brain regions
that regulate appetite and reward, and that's what researchers think
(04:08):
potentially leads to a lot of overeating and weight gain
in obesity because these foods are designed by food companies,
and these food companies are spending millions, if not potentially
even billions to design foods that are hyper palatable that
make you over consume them, I mean the whole What's
the slogo of pringles is like once you pop, you
(04:29):
can't stop, right Like they're designed to be hyper palatable,
so you over consume them. You have a really hard
time stopping at them because they're high in fat, they're
high in sugar, they're high in salt, and all of
this enhances the flavor and the texture and it can
actually disrupt the gut microbiome and disrupt normal kind of
appetite regulation. So it's this significant issue, and it's a
(04:52):
significant issue that has a large scale, particularly in countries
like Australia and America, because for the modern diet in Australia,
proximately forty two percent of the typical Australian's diet is
made up of ultra processed foods. That is very, very concerning,
and the high consumption of this is leading us to
have more significant health risks. You know, we're seeing ten
(05:15):
fifteen year olds diagnosed with diabetes. The rates of obesity
in children are skyrocketing. People aren't just getting cancers in
their you know, sixty seventy eighties, it was a quote
unquote older person thing to care. We're now seeing kids
in their twenties and thirties, you know, developing different types
of cancers and different types of metabolic conditions. So it's
a huge issue. And when we bring it back to
(05:35):
what is the classification of an ultra process food, there's
something called the Nova classification, So that is a.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
It's a system.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
It's a food classification system that was developed by a
bunch of researchers in Brazil, and it essentially categorizes food
based on the extent and the purpose of their level
of processing. So it has four different categories or groups
of processing, and ultra process food falls into the last
group of group four. So group four is ultra processed foods,
(06:06):
and as I mentioned before, it's industrial formulations of food
made from substances that are extracted from foods. They're added
in different types of food derivatives and constitutes like hydrogenized fats,
modified stanches and mulsifiers, additives, and often they're synthesized in labs,
so they've got added flavor enhances, they've got added.
Speaker 1 (06:26):
Colors, they've got added preservatives.
Speaker 2 (06:28):
So they often also undergo multiple processing aids as well,
and basically by the time they're done, they contain very
little to know actual whole food ingredients. So often ultra
processed foods are very very small from a volume perspective,
so really big common characteristics of ultra processed foods are
things such as they're very highly palatable and they engineered
(06:50):
to promote over consumption. They often have a very long
shelf life. If you made a banana bread at home
in your kitchen using whole food ingredients that would be
moldy in a couple of days, particularly if you're up
in like a you know, a hot climate area. But
if you were to buy a banana bread off the shelf,
you know, from the coal's bakery section, you can have
wicks on that banana bread, and that's because of the
(07:11):
additional ultra processing of that banana bread to give it
a longer shelf life. Other characteristics of upfs are that
it has heavy marketing associated with it, and it's a
package based food, and it's often very convenient. It's basically
either ready to eat or ready to heat up and eat.
So other examples, you know, we've got packaged snacks, we've
got biscuits, we've got chips, we've got chocolates, we've got
(07:34):
soft drinks, other sweetened beverages. We've got instant noodles, and
convenience meals, fast food options. A lot of those fall
into the ultra processed food category. Sometimes different types of
flavored yogurts, particularly more those dessert type, you know, chocolate
type yogurts. Sometimes they can have a lot of additives,
ice creams, and even different types of supermarket breads and
wraps with added emulsifiers and preservatives may actually fall under
(07:58):
the ultra process food food category as well. So that's
sort of a little bit of a background or a
rundown on upfs. Are we sitting on the same page here, Susie.
Obviously it's not great for our health. We want to
reduce it as much as possible. But Australians have a
real issue, like we're just we're really over consuming them,
aren't we.
Speaker 3 (08:16):
True.
Speaker 4 (08:17):
I think that it's actually pretty simple for me because
a lot of the time is spent on semantics.
Speaker 3 (08:22):
Is it ultra processed? Is it not?
Speaker 4 (08:24):
Like you know, debating whether vegimite's ultra process like veggimite
is not a significant issue in the food supply. Like,
let's talk about what the big issues are. The big
issues are those center aisles in the supermarket packed full
of bright package biscuits snap food that have little to
no nutritional quality. Now I would say sixty seventy eighty
(08:46):
percent of those aisles are packed with ultra processed foods.
So for me, the take home message is pretty simple.
If it is that high calorie discretionary food you look
on an ingredient list, and you see white flour, sugar,
vegetable oil, it's probably ultra process. If it's got extreme
flavors like nutscho cheese, it's probably ultra processed. And if
you steer well clear of those aisles, you're not going
(09:07):
to have a massive issue. If you are avoiding those
foods and occasionally you eat a crumb piece of chicken
or fish, which in theory or technically is ultra process,
but the bulk of your diet is fresh, natural, whole foods,
and you're not snacking on commercial biscuits and cakes and pastries,
you're going to be on the right track. So I think, yes,
it's a classification system, but the take home message for
(09:31):
people listening is the same, that kind of junk discretionary
food belongs in that category. And where I see it
filtering into diets more routinely is in young kids diets,
because if you think about our children and school and
packaged food, most of those items are biscuits and ultra
(09:52):
process snack foods. So I think for parents, it's good
to be aware of how many of those foods kids
are eating and routinely having, because what's happening in supermarket
is that they're so common that it seems to be
okay that we throw some tiny teddies into a lunch box.
Speaker 3 (10:07):
Well it's actually not.
Speaker 4 (10:08):
These are the daily food decisions that add up over time.
So for me, it's our children what they're eating routinely,
and for adults, minimizing our intake of those discretionary foods
and fast food to not once a week to more
like once a month. And then I think for us
as dietitians, the tricky place we're playing in is these
(10:29):
formulated foods which masquerade is healthy. So these are the
low car bars, these are the high protein foods in supermarkets,
and that's where we struggle because on one hand, there's
some benefits that might come from those foods, so they
might be lowering, calories lower and sugar higher in protein,
but then on the other they are technically ultra processed.
And I think that's why it's coming up more within
(10:50):
health media because that's where I struggle with it, because
at what point is it a good choice versus NSHE
and I think that's the blurry area of the moment.
I think, in general, if the benefits outweigh the negatives,
it remains a plus. So for example, protein bread in
some cases may be ultra process, but it may still
offer positive nutritional properties and be better than an other alternative.
(11:15):
Whereas we've reviewed some products on the podcast, like pizzas
high protein pizzas or high protein burgers, which are actually
more ultra process and the negative out weighs the positive.
So I go back to my take home messages. If
you see an ingredient list a while long, generally it's
probably a problem and it's probably one to put back
on the shelf, because, for example, the higher protein breads
(11:36):
I'm talking about the better options have quite a short
ingredient list, So to me, that's sort of a relatively
easy way rather than spending hours in the supermarket or
debating something is as silly as whether vegimight'es ultra process
when it's contributing five killer duels or serve. So yeah,
I think it's something that will continue to evolve. But
you know me, Leanne, I don't like to waste time
(11:56):
on things, and I think for me, shortly ingredient short
of the ingredient unless the probably better it is for you.
And if you steer clear of the chip and biscuit
and sauce aile. In many cases, you're probably on the
right track with things.
Speaker 3 (12:08):
All right.
Speaker 4 (12:09):
I've got some data on potatoes now, poor potatoes. They're
often the first or one of the key foods people
think they shouldn't eat when they're trying to actively lose weight.
But as we know, Leanne, how do Australians consume their potatoes?
Is it a nice jacket spud on the plate.
Speaker 2 (12:27):
No, it's covered in fries and soap creams, covered in bacon,
it's covered in cheese.
Speaker 1 (12:31):
It's always fries. It's in a packet fries.
Speaker 4 (12:36):
So they're either shoe string fries there. And actually it
was funny. I was at a kid's party yesterday and
it was like a typical pub and the kids that
ordered a burger and or chitzel or pizza, and a
lot of the meals came with chips, as they do
at a pub.
Speaker 3 (12:50):
And do you know how many kids didn't eat the chips?
And you know why.
Speaker 4 (12:53):
Because apparently there's a whole shift that the kids only
like shoe string fries now. So in there after score
Chargirl Charlie's where they do the two dollar chips. Chargo
Charlie's is a chain in Sydney, which has got a
lot of barbecue chicken outlets. I don't know if you've
got it in Brisbane, but it's quite big here in
Sydney and Chargol. Charlie's do two dollars after school chips,
but their shoe string fries and apparently this is programming
(13:17):
the kids. Now they don't want chips anymore, They're only wanting.
Speaker 3 (13:20):
Shoe string fries. I was like Jesus talk about privileged anyho.
Speaker 4 (13:25):
That is all processed potato, which is not great for
us now in our diet. As soon as you process
a potato, whether you deep fry, you mash it, you
lose a lot of the positive nutritional properties. But I've
got some data on general potatoes old school spuns. And
this was a study that was published a couple of
years ago in the Journal.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
Of Medical Science.
Speaker 4 (13:43):
Now, admittedly that is not an overly well known journal
to the best of my knowledge, so it's probably just
a small boutique type study looking at potatoes. Possibly is
sponsored by potato groups, but that's okay because they are vegetable. Ultimately,
there's far worse consumer groups to be sponsored by the
potato But it was more an interesting study, I thought
because it was quite specific in terms of dietary outcome.
(14:05):
So it was conducted by the Pennington Biomedical Research Center
in Louisiana, and that is, by chance, a very big
potato eating group in Louisiana, and they looked at the
diets of thirty six people aged between eighteen and sixty
who were overweight or had insulin resistance. So insulin resistance
is the clinical condition that precedes type two diabetes, in
(14:25):
which whenever you consume carbohydrate foods, you will have relatively
high levels of glucose in the blood and high insulin
over time will cause weight gain and also diabetes. So
it was quite an interesting study looking at blood sugar
response in response to potato consumption. So the groups of
participants were given two different diets. Both had a lot
of fruit and veggies, but one of the groups swapped
(14:48):
forty percent, so almost half of their protein intake, so
their meat chicken or fish with some extra beans, peas
or potatoes, so on the basically the same size, but
you got rid of some of the meat chicken, fish,
and you're popped in there some extra potato. But specifically
the potatoes were consumed with the skin on and placed
(15:13):
in the fridge for twelve to twenty four hours to
increase the fiber or specifically the resistance starch in that potato,
which is known to have a protective effect against blood
sugar and diabetes over time. So then they were consumed
as mashed in shepherd's pie, wedges, salads, or even scallops
so like sliced down, but they all were sort of
(15:35):
pre cooked in that way to increase the resistance starch.
So what they found was that there was no negative
impact on blood gluecrese control even when the participants consumed
significantly more potato, and they lost weight that group, So I.
Speaker 3 (15:51):
Think, I'm just having a look at the numbers.
Speaker 4 (15:52):
It was five point eight kilos I think over an
eight week period, so it was a complete dietary intervention
where they were eating more fresh food in general. But
basically they found that replacing the protein with potato on
the plate had no negative impact on insulin or glucose
levels and still resulted in significant weight loss over the
course of the study. So I thought it was quite
(16:14):
a fun study looking at potatoes in general and a
little trick that here we go. We found that the
average weight loss was five point six percent of body
weight or five point eight kilos in eight weeks, and
insulin resistance improved, so there were benefits for black glucose
control as well as weight loss over the eight week
period even though they were consuming potatoes daily, which is
(16:34):
a lot of potato. So I think the take home
message is that when it comes to potato, first of all,
you need to consume it as with skin on where possible.
It increases the fiber content and increases the vitamin C,
and in this instance it is increasing the resistant start
or dietary fiber aspect of the potato if you actually
store them, cook them, store them in the fridge, and
(16:56):
then readd them to a meal. So that's a good
one for all of our potato lovers out there. Lean
Do you think I love it?
Speaker 2 (17:03):
I've always been a massive fan of resistance starch, and
you can actually get the same effect with most of
your starches.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
So if you cook and cool rice.
Speaker 2 (17:09):
And if you cook and cool pasta, you will also
get the benefits of the resistance starch the next day.
Which is why I've always been such a massive fan
of meal prep because you do get those beneficial gut
based types of fibers in that resistance starch, and even
if you reheat it the next day, because I often
get that question, it will still also contain the beneficial
resistance starch in there as well. So I'm a massive
(17:30):
potato fan. I love potato.
Speaker 1 (17:31):
It's got to be. Is it my favorite carbohydrate? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (17:34):
I think it is my favorite carbohydrate hands down. And
I couldn't eat potato would be a very very sad girl.
But yeah, I love the research. I think it's really important.
But like you said, it's really how we eat potato, right,
people hear, Oh my goodness, potatoes good.
Speaker 1 (17:46):
We'll deep right, we'll cover it in cheesy sauce.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Well, you know, leather on the sur cream and the bacon,
and sadly, you do not get the same results than
if you were just to have the humble jacket spud
with a little a little bit of salt on there
and your veggies and a bit of lean pro with it.
So I think a really great little study just to
show us that healthy, balanced eating, you know, without restrictions,
without cutting out and tire food groups always wins at
(18:08):
the end of the day.
Speaker 4 (18:10):
True, and coming into the cooler months of the year,
there's nothing better than for lunch. You know, I love
a hot lunch because I think they're more filling, they're
more satisfying. When you've had a hot meal, you're less
likely to snack, You're naturally more likely to have veggies
with it. And I would say a jacket potato lunch
topped with cottage cheese, red salmon, shuna, beans, leftover lean
mince is a great filling lunch and then have it
(18:32):
with it a side of veggies or salad, like it's delicious,
So a really good one to include there. And in
that case, you would pre cook your potato, you'd cool
it and then you'd reheat it to get that resistant
starch benefit. Potatoes are not significantly different nutritionally, so it
doesn't matter if you want a pontiac or a brush,
but you do want to consume all of them with
(18:53):
the skin on. And something I always get her a
bigger potato, well, just an average potato, like it's a potato,
like not a ginormous potato, like you know, one hundred
hundred and fifty grams, like not one on spud bar
in Melbourne they're enormous, but you know, like.
Speaker 3 (19:10):
A medium sized potato.
Speaker 2 (19:12):
That's a size safe fist, right, like a closed fish.
About the size of clothes.
Speaker 3 (19:15):
Yeah, like a little bit more than a tennis ball.
Maybe a baseball.
Speaker 4 (19:19):
Good reference, good reference, not a football, not a rag people,
good reperence.
Speaker 2 (19:23):
All right, Well, moving from potatoes to soup. One of
our other favorite winter warmers. I found a really great
one in Wolworst when I was browsing the shelves. They're
actually some really good soup options in wal West, and
I moved out of the cold section because I didn't
really love the cold, the cold ones, you know, the
ones in the in the yeah, the cold refrigerated section.
I couldn't really find anything there that I love, So
(19:45):
I moved into the aisle and was looking at the
different soups where all the tin soups were. But there's
quite a lot in these packages now that are really
really good. So the one I picked up and I
was quite impressed with. And I've got a client at
the moment who's vegan, and we do struggle to get
enough sort of protein into her, and she does take
creatine side note, because it's incredibly important for vegans and
(20:05):
plant based lifestyles. But the one I picked up which
I really liked was the Hinds Eat well range. It's
the pouch soup of the pea and broccoli, so it's
three hundred and eighty gram, so I think per pouch
you're supposed to get is only one serving per pack.
And currently, although we are recording at advance, is half
price at two twenty five, which is very very affordable,
(20:26):
but normally four price it's four to fifty, so what'd
absolutely wait till it's half price. I would grab multiple
of those, having them in the back of the pantry
for a quick and easy lunch option, you know midweek
when you don't feel like cooking, particularly as of weather
warms down. So heines eat while soup three eighty gram
pouch ingredients are excellent SUSI so forty nine percent vegetables
like so good, and the forty nine percent vegetables is
(20:49):
made up of peas, broccoli, spinach, and the humble potato.
Next ingredient is water, which we love to see in
a soup, followed by cornstarch, salt, navy bean powder extract,
lime juice, natural flavors, brown sugar, and some spices. So
this is a definition of a processed food, but not
an ultra processed food in my books anyway. And then
(21:11):
nutrition ingredients, nutrition label wise, a serve is the entire packet,
so three eighty grams with six hundred and seventy five
kilo dule, so actually very lean. So it's a very
lean lunch option. Nine point nine grams of protein. I'd
say ten grams of protein, so to me, I would
use something with that. That's where I might use a
slice of high protein toast. I might use a nice
(21:32):
slice of berg and so lin. I might put a
little bit of extra sort of chickpeas or something in
there to bulk it out.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
A bit bit of chicken, some more veggies.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
Total fat one point five grams with zero being saturated fat.
Twenty two point eight grams of carbohydrate. It's about a serf,
about a servi or slightly over of carbohydrates, which is great.
Eight grams of dietary fiber, So for your gut health,
this is an excellent addition.
Speaker 1 (21:55):
Eight eight to ten grams of dietary fiber in a meal.
I think outstanding.
Speaker 2 (21:59):
My only con and as a sodium which, let's be honest,
most packaged types of suits have a very.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
High sodium level. It makes it really delicious.
Speaker 2 (22:06):
So if you had issues with you know, fluid restrictions
or cardiac issues, you would want to be wary of that.
But I think for the general population, who's eating well,
who's healthy, who's active, I don't really have a huge
concern with a bit of extra salt in some soup.
And then I in one point two milligrams of iron
about ten percent of RDI, and about thirty two milligrams
of magnesium, which is again about ten percent of the RDI.
(22:29):
So a very strong ingredient list, a very strong nutrition panel,
a great light lunch option, or for active people, this
is a really great little snack to tie you over
between lunch and dinner. I just think it's an outstanding product.
I think it's really strong, and I think well done.
Hindes keep bringing better products to the market. Good amount
of protein, good amount of dietary fat, some added iron
(22:49):
and magnesium, and two serves of vegetables for a small
patch like that, I don't think you can really find
a better well rounded soup. It is a bit leaner
and lighter in calories in protein, so I wouldn't exactly
call it a fully balanced lunch, but I think as
a light lunch or for a small person or you know,
for kids in teenagers. It could be a really great option,
particularly when it's half price at two twenty five.
Speaker 3 (23:10):
Well, that's a great price.
Speaker 4 (23:11):
And the good thing is that they've actually included a
decent serve, because sometimes they'll do a half serve for
the pouch and it's really not very much then, but
three eighty will keep you really full.
Speaker 3 (23:21):
We haven't tried it, but it looks strong, and I'm
with you.
Speaker 4 (23:23):
You know, in the old days, at even ten varieties
of soup, you would say a process in the sense
that had a lot of additives. But most of the
pouch is now, the fresh and the longer life ones.
You can't fault them, like you'd have to say, why
would I bother making a soup that's going to cost
me twenty thirty dollars to make six serves By the
time you get a good quality stock and all the
(23:44):
more boutique vegetables and the leg humes like they do
add up in price when you can buy one for
two dollars a serve, like, it's hard to justify. They're
pretty clean, those lists, and I could give you five
ten different pouch soups or fresh soups, which are nutritionally
just as good as a fresh soup, you have to argue.
So I think, yeah, it's a great way in budget
(24:06):
times to get a lot of nutrition in the good
thing about veggie based soups as well, as they often
can be a low color accompaniment to a toasted sandwich,
a wrap, you know, to really bulk it up, and
you're getting plenty of veggie serves and filling and warming,
and you added a bit of fetter on top or
some parmesan to flavor it up, and you've got a
delicious option and quick and easy lunch on the go.
(24:27):
So yeah, love it. I haven't tried it, but I
think most of them are pretty good. Now we might
beg to differ. Some people write sometimes and tell us
it's not some taste good, but they.
Speaker 3 (24:34):
Look pretty good.
Speaker 4 (24:35):
There's a whole range of them, So yeah, I like
it a lot. So hopefully you can add it to
your grocery shop rightly and well. For our final segment
of the day, a question that will resonate with plenty
of parents out there if they have children who are
fairly obsessed with adding tomato sauce to foods. Now certainly
encouraging kids to eat different kinds of foods when strategy
can be to add different tomato sauce to it, or
(24:57):
some people just like sauce. I actually really like tomato sauce.
I'll often add it. But there's certainly a wide range
of sources. You know, they can range from twenty thirty
percent sugar, which doesn't sound a lot in a small
portion of sauce, but if you're adding you know, a
couple of tablespoons of sauce, that can be upwards of
ten grams of added sugar. And really we should be
aiming all of us, including our children, all even more
(25:17):
so our children, to less than twenty five grams of
added sugars in the diet, which is about six tea
spoons a day.
Speaker 3 (25:23):
And it sounds a lot, but it's very easy.
Speaker 4 (25:24):
To get that if you are simply having a snack
or two us adding a sauce like this, you might
be having some breakfast cereal. It's very very easy to
reach that twenty five grams a day, and I'd be
hastened to say that most children are getting more than
that easily. So you want to be minimizing it on
products like tomato sauce. So I've got a couple of
options now. Previously, Leanne and I have reviewed different sources
(25:46):
and we have preferred the Hinds Tomato Catchup for both
flavor and nutritional profile. Now since that time, given that
we've been running the podcast for almost four years, now
is it four years? Have we been going out for
four years?
Speaker 1 (26:01):
That's a long time? Wow?
Speaker 3 (26:03):
God, No, when are we getting tetchy?
Speaker 2 (26:04):
No?
Speaker 4 (26:04):
Wonder we have a little passive aggressive text message.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
Four years I think it is. And almost how many episodes?
Two hundred and ninety almost three hundred episodes?
Speaker 2 (26:14):
This is two ninety five, Yeah, nearly three. Oh, we
should do something to celebrate three hundred.
Speaker 4 (26:19):
Yeah we should. Okay, maybe we'll do something. We'll talk
about that AnyWho. Originally, when we've done product review, we'd
looked at and preferred the heins Toamato Ketchup.
Speaker 3 (26:26):
But since that time, they have actually.
Speaker 4 (26:28):
Released a lower sugar version of Heinz Tomato Ketchup, which
I've got the nutritionists here just to go through. Because
there's true I'd probably lean towards one. Is either the
Fountain Reduce Sugar Tomato sauce. This is actually the one
that I buy in my house, and I'll just read
you the grams of sugar perserve. I think it's two
(26:51):
point three, but it's also got a sweet and I'd
just bear with me one second, and I was going
to find it on the Wolies.
Speaker 3 (26:56):
I find Wollies easier to get the nutrition off.
Speaker 4 (26:58):
I'll just say tomato pure eighty five percent sweetness, Manitour
syrup and Stevia apple paste, food assets, acid, salt, natural flavor.
I'm pretty happy with that ingredient list. It does have
a sweetener, but they're natural. And then per fifteen meal serve,
which is just shy of a tablespoon, you're coming in
at less than one gram of sugars.
Speaker 3 (27:17):
So I quite like that one. Now.
Speaker 4 (27:19):
The other one that you've we've got that we don't
mind as well is the Hines Ketchup Tomato sauce, which
is fifty percent so it's got a bit more sugar
ingredients concentrated tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, salt, spice, and herb extracts.
It does also have a little bit of a bit
less sweetener in Stevia seventy nine percent tomatoes and that
(27:40):
one has a little bit more one point eight grams
of sugar, so very low, and I would say that
the Fountain's got more sweetener and the Hinds less, But
they're my two top choices for kids tomato sauce. You
do get significantly less than the very cheap options. You
do pay a bit more, but they often come on
half priced sale. And yeah, so they're the two I
would recommend. You know, there's evidence with cooked tomatoes for
(28:02):
people with risk of prostate cans say, getting the lycopene
in cooked tomatoes is actually very good for us, so
there's reason it's nothing bad to be adding a little bit.
I agree that slot like smothering meals in it is
an ideal, but a little bit on the side of
a meat or as a dipping sauce or on some
homemade fries with skin on is no cause for concern.
(28:22):
But they are definitely our standout brands. The Hinds fifty
percent reduce sugar or the Fountain Reduce sugar varieties are
pretty good nutritionally and far better sugar wiys. If you've
got a child or even adult who wants tomato sauce
with everything.
Speaker 1 (28:37):
Yeah, I agree. One hundred percent.
Speaker 2 (28:38):
I really like that Hines on me until you are
big tomato sauce girls as me or and David not
so much for me until it. Always we sample the
new brands, but this is the one we keep coming
back to because we quite like it. But should I
say the other one I tried the other day that
I really didn't like.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Maybe I should mention.
Speaker 2 (28:51):
It anyway, there's a few out there that have better ingredients.
But it's a nice brand. It has a better reading profile, absolutely,
but it was not nice.
Speaker 1 (29:02):
I binded it. It was like six dollars a bottle
as well, and I was like, I can't.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Do this till she's not even too yet and she's
looking at me, and she was no, no, no, no, no.
Speaker 3 (29:11):
Six bucks. God, I wouldn't pay six dollars for a surt.
Speaker 1 (29:14):
You know. I was going to review it for the podcast,
and I thought, I can't review that.
Speaker 3 (29:17):
I see she probably did you put that on our account? Probably?
Speaker 1 (29:20):
Oh no, No. I just bought it and binned it
and was like, no, hard those six dollars.
Speaker 4 (29:25):
Yeah, And that's the problem because people, when we're always
complaining about this clean eating, it's nobody if the food
doesn't taste good, people don't eat it, so you've got.
Speaker 3 (29:32):
To have a fine line.
Speaker 4 (29:34):
And I, you know, think sometimes a little bit of sugar,
as the cases in the Hines one is actually creating
a very palatable product and then you still get much
lower levels, so it's a wind win.
Speaker 2 (29:44):
I think it's actually not added sugar though, like that
sugar naturally comes from the tomatoes. So it's eighty percent
concentrated tomatoes. There's no day know it does is a
little bit adedy, not yet a little bit.
Speaker 4 (29:55):
It is listed, but it's pretty like you said, it's
very overall, like less than a cup of gram will
is insignificant.
Speaker 3 (30:01):
Yahru.
Speaker 1 (30:01):
Sure it tastes good.
Speaker 2 (30:02):
And I think if it makes your kids eat more vegetables,
I don't think it's a bad thing.
Speaker 1 (30:05):
I'm a huge fan.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
If you want to make the broccoli with cheesy sauce,
if you want to add the tomato to the roasted
carrot so that the kids eat them, I think it's
a really good habit to get into because Susie and
I both work with so many adults who just really
don't eat vegetables, and it's very, very difficult to get
an adult to eat a vegetable if they haven't routinely
in them when they were children. So build a healthy habit,
build a healthy foundation when their kids, even if they
(30:27):
have to put extra sauce on it to get it down,
it's a habit worth maintaining, particularly as they get a
bit older, into the teenage years, into adulthood, because if
they don't eat the veggies in the childhood, it's very
rare they're going to come back and eat them in
their teen years or into adulthood.
Speaker 1 (30:41):
All running well.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
That brings us to the end of another episode, episode
two hundred and ninety five of the Nutrition Couch podcast.
Speaker 1 (30:48):
Thank you.
Speaker 2 (30:48):
If you've been with us from the beginning, thank you
so much for your support.
Speaker 1 (30:51):
If you're a new listener.
Speaker 2 (30:52):
Stick around because despite doing two hundred and ninety five episodes,
we still have things to talk about every single week. Amazingly,
and if you haven't heard, we have a evidence based,
scientifically formulated range of protein powders, functional hot chocolates and
creatine at designed by dietitians dot com, so check that out.
Thank you for your support and we will catch you
in next week's episode.
Speaker 3 (31:11):
Have a great week.
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