Reader views (19)

 Add your view

Gram for gram, butter isn't cheaper than margarine. A 250g pack of butter is cheaper than a 500g tub of margerine, yes, but that's......er.... because it's half the size. I follow Weight Watchers - I eat crisps and drink wine and don't deprive myself. I've lost a stone since just before Christmas. That's because I eat what I should for my height, weight and activity levels in order to lose the weight. I also eat a lot of salad, vegetables, fish and other healthy foods. Having a high cholesterol level is dangerous, no matter what weight you are. That's just common sense.

- Collette, London, W10

These recipes are not intended for normal meals, they are intended for special occasions and treats. Eating food from these recipes occasionally is not going to harm you in any way at all. Eating foods like this regularly probably will.

The thought police seem not capable of understanding this and dish out these mis-interpretations from the self proclaimed experts.

Who are the Fat Panel, a bunch of second raters from the polyversities?

- Tom, Watford (UK)

So how come Rick Stein's not fat?

- Paul, London

I find this story slightly confusing. I am not entirely sure whether the writer actually intends to be slightly ambiguous to try to make more of a point.

It says daily fat allowances are 30g for men and 20g for women. Now I assume the reporter means saturated fat, rather than actual fat, as the RDA for men is 95g and 70g for women (the prior sentence would lead you to assume saturated, but the absence of the word does leave an element of doubt).

I would be interested to know whether the amounts of fat quoted in the single servings of the mentioned recipes are for saturated fat, rather than total fat, something which again is slightly ambiguous. I'm not convinced they are quoting the saturated fat figures, but rather the total fat. Maybe I'm wrong, but if I'm not, the chefs creating these recipes as a once-in-a-blue-moon indulgences are not the devil incarnates that they're being made out to be.

- Rob, Ruislip

So? If I buy a dessert cookbook, I'm doing that for a reason. If I make a cream sauce, I'm going to use... cream.

As the fascination with "healthy eating" has increased, so has obesity. Anyone of these experts care to comment on THAT?

- Trunk, US

I will eat anything that Nigella dishes up.....

- Vij, London

We have had nutritionists since the second world war - when rationing was calculated on the basis of the food requirements of the population (the healthiest we have ever been as a nation). Fats and salt are bad for you but when you cook one of these recipes you are probably eating less salt/fat than can be found in most 'ready meals'/take aways. If you are really worried about the salt/fat content of the recipes at least you can choose to reduce the amount used/make substitutes which you can't do with ready meals/take aways.

- Andy, London

I would never buy a book from Jamie or Delia as their food is typically bland and tasteless. Well done to the other celebrity chefs who try to encourage people away from convenience food by cooking something tasty.

- Graham, Reading, England

Who are these so-called experts that claim to speak on our behalf? Why do the press give them so much room and give their statements or findings such authority? There are too many health and safety Nazis in the UK who are tolerated beyond any reasonable limit. They should enter the real world and find a job rather than live off state provided 'reseach' grants.

- Mike, Dubai, UAE

Rick Stein does use far too much salt in his recipes.

- Anthony, Esher, Surrey

I don't think the problem lies with rich home-cooked meals; its convenience foods causing obesity. And, I won't hear a bad word said about Rick Stein -- his books are my favorites.

- Kath, Sunningdale, UK

The more you fuss about food and diets the bigger the problem with weight.
As long as you cook fresh food from scratch and only occasionally snack on cakes, biscuits, chocolate and other high-fat foods you will be fine.
Why can't Which for once look at the real culprits of obesity: Sweetening Syrups even in bread and breakfast cereals, hydrogenated fats, trans-fats in almost every meal you buy, starch in fat-free yoghurt. That is why people get fat. Not an extra helping of butter in a home-made pie.

- Charlotte, London

I actually don't like high fat foods all that much, but George has a point.

When I last tried to lose weight on the kind of low fat, high fibre diet the government recommends I lost about 2 lb in 6 months. I was then unemployed for a few months and could only afford the cheapest most filling food: sausages etc. I immediately lost weight.

The same thing has happened recently, as I have suffered a drop in income. I love things like edame bean salad but can't afford them and instead exist on things like frozen cheap lasagne etc. I have lost a stone in three months without trying. I also bought butter instead of sunflower or olive oil margarine because it was cheaper.

I'm not saying high fats are healthier but they don't necessarily make you put on weight, in fact can have the opposite effect. Carbohydrates on the other hand, even wholegrain stuff, seems to make some of us put on weight - and no it's not the stuff we put on it.

- Pamela, Uxbridge Middx

Let us eat what we want. Life's hard enough as it is, or has enjoyment been outlawed?

- Steve, London

1) To JC. The issue with saturated fat is not about obesity but heart disease. 80% of us are eating too much saturated fat - regardless of income.

2) To Kathleen. You're right. Fat, sugar and salt do make everything taste nice, but for health's sake we should keep it in moderation. For fat, choosing monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats instead of saturated fat will taste just as good, but be much healthier.

3) To George. You say that butter & lard are healthy. There is a huge amount of evidence showing that they are NOT healthy and margarine and spreads are just as natual - they come from vegetable and seed oils and are made in a similar way to butter. Margarine doesn't contain partially hydrogenated oils any more either, so levels of trans fats are actually lower than those found in butter.

- Caroline, London, UK

I think I'd rather eat what I want and die young than eat tasteless 'healthy foods' and live forever - ot at least that's what it would feel like.

- Paul, London

Dear Fat Panel

As your studies show obesity is tending to hit the poorer and less well educated in society - so ask yourselves the following questions:
1 - do these people have the money to spend on the celebrity chef's v expensive glossy books.

2 - do these people have the money to spend on the ingredients.

3 - and as Jamie's Ministry of Food showed - do these people have the confidence to cook, when getting a takeaway is often cheaper and easier.

So fat panel your research would be valid if you made a study of the people who bought the books.

Right - off to have some eggs benedict with extra hollandaise now

- Jc, se1

All that fat, sugar and salt is what makes everything taste nice.

- Kathleen, Wakefield

Its funny how we've only had a obesity problem ever since 'nutritonists' first appeared. Until the 1970s, people were happily eating butter, cream, full fat milk and lard, and were perfectly thin.

Then came along an industry which told us that these were all bad, and manufacturers responded by replacing the fat with sugar to maintain 'mouth feel'. As a result, obesity, heart disease, and diabetes shot up as a direct consequence.

Nutritionists are dangerous people. Butter & lard are healthy and natural. Margarine and vegetable fats are dangerous because they contain hydrogenated fats. Simple carbohydrates such as pasta and sugar are also dangerous.

Dont listen to these people, they don't know what they are talking about, but they do need the column inches in order to maintain their jobs so that they appear to be 'doing something'.

- George, London

Add your comment