Originally posted on http://blog.ambronite.com/post/158369982950.
It’s the 21st century, Foodgrams are more commonplace than tipping, cooking blogs and celebrity chefs have never been more influential, and diet advice from the latest nutritional guru is practically inescapable. So why is it that so many of us are still not eating properly? The effects of malnutrition are now so high in developed countries, that governments are actively panicking and considering drastic intervention strategies: sugar taxes, soft drinks bans, food labelling reformsand public awareness campaigns. It’s been estimated that in 2016, 29% of all adults in the United States were classed as obese and many of them will suffer from an obesity related condition of illness.Global childhood obesity is increasing and is now projected to be at 15.8% by 2025.Type 2 diabetes rates have quadrupled worldwide since 1980, with clear evidence linking it to obesity.
It’s time from a rethink. It’s time for a food revolution.
Say hello to the solution – the next generation of Meal Replacements!
An alternative not an imitation
The roots of meal replacement? are complex, and the idea of producing a cheap food substance that could sustain a person for a long period of time has likely been around since human beings first started cooking. One early example is Hardtack, a wafer developed for sailors to eat on long journeys. In the days of long distance sea travel, good nutrition was especially hard to come by. Most food substances would spoil due to a lack of refrigeration and storage space was limited. Hardtack (also known ‘sea biscuits? and cabin bread?) was a great solutionas it took up little space, won’t spoil and contained lots of carbohydrates to give the crew energy. Unfortunately, this didn’t solve all of the issues as unknown to many ships at the time, as humans require a range of nutrients in their diet, far more than those offered by by Hardtack.The dreaded scurvy was the undoing of many naval careers with crews driven to mutiny and madness because they were simply lacking Vitamin C. It wasn’t until 1747 that Dr James Lind was able to prove the connection by carrying out the history’s first clinical trail. In Lind’s experiment, he was able to show a small positive effect on scurvy sufferers by asking them to supplement their diet with lemons.Eventually ships started to take citrus fruits on board and British sailors even earned the nickname limeys, as they were known for drinking water out of bottles filled with cut limes.