The Institute for Optimum Nutrition

OPTIMUM NUTRITION UK SURVEY

ONUK Survey Redefines Healthy Eating

Britain’s Largest Ever Health Survey indicates that the majority of people in Britain today are ‘vertically ill’; they are living in a condition that lies somewhere between diagnosed disease and true wellness. Simple dietary changes may provide optimal health.

We are all told to eat a ‘well balanced’ diet but what does this actually mean? The results of Britain’s largest ever survey of over 37,000 people’s health and diet, conducted by the Institute for Optimum Nutrition and it was presented to the House of Commons.

The first part of the ONUK study, based on a comprehensive web-based My Nutrition questionnaire, investigated the state of people’s health in Britain.

Only 6% were in ‘optimal health’, while 44% were in poor health, with frequent low energy (80%), constipation (81%),high stress (75%), PMS (women 64%), abdominal bloating (64%), frequent colds (50%), headaches or migraine (46%) and depression (46%) and other common symptoms.

The survey shows that most people are ‘vertically’ ill. Still upright, but not feeling great. Doctors deal with sick people, the ‘horizontally ill’, but what the ONUK survey shows is that most people are living with low energy, aches and pains, probably attributable to 21st century life when they may be preventable with simple dietary changes.”

What makes a diet unhealthy? The second part of the ONUK survey defined what kind of diet was associated with health. The results, shown overleaf, indicate that the most problematic foods are likely to be sugar and caffeine drinks (tea, coffee and cola), followed by red meat, wheat and dairy products (milk and cheese). The best foods for health were fruit and veg, nuts and seeds, oily fish and water. People who drank eight glasses of water a day were twice as likely to be in optimal health. While the report endorses the Government’s ‘five a day’ campaign, it found that the healthiest people ate eight or more servings of fruit and vegetables.

What makes a well balanced diet? The negative effects on health of eating sugar and sugary snacks was five times worse than the positive effects of eating fruit and vegetables. “The ONUK survey shows that government campaigns to curb sugar and caffeine consumption will do much more for the nation’s health than just eating more fruit and vegetables. It also shows that the conventional wisdom that a well balanced diet should contain plenty of dairy products and bread, is wrong” said Holford, whose survey found that the healthiest people were the lowest consumers of wheat and dairy products. Amidst growing fears that high dairy consumption is linked to increased rates of breast and prostate cancer, and recent discoveries that 1 in 100 adults are seriously allergic to gluten in wheat, the ONUK survey results confirm what nutritionists have been saying for years. Holford’s book, corroborated by the survey results, the New Optimum Nutrition Bible, extols a diet closer to that consumed in Asia, where breast and prostate cancer are virtually unheard of, with less meat, more fish and very little milk and wheat, substituting oats, rice, plus other grains. He also recommends eating more beans, lentils, nuts and seeds.

What results can be achieved by changing your diet? While the survey showed an immensely strong association between diet and health, this is not the same as proving that poor diet causes poor health. So, the third part of the survey set out to change people’s nutrition and measure the results. Twenty nine members of the public, who had taken part on the ONUK survey, attended a two day 100% Health Workshop, learning all about what optimum nutrition really means, while twenty two senior managers received one-to-one consultations with a nutritional therapist. Three months later their health was reassessed and showed a massive improvement. Energy levels had gone up by 25%, the majority of women no longer reported PMS and most of those who were overweight lost weight without trying.

Case studies Jennifer Gosling, a GP manager from Hertfordshire said “I have more energy, my head feels clearer, my skin is better and I generally feel more healthy.” Her overall heath score jumped by over 20%, while her energy had doubled. “The improvement in my alertness was remarkable” said one of the senior managers. Another reported “My indigestion has gone completely” Madge Mason, a teacher from Sutton Coldfield was ‘ delighted with my 7lbs weight loss without any effort at all. I eat less sugar, desire less sweet foods, I am not so hungry and enjoy what I do eat.’ Sue Talbot, a technical manager in Stowmarket, said ‘I have more energy, am focused and my hormones are ‘balanced’ – for the first time in three years! By this I mean my mood is generally good.” Those who stuck closely to the diet and supplement regime recommended had the most health improvements, proving that optimum nutrition really works.

For further information contact:
Emma Honess on e: emmah@ion.ac.uk

Editors Notes

• The ONUK survey of 37,000 people is more than twenty times larger than the Food Standards Agency’s National Diet and Nutrition Survey on 1,724 people, published last year.
• The scientific board of advisors include professors of medicine, nutrition and clinical science.
• All results reported are highly statistically significant at the 95% level of confidence
• The report was a joint venture between the Institute for Optimum Nutrition, which is an independent educational charity, and MyNutrition.co.uk, which developed the web-based nutrition consultancy questionnaire.
• The survey was self-funded and therefore has no commercial bias.
• The ONUK survey (price £11.99) can be purchased from ION T020 8877 9993 ext 213 or visiting
• www.ion.ac.uk/onukorderform.htm