War on Sugar declared by UK’s First Paleo Lifestyle Company

Hannah Soane August 2015

 

People have travelled from the far stretches of England to learn about the benefits of how our ancestors ate prior to the 16th century agricultural revolution.  A nutrition education weekend in Upshire (Essex), run by natural weight loss company Skinni Chilli® was part of the first Paleo-based lifestyle programme in the UK. It combined knowledge of timeworn nutrition with tailored exercise schedules and personal trainers to help the Essex population get itself back into health. 24.5% of Essex’s adult population is now obese, according to the 2015 NHS Health Profile. In addition, excess weight carried in adults is considerably worse than the national average, and there were nearly 70,000 reported cases of Diabetes in the county last year.

 

Paleo diets are based on the types of foods presumed to have been eaten by early humans (consisting chiefly of meat, fish, vegetables, and fruit) although a lecture on Saturday showed how it could be adapted for vegetarians and vegans. The participants, who came from a wide variety of ages and backgrounds, were asked to challenge the current public scapegoating of fats. Instead, focus was put on the colossal amount of sugar in modern diets. ‘If you want evidence that the human body is not designed to consume that amount of sugar, look at archaeological digs. All skeletons buried prior to the agricultural revolution still have their teeth to this day. Now we have toddlers with fillings.’ said the company’s founder, Judy Benoit Milner. Some participants were initially intimidated or sceptical about the advice to ‘embrace natural fats’ given by the organisation’s Head of Nutrition, Francesca Liparoti. Although by the end of the heavy schedule- which included cooking demonstrations, walks, boot camps and lectures (nutrition/exercise/psychological wellbeing) - the jury had been turned. ‘I’d just always been told that fats were bad!’ laughed one participant, Anna, 43 of West Hampstead, at the end of the weekend.

 

Skinni Chilli® Healthy Living Club was founded in 2014 by Judy, a 53 year old mother-of-five from Chingford. After years of nutritional research and salsa (and a resulting 5 stone weight loss) she founded the company with the hope of helping others to rediscover the way their bodies are supposed to be fuelled. She explained ‘It all changed when I was advised to challenge everything I’d ever been told about food’. The success of the programme has led to further dates being booked, (the next being the 22nd-23rd August) leading all the way to December 2015. So the war on sugar is only just beginning!