Functional versus natural foods

Presenter - We've been talking about functional foods here - anything from probiotics to Omega 3 - but there are surely a lot of natural foodstuffs that don't need meddling with. Aren't we in some ways playing with food and probably not doing it in quite the right way?

Azmina - I think that's a really good thought process there, because actually most real foods are functional. I mean, think of lean red meat. It's high in vitamin B12, it's high in zinc, it's high in iron - really good for you. Think of real fish. You know, protein, calcium, again the Omega 3s. Nuts are a fantastic food which naturally lower your blood cholesterol. So having a handful of almonds a day, for example, has been shown to reduce your bad blood cholesterol.

Presenter - Really? And yet I thought they were fatty?

Azmina - And they are fatty, but it's the right type of fat. It's the unsaturated fat that's in there. And they are fattening, that's why we're looking at just a handful. But, you know, there are natural foods that are really good for you. Porridge and vegetables etc.

Presenter - It depends what you add to the porridge, doesn't it?

Azmina - What do you add to your porridge?

Presenter - Well, a little bit of golden syrup occasionally is very nice. I do add yoghurt, actually. I love porridge with a bit of yoghurt in it, which is great, so that's a great combination. When I was a kid we used to put a lot of brown sugar or white sugar on porridge, so you did actually sweeten it up, or put salt into porridge.

Azmina - Well, I'm Scottish, so I've been brought up on porridge but I used to make it with evaporated milk, would you believe it, in my young days. It's delicious though! But you've got to think again about how often you're having this. I don't think it's practical for people to make porridge with no sugar, or with no salt, if you like salty porridge. So, you know, it's just about how much are you using. If you're going to add fruit, fantastic. If one or two teaspoons of sugar makes you eat the porridge, go for it, that's what I would say.

Presenter - OK. Let's just quickly wrap up this real in-depth analysis of functional foods. Do you think these claims really are credible? You seem to be saying they are. I mean, you seem to be very positive about functional foods.

Azmina - Well, there are European food regulations that they have to abide by legally in order to put what they do on their packaging. I think they have a use amongst certain people, so if you've got raised blood cholesterol I think they're quite useful. So think about whether they really make a difference to you and your health condition. Don't rely on them. If you can have a variety of foods, you're probably fine.

Presenter - So in terms of who the foods are for, it's really suited to your individual needs. Don't think you've got to go out and buy every single thing, but just be aware of what your nutritional needs are and these really can help and make food eating enjoyable and, of course, functional. What about our change of habits? If we are pretty healthy in the way we're eating and living, do we have to change a lot and take all this on board?

Azmina - The fact is, I don't think we're pretty healthy in the way we're eating and living, and that's why manufacturers are coming in because we've got these rises in incidence of diseases. Yes, it's a business, but actually some of the foods they bring out are really helpful - lower fat products for example, lower salt products, less sugar in your canned beans or whatever. I think these are really helpful foods. So we're not actually doing it right and the more we learn and know about the basics, the better equipped we'll be.