One in four (26%) people have chosen to ignore government diet and nutrition advice, due to being confused about health and food advice was revealed in research out yesterday (7Nov). Instead millions of Brits now rely on ‘pop-science’ advice from family and friends.

The research from juice and juice drink brand ‘Minute Maid’1 reveals that amid claim and counter claim, a worrying number of Brits are rejecting basic healthy eating maxims:
One in six (17%) don’t believe that being overweight can lead to a heart attack or stroke
A fifth (21%) don’t believe the basic ‘five-a-day’ guide on fruit and veg2
Less than half (43%) believe they need vitamins to keep the body functioning
Conversely, a fifth DO believe that eating an apple a day keeps the doctor away

Most Brits (31%), shockingly have confessed that they rely on their family and friends as well as other media sources, such as TV programmes (25%) and 47% of people say that they rely on the internet to guide them about healthy eating. This is instead of a GP or nutritionist. Leading expert nutritionist says “, Nigel Denby says “It’s perhaps not surprising that there’s often confusion around some of these issues, particularly when people rely on hearsay and information from family and friends rather than heeding expert advice - often it simply boils down to the fact that health messages can be complicated, confusing and often conflicting”.

60% of shoppers revealed that they struggle to make the right choice in the supermarket, this also is because of the confusion about the advice constantly been thrown at them.

Health alone isn’t a good enough reason for many people to take notice of advice on healthy eating – more than half (57%) say they would take notice if it was easier and one in eight (12%) would only be interested if it made them more attractive.

Important messages aren’t getting through because they’re too complicated, are the concerns of some nutritionists. Expert, Nigel Denby said ““It’s understandable that some people are confused about how to eat a healthy diet because there’s so much information out there, but if people ignore the basics of healthy eating then the UK could face long term health consequences, such as obesity, heart disease and diabetes.”

Commenting on the research, Robert Spencer, Brand Director from ‘Minute Maid’ said: “The research is concerning because in spite of good intentions it looks like people don’t know which way to turn when it comes to good food. Even those who do buy fresh fruit and veg don’t always get the benefits as a third us don’t get round to eating it and end up throwing it out.”

The ‘Minute Maid’ ‘Keeping Healthy Simple’ campaign aims to provide clear advice in relation to benefits and a range of easy to understand, great tasting juice and juice drinks – a 250ml serving also provides one of those all important ‘five a day’.