I am a Dietitian-Nutritionist with a Bachelor of Science and Post Grad. in Human Nutrition (4.5 years full time at Sydney Uni) and have a Cert IV in Training & Assessment. I became a dietitian in 1984 — the same year as the famous book “1984”. That book imagined a future where life had drifted into something harmful to humanity. In some ways, our food world has done exactly that.
I’ve witnessed the rise and rise of ultra processed foods (UPF’s) - the new name for “junk food and bevs”, and the epidemic of eating related diseases like excess body fat, T2 Diabetes, Fatty Liver, some cancers and cardiovascular disease that rose with it.

Our food supply changed in the 1970’s and is now dominated by unhealthy food and bev’s. The same industrial innovation that ended famine has gone a step too far — seizing the opportunity to create entire snack, food and beverage industries engineered for profit, not health, known as “BIG FOOD”. It’s like the 6th unnecessary food group.

The truth is unhealthy diets are now the leading cause of early death and frailty worldwide. Epigenetic changes from unhealthy eating can make it harder to lose weight and keep it off over time as well as making kids born into a UPF-world more vulnerable to adult lifestyle diseases. It’s also a threat to our ancestral gut biome - important microbes that have evolved with us over millions of years.

The average Australian now consumes 42% of their daily energy intake from UPF’s. Even toddlers consume 30% of their daily calorie intake as UPF’s at a time when their appetites, food preferences and expectations are being shaped.

CSIRO modelling suggests reducing UPF intake will have the biggest impact on health and foods carbon footprint - more so than reducing meat intake.

Eating habit change is challenging and sustaining it is life changing.

I help people ‘get over the line’ - from trying hard to gaining traction and making progress with personalised adaptive strategy designed to get stronger over time.

Think of me as that gentle tap on your shoulder, until you can do it yourself, reminding you that your goals matter in a world full of distraction and temptation. It’s time to self-correct, combining modern convenience of food processing with traditional health benefits of our ancestral diets and create a new, healthier ‘normal’.

UPF is a bigger problem than most people think. Check out this documentary to find out more.