Astbury

Ruth Astbury, a therapeutic and hormone coach in Denbighshire, and two pelvic health physiotherapists in Gwynedd, Faye Cunningham and Lizzie Evans, will share their experiences on their new podcast Oops!

Dr Nerys Astbury, a diet and obesity expert at the Nuffield Department of Primary Health Care Sciences at the University of Oxford, says that “while improving the diet and reducing body weight of the population will undoubtedly reduce the number of people who develop conditions like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease and certain cancers, the role of food processing in a healthy diet… is not clear”.

The kind of study needed to prove definitively that UPFs cause health problems would be extremely complex, suggests Dr Nerys Astbury, a senior researcher in diet and obesity at Oxford University.

“It would be expensive research, but you could see changes from the diets relatively quickly,” Dr Astbury says.

“If you make a cake or brownie at home and compare it with one that comes already in a packet that’s got taste enhancers, do I think there’s any difference between those two foods? No, I don’t,” Dr Astbury tells me.