Checkout Choices

Can't keep up with the health status of key foods in your diet? Our update on what's hot and what's not will guide you safely down the supermarket aisles.

You think you're eating all the right things, then lo and behold, new research pinpoints one of your favourite 'healthy' foods as the new dietary foe. Happily, it cuts both ways, as regular backflips in scientific thinking mean that once-blacklisted fare often finds its way back into favour. Here's the inside track on the foods now enjoying a fresh approval rating and others that are falling from grace.

COOLING DOWN

DIET SOFT DRINKS

Promoted as the zero-sugar alternative to the real deal, artificially sweetened drinks have always been controversial, which is largely due to safety concerns (unproven) about their use of aspartame. They are now in the spotlight for a different reason, the question being whether they actually cause weight gain. Some health professionals now argue that a diet soft drink is surrounded by a ‘health halo’ – the saintly glow of having made a virtuous choice that frees you up to pair your low-joule drink with a chocolate mud cake, resulting in a massive kilojoule intake. Recent animal studies also link diet soft drinks with appetite stimulation and constant cravings for another sweet fix.

DELI MEATS