MyNutriWeb invited James Collier, author of the new book Well Fed, to share insights into his career, his contemplative nutrition philosophy, and the simple yet impactful changes that everyone can make to improve health and the planet. Read on to discover James’ journey and his practical tips for embracing a more sustainable way of eating. Its an intriguing read – a must for all who care about food and its impact on health society and planet.
Can you tell us about your journey from starting out as a nutrition professional to becoming an entrepreneur?
After graduating from the University of Surrey in 1995, I worked as a dietitian in the NHS for seven years. First in Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, Lincolnshire, then at Northampton General Hospital.
I started my nutrition consultancy in 1999 which kind of morphed into me working in the bodybuilding and fitness industry and I co-founded the discussion forum MuscleTalk in 2000. As well as providing nutrition advice to strength athletes, my work in the bodybuilding world also included me running events and a gym clothing brand, among other failed ventures.
However, I continued my nutrition consultancy throughout, providing advice to clients for weight control, food intolerance, cardiac rehab and sports performance, as well as writing articles, giving seminars and helping care homes with their meal plans.
It was through my consultancy that, in June 2014, Julian Hearn emailed me with his idea to create a nutritionally complete powdered meal. Twelve months later, Huel was born and he asked me to be his co-founder.
What inspired you to focus on nutrition and sustainability?
I put my interest in nutrition down to two primary reasons. Firstly, when I was eight-years-old, my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. As well as the conventional treatments, she changed her diet and lifestyle. She ate a vegetarian diet and there was a lot of talk at home about good nutrition and I was fortunate to have good meals prepared for me. Being brought up in a health and nutrition focused household has been a key influence in my career choice.
The other major factor was down to my adolescent interest in bodybuilding. As a kid, I was skinny and bullied. It really bothered me so when I turned 16, I found solace in the gym. Good nutrition is paramount in muscle growth and I wanted to do anything I could to build my physique, so more nutrition knowledge could only help!
When it came to deciding what to study at uni, it was a toss up between economics and nutrition – logic vs. passion. Passion won. As it turned out, I made the right choice after all!
My interest in sustainability came only after we’d started Huel. Huel was originally created with nutrition at the forefront, but the more we saw that Huel could help address environmental concerns, I realised that I needed to massively improve my knowledge in this area. I’m a bit of an all-round science nerd, so learning about the environment fits in nicely.
What led you to write Well Fed, and what do you hope readers will take away from it?
As I explored the link between food and the environment, I felt that, in order to be true to my values, I had to change my own diet. This was driven by the fact that my food choices impact others – both humans and non-humans – and the planet. So, in 2019, I decided to limit my intake of animal products to around 10% of energy intake over a week and to avoid intensively farmed red meat and poultry.
During the pandemic lockdown in 2020, I got bored and decided to write a few blog articles, three of which were about this style of eating. My strategy needed a name – ‘contemplative nutrition’ – and the articles covered the rationale behind it. Then, in February 2021, I felt that the three contemplative nutrition articles in no way did any justice to what I wanted to share and decided that contemplative nutrition should be a book. So I put my head down and in July 2022 I finished the initial draft.
Well Fed is about contemplative nutrition: a dietary strategy that starts with the individual. But why should people eat contemplatively? My goal is for readers to pause and consider – just a little – why they choose the foods they do. Simply put: I want people to feel empowered.
Can you explain your contemplative nutrition philosophy and its practical implications?
Contemplative nutrition is an evidence-based dietary approach for living in the Anthropocene. It’s a dietary philosophy with rational decision-making at its core. Contemplative nutrition offers a solution to the problems of the modern food system, pointing to the key considerations, and conveniently lays them out in five pillars:
- Food and our physical health and performance
- Nutrition for our mental wellbeing
- Sustainable eating
- Ethical consideration
- Eating in the company of others
Contemplative nutrition provides a desperately needed solution that will, at least in part, address the impact of our food system on issues relating to the physical and mental health of individuals, the climate emergency and the questionable farming systems that contribute to the unnecessary suffering of animals, while allowing sufficient production of affordable, convenient and enjoyable food that will satisfy human desires.
To simultaneously acknowledge crucial modern health, ecological and ethical concerns, individuals must make considered and reason-based decisions. If we don’t change the way we view food, we’ll witness worsening levels of metabolic disease, mental wellbeing and ecological disasters that will ultimately affect all of humankind, animals and the environment. Contemplative nutrition starts with the individual.
You advocate for small, simple changes to our diets. Can you share one example that’s both impactful and easy to adopt?
Of the 20 key takeaways summarised in the final chapter, one of the main ones is to reduce the amount of animal-derived foods we eat. The Western average is 28-30% of calories coming from animals (meat, fish, dairy and eggs). This can easily be reduced to a maximum of 10% over a week’s food intake. This significantly lowers an individual’s food-derived carbon emissions. In practice, this could mean a couple of days a week with almost no animal products, limiting meat to just one meal in a day and having smaller portions of meat at meals, making up protein intake from legumes, nuts or plant-based alternatives to meat and milk.
What’s the best way for someone to begin eating more plant-based meals?
Kitchen staples should include canned pulses and vegetable stock cubes. With these you can make anything using up whatever veg you have in the house. Another key focus of Well Fed is to minimise food waste. Add any veggies (use up whatever is in the fridge) to a pot along with the pulses, stock cubes and water. You can add potatoes, too, or you can serve with rice or bread. You don’t need a recipe book to make a tasty, healthy and sustainable meal.
What are your top tips for increasing fibre intake in a way that’s sustainable and manageable?
There’s a list of easy ways to boost fibre intake in Chapter 4. These include:
- Bulk out your meals with pulses, like beans and lentils.
- Choose wholemeal or granary bread, wholewheat pasta and brown rice.
- Add berries to salads and cereals.
- Nuts and seeds are packed with fibre and make great snacks.
- Chia seeds and flaxseed can be added to salads, cereals and smoothies.
- Other fibre rich snack ideas include salad sticks, oatcakes and hummus, dried fruit and avocado.
In the book, you highlight that our food choices affect others. Can you explain what you mean by this?
While the responsibility to tackle human rights issues in supply chains primarily lies with the food industry and governments, much of the onus lies with shoppers. Businesses are influenced by customers. We can look for companies that are taking action to understand the issues in their supply chain and actively addressing them. Those that demonstrate transparency about their supply chains will have codes of conduct for their suppliers, conduct audits of their supplier’s performance, require suppliers to hold ethical certifications, publish a modern day slavery statement, among other actions. Through simple shopping choices, you can demonstrate to the food industry, governments and fellow consumers the value you ascribe to fair supply chains.
What dietary change do you think has the biggest potential to reduce food-related emissions?
Compared to consuming a typical Western diet, switching to one plant-based meal a day will reduce your carbon footprint by 35%; switching to two will cut it by 50%. The main greenhouse gas from animal farming is methane which has a much larger environmental impact than carbon. Over 40% of the methane resulting from human activity is from agriculture; a large amount from food production and waste.
Beef emits the most greenhouse gases, but ranges from 105kg carbon dioxide equivalents per 100g protein to 9kg. Yet the best beef still fares worse than the worst plants. So by swapping beef for plant alternatives can have a very significant impact.
This is actually really encouraging news because it means something as simple as changing the way you eat will have a very notable impact on limiting the rise of global temperatures. This is the crux of my message: small and simple changes to your lifestyle can massively help the planet and benefit your own health.
What do you hope Well Fed will achieve in terms of influencing individual habits and the wider food system?
Every action can have an impact. And changing the way you eat needn’t be hard. To eat contemplatively is to consider what you’re eating. By becoming aware of the food cues people can notice that their tastes, impulses, traditions, values and anxieties are urging them to chase foods that aren’t always the wisest choices for their health, others or the environment. Contemplative nutrition also involves embracing, not fearing, food innovations; but the right technologies: ones that enhance the nutritional quality of diets and minimise the impact of what you eat on others and the environment.
I’m urging people to be a little more “we-focused” and slightly less “me-focused”. Through contemplative eating we can impact each other. By following the guidelines we can all contribute to a food system that moves in the direction of “better”. But contemplation needn’t be hard; after all, we don’t want to have to think about our food choice too much.
However, there’s a reason that eating for your own physical health and mental wellbeing are the first two contemplative pillars. You must prioritise your own health. If you’re not in good health, how can you take care of others? “A diet isn’t sustainable if it can’t sustain an individual.” (a quote from Well Fed).
What next?
This year my goal is to continue to share my ideas via podcasts, interviews, seminars, webinars and social media. Crucially, however, I’ll listen to feedback about the ideas I’ve presented in Well Fed. This will enable me to refine my message and learn more from others. I have another couple of books in my head expanding on themes from Well Fed. In the meantime, some of these will be explored in articles on my Substack which may morph into future books. Otherwise, there’s always a lot going on at Huel that keeps me busy.
Disclaimber
This blog has been written in collaboration with the Sustainable Nutrition team at Huel and reviewed by the MyNutriWeb nutrition and dietetic team.
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