[Music plays and a divided circle appears in the centre of the screen and various digital images flash through showing images of activities CSIRO is involved with]
[Image changes to show a rear view of an obese person walking through a crowd]
Prof. Grant Brinkworth: The obesity epidemic in Australia is a major health issue.
[Image changes to show a child eating hot chips and then the image changes to show Prof. Grant Brinkworth talking to the camera and text appears: Prof. Grant Brinkworth]
One-third of children and two-thirds of Australian adults are considered either overweight or obese.
[Image changes to show Dr Pennie Taylor sitting in a chair and talking to the camera and then the image changes to show a female pricking her finger for a blood glucose test and text appears: Dr Pennie Taylor]
Dr Pennie Taylor: Obesity is an issue because it actually increases our risk of chronic disease such as cardiovascular disease and Type 2 Diabetes.
[Images move through to show a picture of different types of junk food, a hand dipping a chip into sour cream on a tray of junk food, and then Grant talking to the camera]
Prof. Grant Brinkworth: Poor dietary choices is consuming too many energy dense, nutrient poor, discretionary junk foods which are high in added sugars, salts, and saturated fat.
[Images move through of nutrition facts panels on the end of boxes of food, a female with a meal using an iPhone while food calorie amounts scroll through on the screen, and then Pennie talking]
Dr Pennie Taylor: Our community at the moment are faced with this overwhelming amount of information around diet and exercise and lifestyle and it’s been coming at a rate of knots where people aren’t being able to interpret what is the right information and what’s not.
[Images move through of Pennie working on a laptop, a line graph on the laptop screen, and Pennie’s finger tracing along the line graph on the screen]
So, what we’re wanting to do is actually get through to that evidenced based information that we know what works for people.
[Image changes to show Grant talking to the camera and then the image changes to show Grant working on a laptop and then the camera zooms in on the information on the laptop screen]
Prof. Grant Brinkworth: Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes are major national health challenges and CSIRO’s mandate is to develop solutions and strategies to tackle our major national issues.
[Image changes to show Pennie talking to the camera and then images move through of Pennie working on a patient and the camera zooms in on the patient’s arm]
Dr Pennie Taylor: So, what we did a few years ago is we actually ran a clinical trial and we looked at the effects of our dietary pattern on people living with Type 2 Diabetes.
[Images move through of different types of low carbohydrate foods on wooden boards, Penny assembling a bowl of food, and then Grant talking to the camera]
Prof. Grant Brinkworth: The CSIRO Low Carb Diet is an effective eating plan that’s lower in carbohydrate, higher in protein and healthy fats, that is shown to be effective for sustained long term weight loss, improved blood glucose control, as well as reduce diabetes medication requirements.
[Image changes to show Pennie talking to the camera]
Dr Pennie Taylor: So, what we’re doing is partnering with Australian food manufacturers and retail outlets to put these foods into environments where they’re easy to access.
[Image changes to show nuts, grains and an avocado on a plate and the CSIRO logo and text appears inset: CSIRO, Meal Suitable For The CSIRO Low-Carb Diet*]
So, the CSIRO Impact Mark is a trademark for CSIRO
[Image changes to show boxes of pre-prepared meals and dishes of food and then the image changes to show a view looking down on a variety of meals in dishes and in pre-prepared packs]
that we are putting on some pre-prepared meals that fit within the construct of the CSIRO Low Carb Diet.
[Image changes to show the cover of the CSIRO Low-Carb book and then the image changes to show Pennie looking through the book and then the image changes to show Grant talking to the camera]
Prof. Grant Brinkworth: We’ve also translated these scientific principles into an easy step-by-step guide book series to ensure that everyone can have access to this scientific research and gain the health benefits.
[Image changes to show Pennie talking to the camera and then the image changes to show Pennie pointing to diagrams of physical exercises on a laptop screen]
Dr Pennie Taylor: We do know exercise is really important just for mental health.
[Image changes to show Pennie talking to the camera again]
But also for Type 2 Diabetes, when you’re exercising you’re getting your muscles working and what that helps to do is actually pull out the glucose from your blood and use it through to your muscles. So, you’re burning up appropriate energy.
[Images move through to show Grant working on a laptop, a view looking down on food on a table, Pennie looking through the CSIRO Low-Carb book, and Grant talking to the camera]
Prof. Grant Brinkworth: Rigorous clinical trials at CSIRO have shown that this plan can be used as a long-term solution to achieve sustained weight loss as well as improvements in blood glucose control and is not just a short term fix.
[Music plays and the image changes to show the CSIRO logo and text on a white screen: CSIRO, Australia’s National Science Agency]
Be Fit Food is the first provider to partner with CSIRO to develop and deliver meals that have been specifically designed to comply with the CSIRO Low Carb Diet.
The meals will feature a front of pack labelling mark signalling they are a meal suitable for the CSIRO Low Carb Diet. Ready meals featuring the mark have been formulated and passed independent tests to ensure strict benchmarks have been met, making them compliant with the food and nutrient specifications of the science-based CSIRO Low Carb Diet.
CSIRO’s Senior Research Scientist Grant Brinkworth said through decades of nutrition and health research CSIRO understood the barriers that can hold people back from improving their diet quality.
“We know that lifestyle factors like time and budget pressures and the growing rate of single person households are fuelling a strong demand for ready meals,” Professor Brinkworth said.
“In Australia, our diet is getting worse. Of the top 20 causes of death in Australia, 14 are lifestyle related, with Type 2 diabetes one of the fastest growing chronic health conditions contributing to these startling numbers.
“As people are seeking convenient food solutions, it is important to make the healthy solution the easy option.”
The CSIRO Low Carb Diet is an energy-controlled, nutritionally complete meal plan that is lower in carbohydrate and higher in protein and healthy (unsaturated) fats.
When compared to ready meals currently available in the Australian market, the meals displaying the Meal Suitable for the CSIRO Low Carb Dietmark on average contain 68 per cent less carbohydrate and 55 per cent less sodium*.
“In a world full of so much nutrition noise, few diets have undergone the type of rigorous clinical testing and research that the CSIRO Low-Carb Diet has, Professor Brinkworth said.”
Clinical studies have shown that the CSIRO Low Carb Diet and Lifestyle Plan effectively delivers sustained long-term weight loss and greater improvements in blood glucose control, and reduction in diabetes medication requirements as well as risk factors for heart disease compared to a traditional high carbohydrate, low fat diet.
Be Fit Food Co-Founder and CEO, Kate Save welcomed the partnership with CSIRO.
“The new Be Fit Food Lifestyle Range has been specifically formulated to follow the exact science of the CSIRO Low Carb Diet. The range is a tasty and convenient way to enjoy the benefits of the CSIRO Low Carb Diet, without having to cook,” Ms Save said.
“Our philosophy is that food should be the first medicine in the pursuit of optimal health and prevention and treatment of weight-related disease. We’re delighted to partner with CSIRO to deliver delicious and nutritionally complete meal options to help people achieve healthier lifestyles.”
The first ready meals compliant with the CSIRO Low Carb Diet are available today. The Be Fit Food Lifestyle Range includes: Cheesy Beef & Vegetable Ragout, Indian Fish Curry, Indonesian Satay Chicken, Lamb Kofta with Middle Eastern Quinoa, Slow Cooked Sicilian Beef, Vegetable & Chicken Cauliflower Rice, Vegetarian Masala, and Yellow Chicken Curry. Meals can be ordered from www.befitfood.com.au/lifestyle
For more information about the CSIRO Low Carb Diet please visit: www.csiro.au/lcd
Companies interested in knowing more about this initiative and related partnership opportunities should contact Harry Rumpler
Media contacts
- CSIRO: Bianca Frew, bianca.frew@csiro.au, 0476 858 973
- Be Fit Food: Madeline Garisto, madeline@thatcomms.com, 0403 414 248
Media Assets available on Dropbox
