Nutrition advice must be linked to calendar

New research points to a wide variety of food and drink having a different effect on the metabolism depending not just on the time of day but also the time of week, of the month, or even of the year. “Red meats, for instance, are a definite no-no at the beginning of the month,” said Janice Larmay of the Consumables and Comestibles Institute, who carried out the research, "however, they can sometimes be beneficial to your health if eaten around the third week of the month." She went on to say that the body's digestive system has its well known circadian clock but that it also has rhythms that extend over longer periods; explaining: "The gastric and nutritional phases, whilst being most obviously diurnal, we are now discovering are also weekly, monthly and even annual. The body is attuned to the seasons in many ways and that includes diet. We recognise that it may have been frustrating for the general public to have had to hear conflicting advisory reports concerning diet but at least we now have an explanation."

“This is an enormous relief for the nutritionist community.” said Paul Shaw a nutrition expert with Alimentico who welcomed the new findings. “For years now we have been bracketed in with weather forecasters and economists as scientists who play it by ear, hoping for the best, and we're not even in the business of making predictions. It has been extremely embarrassing and confusing to have been saying some foods and some drinks are good for you. Then, a while later, to have to say that they are bad for you, and sometimes, still later on, to have to say that they are good for you after all. Now all these variable, often conflicting, interpretations seem to have been explained. We can say that some food and drink is both good and bad, depending on when it is eaten or drunk. Obviously, consistent moderation is still the wisest policy. However, we will be lobbying food manufacturers to include a Best Consumed On period in the packaging information."