CSIRO is teaming up with Australian food manufacturers and retailers to make it easier for time-poor Australians to choose nutritious ready meals consistent with its low carb diet and lifestyle plan.
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.
CSIRO said 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,” it said in a statement.
CSIRO’s Senior Research Scientist Grant Brinkworth said the project aims to break the barriers that 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.
Professor Brinkworth said 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 when compared to ready meals currently available in the Australian market.
“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,” he added.
Be Fit Food Co-Founder and CEO, Kate Save welcomed the partnership with CSIRO, saying that clinical studies have shown that the CSIRO Low Carb Diet and Lifestyle Plan delivers sustained long-term weight loss and greater improvements in blood glucose control, as well as reduction in diabetes medication requirements and risk factors for heart disease compared to a traditional high carbohydrate, low fat diet.
“The new Be Fit Food Lifestyle Range has been specifically formulated to follow the exact science of the CSIRO Low Carb Diet,” Mr Save said continued.
“The range is a tasty and convenient way to enjoy the benefits of the CSIRO Low Carb Diet, without having to cook.
“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 and can be ordered from https://befitfood.com.au/pages/lifestyle.
