Laura Thomas, Ph.D. RNutr

Guess who spent months meticulously planning, scheduling, and preparing for a big @substack launch. Only to accidentally hit publish about a week too soon. But hey, after a two year break, ya girl's writing again. HMU in the comments laurathomas.substack.com

Looking to talk to families who are trying to cut-down or reduce the amount of UPFs in the diet. Please share with anyone who can help! forms.gle/p3AoFQHozVNmAo…

@izschifano_ I found your piece in The Tab on school weigh-ins and I wondered if you'd be open to speaking about your experiences for a piece I'm writing? Please feel free to DM or email hello@laurathomasphd.co.uk

@nicolafern Hey you can email me on hello@laurathomasphd.co.uk

R.E. that piece in yesterday's @guardian: literally nobody who has read the evidence -- or perhaps more accurately who has understood the science -- is recommending 30 plants/week. I unpack the study (singular) here: laurathomas.substack.com/p/a-nutrition-…

@HesterCareless @ffoxpack I'll just leave this here laurathomas.substack.com/p/a-nutrition-…

@ffoxpack I find it odd & disappointing that there’s so little scrutiny & critical thought given to the research behind this hype of 30 plants a week, esp in the Guardian which I usually love. Would highly recommend this with Christy Harrison & @laurathomasphd : open.substack.com/pub/rethinking…

Forget your 5-a-day, it's 30 plants a week now, baby. theguardian.com/wellness/2024/…

...here’s where I think The Guardian piece went completely off the rails: laurathomas.substack.com/p/rapid-respon…

The most recent writing on ultra-processed foods in the Guardian is a pretty egregious example, but it’s far from the only one. As a nutritionist who is critical of UPFs and skeptical that ‘food addiction’ adequately captures something novel and separate from disordered eating 2/

It blows my mind when science journalists base an entire piece on a conclusion that wasn’t even part of the study they are reporting on. And then don’t even bother to get the views of someone who is critical of either the science or the narrative. 1/

Today's newsletter by @laurathomasphd is about the sensationalist media discourse surrounding UPF - ultra processed food - and how they unhelpfully binarise and reduce food into easy categories of 'good' and 'bad' vittlesmagazine.com/p/the-hater-ul…

@jlancetgrant @booksbybluebird Very exciting Jodie - congratulations!

Job news! Am delighted to be moving from Comms to Editorial for a brand new phase at @booksbybluebird. I can’t wait to help bring more thought-provoking, tasty and beautiful books into being. thebookseller.com/news/senior-re…

@madscouser I do a lot of kid stuff but not exclusively. I think @danceswithfat is your person though! Her Substack is 10/10 for navigating medical anti-fatness. weightandhealthcare.substack.com

@laurathomasphd do you just do kids stuff now? I've been refused a knee replacement by the NHS as my BMI is over 40 & I'm looking for resources to argue with them! Not that they'll actually listen!

One in four kids are on a diet, research finds. @laurathomasphd explores some of the reasons why: laurathomas.substack.com/p/1-in-4-kids-… For one, "fear of food and fear of fatness is built into the curriculum from preschool onwards."

@chaplainparsons Thank you so much!

@laurathomasphd just finished reading, 'how to just eat' and wanted to say how helpful it has been, thank you.

Part 2 looks at habituation theory, what is 'enough'/'too much' sugar, how you know if kids are sugar preoccupied, and how we can set boundaries w/o reinforcing a sense of scarcity/shame & how we can support them when they overdo it. laurathomas.substack.com/p/fundamentals…

Part 1 considers why we are all so messed up about sugar anyway, how even if we feed infants green foods first, they will never like broccoli as much as cake, and how restriction can create disordered eating: laurathomas.substack.com/p/helping-kids…

For parents, navigating sweets and sugar with their kids is a head fuck, especially with the Nutritionati making claims that giving kids sweets predisposes them to becoming Haribo addicts. In a new 3-part series I'm covering how we can help kids build a +ve relationship w/ sugar

@melciavucco @drchuks_ @RebelBarefoot Thanks Mel - my second book 'How To Just Eat It' signposts which parts are suitable for folks in recovery and has some more detail about how to use it with the whole recovery team too.

@drchuks_ @RebelBarefoot And Just Eat It by @laurathomasphd

📢 **REQUEST** I'm making a list of useful eating disorders resources. What are the most useful organisations, charities, podcasts, blogs, books or websites that you've found?

@Rob_Percival_ @ClareWilsonMed The science is also just...not that strong. laurathomas.substack.com/p/the-truth-ab…

@ClareWilsonMed The science on UPFs pertains to dietary patterns, not individual products. The 'what about baked beans' argument is employed by industry to shift focus away from the commercial determinants of ill-health, away from the power dynamics of the food system, away from the big picture.

This thread fails to show that baked beans are unhealthy. It merely argues we shouldn't eat Heinz baked beans because Heinz is part of Big Food. You could always buy own-brands if that bothers you.