 Hello, I'm Dr Emma Beckett. I am a lecturer and researcher in food science and human nutrition at the University of Newcastle. I also have four of my own degrees from this university. The Bachelor of Biomedical Science with Honours, a Graduate Certificate in Clinical Epidemiology, a Master's in Science Management and a PhD in Food Science. I personally think food and nutrition science is the best of all the sciences. It's got all of the sciences right into one, physics, chemistry, biology, you name it, and everyone eats. And so that means there's lots of opportunities for us to help make the world a healthier and happier place. But there's also lots of misinformation and marketing out there. So today I'm here to help you by answering the top four questions that people ask me about food and nutrition. Number one, should I drink full fat or low fat milk? Well, the answer is it depends. If you look at it as a straight swap, then yes, you could save some calories. In a one big milky latte like this, you could save yourself 350 kilojoules in one of these by swapping from full fat to skim. And if you did that for every day in the year, then that's going to add up to about three and a half kilograms of body weight. So that sounds great and like a pro for skim. But there is some evidence now that people who drink full fat dairy milk actually eat less and therefore consume less energy and way less overall. The theory is that this is because the fat that's in the dairy helps us stay feeling fuller for longer. And so we eat less. So the bottom line, the milk you choose is probably not the deal breaker on the quality of your diet. So pick the one that you like and just don't overdo it on those milky coffees. Number two, which is the best diet for weight loss? Well, again, it depends. There are so many studies now on low fat versus low carb versus it's a mint fasting versus plant based only versus paleo and keto and everything else. All of them have great results for some people in the short term, and none of them have great results for most people in the long term. And that's because restrictive diets can be really hard to stick to. So really, the best diet for weight loss is the one that works for you and your lifestyle. Don't fast in the mornings if you get hangry. Don't go vegan if you love meat. Don't quit carbs if they make you happy. The quicker you drop weight, the harder it is to keep it off. So don't go for fast results on a fad diet. If you're cutting out whole food groups or restricting yourself to just one food, then you might be missing out on the essential nutrients that you need to be well now and in later life. Number three, which are the healthiest fruits and vegetables? So yeah, every fruit and vegetable is different. But despite what the marketers tell you, there are no super foods and you don't need to spend extra money on the ones being marketed as being super healthy. Just eat any fruit and vegetables. They can be fresh, frozen, even canned and induced. All fruit and veg are good fruit and veg. For the best chance at health, go for variety because every color represents a different key set of nutrients and bioactive compounds. So go ahead and eat the rainbow. Ultimately, most of us don't eat enough fruit and veg. So just eat more of them and stress less about which particular ones, provided you don't have any allergies or medical reasons, of course. If you want to make healthy choices, though, just make sure you don't go for the fried options of those vegetables like potato chips for most of your choices. Finally, number four, what do I need to do for my gut health? Do I need a probiotic? Gut health is absolutely on trend. The health of the microbes that live in our guts have now been linked to just about every disease that you can think of. Probiotics are live bacteria that we can eat or take in a supplement that can colonize in the gut and give you health benefits. But the science on whether or not you need a supplement or any particular probiotic foods is still a little bit undecided. What's probably more important is that you nurture the good bacteria that you have so that they can dominate and give you the health benefits. You can do this by eating a diet that's high in prebiotics. Prebiotics are bacteria food. You can get plenty of prebiotics from eating a range of fruits, vegetables and whole grains, things we already know we should be eating. And you can avoid damaging your microbiota or encouraging growth of bad bacteria by avoiding doing things like eating too much junk food, drinking too much alcohol and smoking, things we already know we should do less of if we want to concentrate on being healthier. So those are my top four most commonly asked questions on food and nutrition science. I hope you've enjoyed watching today. Maybe you've learned something. If you've been looking at the food behind me and wondering if I'm about to have a party or if I eat really well in my office, these are actually all fake food props that we use in our research here at the university. So actually none of this is edible.