The big fat diet con: The unsavoury truth about so-called low fat products

Do you know the difference between low-fat, low-calorie, lean and light? Do you wonder what ‘healthy’ on a label really means? Our investigation shows that many so-called light or healthy versions of major food brands are often very similar to the original. 

To make low fat foods taste better, manufacturers boost levels of other substances which have health issues, like sugar and salt, so the foods often end up being less good for you than the original versions. 

Here, Alex Renton, with the help of Catherine Collins, the principal dietician at St Georges’ Hospital in London, takes us through the diet food minefield...

Slimmer’s sandwiches 

Ready-made sandwiches seem like a healthy lunch option, but they can hide scary amounts of fat, sugar and salt. Supermarkets now push healthy versions, but these may not be very different. Tesco’s Light Choices Ploughman’s is sold with the boast ‘30 per cent less fat than the Standard Ploughman’s’. But that should just warn you to avoid the standard sandwich.

The ‘light’ one does not meet government guidelines for low-fat and it still contains 4g of saturated fat - the most unhealthy kind - which is 20 per cent of the recommended amount an adult should eat in 24 hours. There’s also 1.6g of salt in the sandwich. 

Catherine Collins says: ‘Sandwiches can be a minefield when it comes to healthy eating. This is 300kcal, where they can be up to 500kcal, but it has triple the saturated fat content of a standard tuna sandwich and almost a third of your daily guideline salt, easily boosted to almost half your salt intake if you add a bag of crisps to the meal.’

Healthy crisps 

Low-fat does have an official meaning: Less than 3g of fat per 100g. Many products call themselves low in calories, light or healthy, when they’re actually not low in fat at all. 

The Boots Shapers range of crisps - directly pitched at the weight- conscious - boasts of being less than 100 calories and ‘free from hydrogenated fats’. But the crisps contain 22g of fat per 100g - which actually makes them ‘high in fat’ according to the Government’s regulations. 

‘Free from hydrogenated fats’ is a red herring: No reputable manufacturer still uses these dangerous fats. 

Walkers Baked cheese and onion crisps look designed for dieters and say ‘70 per cent less fat’ in big letters. But they’re not officially low-fat and they have only a few fewer calories than normal Walkers cheese and onion crisps. This is because the baked crisps have more than three times as much sugar as the regular ones, to replace the taste lost by removing oils. 

The Boots Shapers range of crisps boasts of being less than 100 calories and 'free from hydrogenated fats'. But the crisps contain 22g of fat per 100g - which actually makes them 'high in fat'

Catherine Collins says: ‘Differences in pack sizes can really boost calorie intake - the Shapers are a good choice for dieters as a substitute for the higher calorie savoury snacks, but the Walkers Baked crisps don’t offer much advantage.’

Light and lite spreads 

These words have no meaning in law, and manufacturers tend to use them to get a health premium from a product that may not be very different or much healthier than the original. 

Hellmann’s Mayonnaise comes in three types - Real, Light and Lighter than Light. The two health brands do indeed deliver less fat, but it’s still a lot - just two spoons of the Light Mayonnaise has 8g of fat, more than ten per cent of a woman’s daily guideline amount. 

When you remove fats, you lose taste: manufacturers make up for that by increasing the sugar and salt levels. The ‘lighter than light’ Hellman’s Mayonnaise has 2.75g of salt in 100g - nearly twice as much as is in the classic Hellman’s. And it has more than three times as much sugar (4.8g per 100ml to 1.3g per 100ml). 

Similarly Philadelphia Light Soft Cheese has half the fat of the full version. But it also has 30 per cent more sugar. 

Philadelphia Light Soft Cheese has half the fat of the full version. But it also has 30 per cent more sugar

Catherine Collins says: ‘Light and similar terms are weasel words for when a product doesn’t match official terminology for a reduced fat or low fat food. Many people think they are low in calories but this is often not the case.’

Fruit juice 

Would you drink something that has as much sugar as a cola at breakfast?

Unknowingly, many of us do - some of the healthiest and most expensive fruit juices have an amazing amount of sugar. 

Waitrose’s pressed British apple and pear juice is more than ten per cent sugar - an average 250ml glass contains 26.5g, more than five teaspoonfuls and exactly the same amount as a glass of Coca-Cola. Ocean Spray Cranberry Classic - which boasts of its healthy levels of atioxidants and Vitamin C - has even more: 29g of sugar in each glass. Three glasses of it and you would be at the limit of an adult’s guideline daily amount of sugar. 

Often manufacturers boast that these sugars in fruit products are ‘natural’ - but there is little practical difference between the sugar from fruit and from out of a sack - indeed, fructose, fruit sugar, contains triglycerides that cause heart disease. 

Catherine Collins says: ‘150ml of juice counts as one of your five a day, but will be higher in sugars than an equivalent piece of fruit. Some fruits - like cranberry - are so bitter that they need sweetening to make them palatable.’

Healthy soft drinks

The Water with Lemons and Limes drink - sold at the front of many High Street shops - looks healthy and boasts of being a ‘real fruit thirst quencher’, and ‘not full of flavourings or colourings’. Yet it has 9.5g of sugar - two teaspoons - in each small bottle.

These are just listed as ‘carbohydrate’ in the nutritional information. The company has been told off for this sort of thing before by the Advertising Standards Agency in 2008 because it failed to mention that each bottle of its ‘natural’ water had up to 89g per litre of added sugar in it. 

Catherine Collins says: ‘Flavoured water is seen as a tastier low-calorie alternative to plain water or fizzy drinks - but as in this case the added sugar adds nearly 40kcals to this hydrating drink. Choose plain water instead.’ 

Healthy smoothies 

Most smoothies contain more than ten per cent sugar from the fruit ¿ there¿s 30g, or six teaspoons in a glass of Innocent strawberry and banana pure fruit smoothie

The posh health brand Innocent boasts that its smoothies contain ‘fruit, fruit juice and nothing else’. But most of them contain more than ten per cent sugar from the fruit - there’s 30g, or six teaspoons in a glass of Innocent strawberry and banana pure fruit smoothie - which is a third of the recommended daily amount for an adult. 

Catherine Collins says: ‘Smoothies can contribute up to two of your five-a-day requirements, but are a high sugar alternative to eating fruit.’ 

Breakfast cereals 

A director of the Kellogg’s cereal company recently said: ‘If you take the salt out, you might be better off eating the cardboard carton for taste.’ 

Healthy breakfast cereals all have more salt and sugar than standard ones, because when you lower fat levels, you lose taste. Most cereals have more salt and sugar in them than health professionals like.

Remember that milk contains sugar too - 100ml of semi-skimmed, enough for a small bowl of cereal, has a teaspoonful. 

This can be the case even in ‘healthy’ breakfast cereals. Quaker Oats Granola promises on the front of the box ‘30-50 per cent less fat’ than other brands and a logo boasting ‘Nature’s Way to Lower Cholesterol’. Yet a 50g serving has 13g of sugar, nearly three teaspoonfuls, making the cereal way over the official ‘high in sugar’ threshold.

And it may boast of having less fat, but at 4.4g per serving that’s quite a bit above the ‘low in fat’ level. For comparison, ordinary Weetabix - perhaps the healthiest of the popular cereals - has 1g of fat in 50g, and only 2.2g of sugar. 

Catherine Collins says: ‘Many of the ‘cluster’ wholegrain cereals are higher in fat, with even a small portion weighing double that of a flaked cereal portion.

‘You should bear this in mind if you’re trying to lose weight.’

Snack bars 

Kellogg’s Special K is a breakfast cereal aimed at slimmers. But the name is now used to sell snack bars that contain little fat but an amazing amount of sugar. 

A 22g Kelloggs Special K Bliss bar boasts of having less than 99 calories. But more than a third of its weight is sugar - twice as much as in some ice creams and, at 35g in 100g, more than double the Government’s ‘high in sugar’ level. 

And less than 99 calories in 22g is not much of a boast - officially, ‘low in energy’ is a product with less than 40 calories per 100g. 

Catherine Collins says: ‘Check labels for added sugars. Many of the cereal bars use skimmed milk powder to sweeten and add calcium - officially, milk sugar doesn’t “count” as part of our sugar allowance. Although scoring “red” on the FSA traffic light guide for sugar, this small bar’s weight means you get about one-and-a-half teaspoons of sugar per serving. But it’s healthier than crisps or chocolate.’

Probiotic yoghurt drinks 

Nearly 60 per cent of UK households buy probiotic yoghurt drinks, like Yakult, spending £220 million a year

Brands such as Yakult and Danone’s Actimel are the world’s most expensive yoghurts, sold to the health and diet-conscious with claims to help the digestive and the immune system. 

Nearly 60 per cent of UK households buy them, spending £220 million a year. 

The drinks are largely bacteria (the friendly sort), water and a lot of sugar - Actimel cherry has two-and-half teaspoonfuls in one small (100g) bottle, and Yakult nearly two in 60g. 

More controversial are the drinks’ health claims. Advertising standards bodies in the UK have ruled against Danone (which part-owns Yakult) more than once, and currently the Danish dairy giant has stopped claiming that Actimel, its biggest seller, can ‘strengthen natural defences’ and ‘help your immune system’. 

The company has been waiting for two years for a ruling from the European Food Safety Agency over what it can honestly say - the body dismissed many of the health claims for probiotics in a landmark ruling last year. 

On the Actimel website now it claims not much more than that the product can make you ‘full of life’ and suggests we should all take it every day. Most doctors think the drinks are useful for people with diarrhoea caused by antibiotics or with flare-ups of inflammatory bowel disease. 

Catherine Collins says: ‘Sugars in yoghurt and probiotic drinks come from several sources - naturally found within the milk or the fruit, or added for sweetness or as a fuel source for bacteria to keep them alive until consumption.’ 

Low fat meat 

Lean and low are popular labels on the butcher’s shelf of your supermarket - a quarter of all mince claims to be lean or extra lean. The words have no legal status and don’t mean much. 

Tesco’s Scotch beef lean steak mince actually has 14.8g of fat in a 125g serving - which is four times the level it would need to have to be low in fat. And 6.5g of that is saturated fat - the most dangerous kind - so one serving would give you a third of your recommended daily allowance. 

Some mince sold as standard is less fatty – but this is cheap mince, on sale at just £5 a kilo. To make any profit, the fat levels have to be high. 

Catherine Collins says: ‘It’s easy to spot visible fat on meat chops and steaks, but not when it is minced. To reduce fat content further, fry the meat and drain the juices into a cup. 

Within 15 minutes the cooled fat will separate and can be discarded, and then you can add the flavoursome juices back to the dish.’

First test tube baby Louise Brown was grown in a JAR

Three decades after the first test tube baby Louise Brown was born in Britain, scientists have revealed she was actually grown in a JAR.

The startling discovery has come to light at Cambridge University, after the glass vessel was put on public display there for the first time.

It is one one of just two remaining glass incubator jars used by IVF pioneer and Nobel Prize winner Robert Edwards to start creating life outside the womb.

Louise was placed as an embryo in a culture dish and then transfered to an incubator jar

The football-sized jar was used to grow Ms Brown in 1978 and since then IVF babies have colloquially become known as test tube babies.

But in fact the early in vitro fertilisation process involved placing an embryo in a culture dish and putting that inside an incubator jar.

July 26, 1978 shows Louise Brown, after she was delivered by Caesarean section at Oldham District General Hospital

The jar was then put in an incubator chamber at 37 degrees, where it was monitored regularly.

'It looks like an ordinary glass jar but it has become extraordinary because it has played such an important role,' said Barry Phipps, curator of the exhibition at Cambridge University's Churchill College.

'It has never been seen in public before so it's an absolute thrill to have it here.

'I think they used glass jars to start with as they were a lot cheaper than other devices.

'It was a very experimental science so they had to do everything they could to keep the costs down.

'Technology has of course developed since so glass jars are no longer used in the process.'

The incubator jar is part of an exhibition marking 50 years of scientific discovery at Churchill College.

A DNA model signed by another Nobel Prize winner Francis Crick is also on show at the college as well as a wealth of historical and contemporary scientific notebooks, illustrations and drawings.

The college boasts an incredible 26 Nobel Prize winners, including Robert Edwards who is a Fellow and won his award last week for his IVF work.

IVF family: (left to right) Robert Edwards, Lesley Brown, with her daughter Louise Brown, 30, with her own son Cameron who was born naturally

Mr Edwards, an 85-year-old Cambridge physiologist and the late Patrick Steptoe, a gynaecologic surgeon, developed IVF technology in which egg cells are fertilised outside the body and implanted in the womb.  

The pair founded the first ever IVF clinic at Bourn Hall in Cambridge, which now treats around 900 women a year.

Their achievement was finally recognised when Mr Edwards was awarded the Nobel prize for Chemistry - Mr Steptoe died in 1988.

More than 10,000 test tube babies have been born since the birth of Louise Brown and there are now four million IVF babies worldwide. 

Mr Edwards is still in touch with Louise. ‘He is like a grandad to me,’ she said in an interview with the Mail to mark her 30th birthday two years ago.

Watermelon pill 'lowers blood pressure and could prevent strokes'

A dose of watermelon a day could help keep high blood pressure at bay.

Researchers have discovered that the fruit is rich in compounds that widen blood vessels  -  and may cut the risk of heart attacks and strokes.

And a daily fix of its juices could be enough to lower blood pressure in patients suffering from hypertension, according to a study.

High blood pressure, which affects more than 16million men and women in the UK, doubles the risk of a fatal heart attack or stroke and is blamed for more than 60,000 deaths a year.

But watermelon is an edible source of L- citrulline  -  a compound vital in the production of nitric oxide, a gas that widens blood vessels.

Researchers in the U.S. gave a group of volunteers a daily dose of 6g, or slightly more than a teaspoonful, of L-citrulline extracted from watermelons.

All of those taking part had pre-hypertension, or borderline high blood pressure.

After six weeks, readings had improved in all nine participants, with none experiencing any side-effects.

But there is one catch  -  you'd need to eat one-and-a-half watermelons a day to achieve the same effect. 

Dr Arturo Figueroa, of Florida State University, said: 'These findings suggest that this " functional food" has a vasodilatory effect, and one that may prevent pre-hypertension from progressing to full-blown hypertension, a major risk factor for heart attacks and strokes.

'Given the encouraging evidence generated by this preliminary study, we hope to continue the research and include a much larger group of participants in the next round.'

Co-researcher Professor Bahram Arjmandi said: 'By functional foods, we mean those foods scientifically shown to have health-promoting or disease-preventing properties, above and beyond the other intrinsically healthy nutrients they also supply.'

The researchers found that watermelons with orange flesh contain more L- citrulline than those with red flesh.

Both varieties are rich in vitamins A, B6 and C and high in fibre. Watermelon is also a good source of potassium, which is thought to lower blood pressure.

And lycopene, the pigment that gives the fruit its colour, is credited with a host of health benefits, from warding off cancer to boosting fertility.

Fortunately for those who aren't fond of the fruit, the L-citrulline compound can also be bought in pill form.

Kiss of death: Does mouth to mouth put lives at risk?

It may be called the kiss of life, but mouth-to-mouth resuscitation could actually be anything but.

According to experts, the treatment can in fact hinder heart attack patients’ chances of survival. 

Under current advice, when a patient’s heart stops, first-aiders are told to give 30 chest compressions followed by two breaths into the mouth.

Doctors are so concerned they are calling for the technique to be left out of CPR guidelines for the condition.

This technique is widely taught in schools, offices and to those who help at big sporting events.

But U.S. researchers say giving mouth-to-mouth actually interrupts time which should be spent on chest compressions to keep blood flowing round the body. 

If patients are only given chest compressions, survival rates increase by a fifth, they found.

Dr Peter Nagele, of Washington University School of Medicine, in St Louis, said: ‘Our findings support the idea that emergency medical services dispatch should instruct bystanders to focus on chest-compression-only CPR in adults with out-of-hospital cardiac arrest.’

Although CPR, or cardiopulmonary resuscitation, will not restart a heart, it ensures the patient is kept alive by pumping blood around the body to crucial organs.

This is why compressions have to be carried out until an ambulance arrives. Once a victim reaches hospital doctors try to restart their heart with a defibrillator, which delivers an electric shock.

In a study published in the Lancet, the researchers found patients given CPR without mouth-to-mouth had a 22 per cent higher survival rate than those where the technique was included.

However, mouth-to-mouth shouldn’t be removed from the first-aid repertoire altogether, as it can still be effective if a patient stops breathing, but their heart is still beating.

This could include those who are choking, are near to drowning, victims of carbon-monoxide poisoning or those who have taken a drug overdose.

Previous surveys have found that many first-aiders are put off resuscitation as they do not want to give mouth-to-mouth to a stranger.

Although the treatment is an important part of first-aid training, heart attack victims given CPR have just a 10 per cent chance of surviving until they reach hospital. But this trebles their chances when compared to patients who have no resuscitation at all.

Meet the 'Lion Whisperer' who turns big cats into pussycats

Snuggling up to a fully grown male lion seems foolish enough. To then climb on its back is surely suicide.

But as you can see, Kevin Richardson enjoys doing just that – and insists his actions are perfectly safe. 

The animal behaviourist claims he shares such a profound bond with the fearsome beasts that he can even spend the night curled up with them.

Kevin Richardson piggybacks on the back of a lion in their enclosure at the Kingdom of the White Lion park in Broederstroom, near Johannesburg in South Africa

Open wide: The 34-year-old animal behaviourist braves a fearsome set of fangs

Kevin Richardson calls himself an 'ambassador of lions' and claims he can even spend the night sleeping with the animals

The 34-year-old runs a conservation park near Johannesburg in South Africa where he also keeps cheetahs, leopards and hyenas.

He befriends the animals by talking to them and treating them with ‘love and respect’ – to the extent that they consider him part of their pride. 

The pale coat of these white lions is the result of a rare genetic mutation.

The tummy tube that fools you into thinking you're full

A PLASTIC sleeve that lines the gut to combat obesity and diabetes could soon be available on the NHS.

The 2ft-long device, which can be inserted without an operation, has been shown to help the obese lose a fifth of their body weight. 

It may even stop the need for daily medication or insulin injections for people with Type 2 diabetes.

Diet device: The 2ft long plastic Endobarrie that's inserted into the stomach via the mouth and combats obesity and diabetes

Doctors say the device, which costs £2,000, could soon be used in hospitals to replace far costlier gastric bands and gastric bypass operations.

It can be inserted via the mouth in only 15 minutes, and is far less risky than standard obesity surgery.

Doctors are testing the sleeves in three British hospitals in the hope that they will soon be routinely available on the NHS.

The device, known as an Endobarrier, lines the duodenum – a long, thin part of the gut between the stomach and the small intestine. 

It is held in place by a tiny spring and acts as a barrier to stop fats, sugar and salts being absorbed by the intestine, restricting the amount of calories being absorbed.

It also tricks people into feeling full by causing large amounts of undigested food to reach the small intestine, which results in an increase of a hormone called PYY which suppresses the appetite.

The sleeve, which stays in the body for six to 12 months, improves Type 2 diabetes by causing the gut to release a hormone called GLP1, which increases the body’s use of
insulin and lowers blood sugar levels.

Alberic Feines, a consultant bariatric surgeon at St Anthony’s Hospital in Surrey, said: ‘Many patients may not want gastric bypass or band surgery because they don’t want the operation. This procedure would be far preferable.’

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This stunning wooden replica of HMS Victory is the result of 17 years of dedication and skill.

It is also a ship off the old block – for sculptor Ian Brennan has spent 5,000 hours carving it from a piece of timber from the real thing.

The model of Nelson’s flagship contains 200ft of intricate ‘rope’, 104 miniature guns, 37 little wind-filled sails, and flags spelling out Nelson’s stirring signal: ‘England expects every man to do his duty.’

Detail: The 1:66 scale ship is accurate right down to the 37 billowing sails and 200ft of rigging, giving a marvellous impression of the ship racing to Trafalgar

Painstaking: Artist Ian Brennan has spent 17 years carving the model of Nelson's famous flagship HMS Victory out of one of the massive 400-year-old original timbers

Lovingly recreated: The oak beam Mr Brennan used was removed as part of a restoration many years ago, and he has spent over 5,000 hours carving against the grain of the rock hard wood ever since

The oak, taken from Victory’s lower gun deck, was so hard that Mr Brennan said it felt like carving concrete, and the project took much longer to complete than he imagined.

Ian Brennan when he began his model in 1993

An official sculptor for the Royal Household, he was given the piece of wood while working on the restoration of Victory.

The beam provided enough raw material for Mr Brennan, 60, to create his 47-inch model.

During its creation, he has worn out four sets of overalls and cut himself countless times.

The warship is depicted in full sail as she headed for the battle of Trafalgar and triumph over the French and Spanish fleets in 1805. It was to be last and greatest of Admiral Lord Nelson’s successes. He was shot by a sniper during the fight and died below decks, surviving long enough to know that he had won.

Mr Brennan, from Warsash, near Southampton, has discovered one of his ancestors was killed on Victory during the battle. He said: ‘Some years ago I did some restoration work on Victory. I virtually lived on her for about a year.

‘They always try to use original timbers when doing restoration work, but some are just not good enough.

‘I was given a timber and had it for some time until I decided there was enough good wood to make a scale model of Victory.

‘I couldn’t work on it full-time and the wood was so hard it took me a lot longer than I thought it would.

The real thing: HMS Victory docked in Portsmouth. Lord Nelson's flagship helped defeat the French and Spanish fleets at Trafalgar in 1805

The ship has been finished in time to celebrate the 205th anniversary of Nelson's great victory on October 21

PRIDE OF THE FLEET

• Victory entered service in 1778. It took 6,000 trees to build her.
• The name was unpopular with sailors. The previous Victory sank with all hands in 1744.
• After Trafalgar, she returned to England with Nelson’s body preserved in a barrel of brandy.
• In 1831 she was due for scrapping but Sir Thomas Hardy, First Sea Lord and her captain at Trafalgar, refused to sign the order.
• Left at Portsmouth, by 1920 she was at risk of sinking. After a national appeal she was moved to her present dock. She now has 400,000 visitors a year.

‘I have researched the ship and have made sure the sail configurations are correct and that the number of guns and rowing boats and rigging are accurate.

‘I only had one chance at this – there will never be another piece of timber from Victory that I could use.’

Mr Brennan, who hopes to ultimately sell the replica only became a full-time sculptor at 34. Within five years he was working for the Royal Household.

He sculpts in wood and bronze and makes a living by doing commissions.

His wife Suzanne, 55, with whom he has three children and four grandchildren, has been very supportive of his 17-year labour of love.

Mr Brennan said: ‘Suzanne is very patient and understanding but I’m sure she’s pleased that it is now finished.’

Mother on crash diet collapses and dies after losing 20lb in one month

A mother collapsed and died at work after subjecting herself to a crash diet in an effort to look good on a family holiday. 

Lucy Prince, 36, lost 20lb in a month by replacing meals with slimming drinks and exercising heavily in preparation for a break with her daughter.

But her heart stopped at work and she collapsed in front of her manager at a car factory. 

She died in hospital having never regained consciousness. An inquest yesterday heard that Miss Prince weighed 16st 2lbs in June this year but was only 14st 8lbs when she collapsed in June.

Lucy Prince replaced meals with slimming shakes and exercised heavily to shed weight before a family holiday

She also suffered from low blood pressure and her potassium levels had dropped dangerously low after the diet.

She had an inflamed heart which, combined with low potassium levels, caused her collapse according to a post-mortem examination. 

Miss Prince’s stepmother, Lesley Prince, told the inquest that the manager who witnessed the collapse, at Toyota’s plant in Burnaston, Derbyshire, said it came without warning.

She said: ‘Apparently, they were having a normal work conversation when Lucy’s eyes rolled back and she dropped to the floor. 

‘She never said she had been unwell at all, she had been laughing and joking.
‘I was at work and got a phone call from my husband saying we needed to phone Lucy at work.’

Miss Prince’s 14-year-old daughter had been at an army camp and had suffered ill health herself and been taken to hospital, her stepmother explained.

‘When I was told Lucy had collapsed, I thought it was because she had got the news that her daughter was poorly as well.’ 

Louise Pinder, deputy coroner for Derby and South Derbyshire, said: ‘Miss Prince had been dieting, exercising heavily and replacing meals with diet shakes close to her collapse.

‘But the cause of her low potassium levels remains unclear. There is no definitive explanation. I have been looking to see if there is a direct link between the low potassium level and her myocarditis (heart inflammation) but the existence of both of them is relevant in causing Lucy’s collapse.’

Miss Prince, from Chellaston, Derbyshire, showed signs of scarring in her heart, pathologist Dr David Green, who carried out the post-mortem examination, told the hearing.

He also said that her potassium level, which should have measured between 3.5 and 5, was at 2.4.

But he was unable to say for certain why it was so low. He added: ‘What is likely is that, for whatever reason, her potassium levels fell to a low level and because her
heart was already diseased, it was unable to cope. 

‘In basic terms, her brain was starved of oxygen because her heart stopped beating. And her heart stopped beating because there was a severe lack of potassium in the blood stream.’

Miss Pinder returned a verdict of death by natural causes.