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So are there any side effects or risks of eating these high protein foods?

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So are there any side effects or risks of eating these high protein foods?

Yes, so a lot of high protein foods or ones that are marketed as being high in protein

can also fall into the category of ultra processed foods.

Tea bags?

I don't think you can get protein in your tea bags.

Oh.

Hello, it's Hannah Gelbart here.

Welcome back to What in the World from the BBC World Service.

Today we're talking about protein because it is really having its moment in the spotlight from cereal bars to porridge,

popcorn, even booze.

When you go into a shop these days,

everything seems to be shouting about just how high protein it is.

And it's a really important nutrient.

We're told that it helps us build muscle,

it helps our body to repair itself,

helps us keep ourselves fuller for longer.

But how much protein is in these so-called high protein foods?

How much do our bodies actually need?

We are going to be cutting through the hype to find out what high protein actually means

and whether it's healthy or just a health fad.

Joining us here today from the What In The World team is Chelsea Coates, a BBC journalist.

Hello, welcome to the show.

Hi Hannah.

So you've got a quiz for me.

I do.

A surprise quiz.

Okay, to kind of give you an idea of the scale of how many high protein foods are out there.

I'm going to ask you about a series of foods and then you need to guess if there's a high protein version.

All right.

So true or false?

Okay.

So first up we have bread.

Yes I've bought high protein bread.

Really?

Yeah with linseeds in it.

Okay so like this is like a regular,

this is your go-to bread now?

One of, one of.

Okay.

It's one I've got in the freezer.

Next up Snickers.

Yes.

Indeed because they have the kind of peanutty.

Exactly.

Nuts again.

Now it's gonna get a little bit harder.

Tea.

I'm thinking of milky tea because the milk would obviously be protein.

So if you had tea powder,

I could see how tea powder,

but tea bags, I don't think you can get protein in your tea bags.

Oh.

In fact, you can.

You can.

And interestingly, when we searched for kind of high protein tea,

it also had on the label plant-based,

which you would assume if it's a herbal tea, it is plant-based.

So what is it, like pea protein tea?

Yeah, I don't know lots of kind of like herbal teas like fruit teas

and they kind of add powder protein powders interesting

um next up water protein water look

if you can get protein tea i'm gonna say you can get protein water

and you would indeed be correct yeah there is a protein water brand

so as you can see from that quiz there is a huge

and growing amount of high protein or added protein products and why Why is that?

Why are we so obsessed with it?

Well, it's because there's such a growing industry behind high protein products.

It's the fact that the protein powder market alone is projected to be around $19 billion worth by 2030.

So it's only set to grow from where it is now.

And it's really fascinating when you consider the fact

that high protein products used to mostly be targeted towards bodybuilders

or people that are really keen on going to the gym and you could only really find them in,

say, like specialist nutritional food shops.

But that's all changed now because protein isn't just associated with extreme bodybuilding.

It's also associated with having a healthy balanced diet in general.

And a lot of that has to do with clever marketing techniques by the food industry,

but it also has to do with our changing attitudes towards diet culture and being healthy in general.

So a lot of people are chasing a kind of toned but also skinny body.

And because protein is associated with building muscle,

it kind of has this halo effect.

So when people hear the word protein they think of not just being healthy generally

but having that ideal body and so

when we add it on to the names of all of these snacks

that we were mentioning earlier they immediately take on an appeal

and so that's why we're seeing such a growth i feel very guilty right now

because i'm a bit of a gym girly i want

that toned slim body

and i try to have protein in every single meal have

i fallen for it how much protein do do i actually need to eat versus how much am i being marketed?

So the amount

that you often hear quoted by experts is around 55 grams for men in a day

and then around 50-45 grams for women in a day.

But there's not really a one-size-fits-all for how much protein that you need.

So really it depends on how much you weigh,

how old you are and also how active you are.

So the World Health Organization says that for every kilogram of your body weight

you need around 0.8 grams of protein in a day.

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But that can be even higher if you have a really active lifestyle,

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so you go to the gym really regularly,

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or if you're a professional athlete,

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for example, that amount could go up to 1.5 grams of protein for each kilogram of your body weight every single day.

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So it varies.

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However, the thing is, most studies show that most of us,

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especially in the US, in the UK and in Canada,

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are actually already eating more protein than we need.

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So I said that figure of around 50 grams of protein a day.

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Most of us are actually getting around more like 100 grams of protein a day.

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So already double the kind of minimum requirement that you need to be healthy.

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Hi, my name is Pass.

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I'm a chef and fitness enthusiast based in Lagos.

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When I was in school,

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I used to use protein powders, right?

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I don't know if it was my mindset,

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but I think it worked.

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Then I could see results and stuff.

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I think also thinking about it now,

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one reason that made it work was because it was more of supplementing for my food.

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But for me, what works for me is poultry,

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like eggs, chicken, especially chicken breasts.

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For me, I don't necessarily need protein powder,

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but I see the results just by what I eat.

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Hi, my name is Caroline Kiambo and I am a digital producer from Nairobi, Kenya.

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I am definitely team Whole Foods when it comes to protein.

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I've never really been into protein shakes, bars or powders.

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For me, it's all about the real food that fuels me right.

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I am big on meal prep.

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Think grilled chicken, some boiled eggs,

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beef stew and sometimes fish.

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I try to include protein in every single meal,

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whether it's breakfast omelets, chickpeas for lunch or dinner,

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a generous helping of nyama.

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That's mostly beef stew.

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It just works better for my body.

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It keeps me full, helps me with recovery.

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And honestly, I enjoy chewing my food, not drinking it.

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So yeah, no head to the protein shakes and powders,

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but I'm keeping it classic with my protein choices.

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So are there any side effects or risks of eating these high protein foods?

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Yes so a lot of high protein foods or ones that are marketed as being high in protein

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can also fall into the category of ultra processed foods.

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So those are foods that

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contain additives or ingredients that you wouldn't typically find in your kitchen at home

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or use in cooking and those foods have been associated with heart problems

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and also the development of diabetes so

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if you're eating a high protein snack like the ones we mentioned earlier we're seeing it added to pizza

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and ice cream if they also have added sugar

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or kind of added really long chemicals

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that you've never heard of they might be high

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or ultra processed foods and

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so it's best to kind of look carefully at the label

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also we mentioned protein powder earlier is a really lucrative business for those.

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However, studies in India last year and also in the US showed that sometimes they don't,

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so the labels can be misleading.

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So they say they contain a certain amount of protein

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but actually the actual contents might be high or lower and

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that can lead to kind of a spike in your protein

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which you want to spread it out through the day so that's not actually quite healthy for your intake.

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And then on top of that some of them were also found to contain heavy metals and other harmful toxins.

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So it's best to kind of be really careful with which high protein foods you're eating.

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And go back to basics if you're in doubt, right?

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Exactly, yeah.

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You've also been speaking to a nutritionist to get some of the science behind protein.

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Yes, so I've been talking to Cara Harbstreet.

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She is the dietitian behind a YouTube channel called Street Smart Nutrition,

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and she explained why protein is so important for our diet.

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Protein is one of our three macronutrients along with carbohydrates and fat,

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which means that our body can use them for a number of different functions.

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They provide energy, but protein is especially important because they are the building blocks for lots of other things in the body.

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So everything from enzymes to muscle, supporting our immune system.

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We utilize protein in so many different ways.

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And because we source protein from our diet,

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it is one of the most important nutrients that a lot of people are focusing on right now.

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And would you say that the source of protein changes how well your body can absorb it?

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So are plant-based proteins, for example,

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better than meat-based proteins, the ones that you get from like animal sources like eggs or fish?

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The most important thing when differentiating between animal-based proteins and plant-based proteins is the amino acid profile.

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So a protein is a rather complex molecule.

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It's made up of many different individual amino acids,

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and each protein source has its own unique amino acid profile.

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Those different amino acids are each absorbed in the small intestine.

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That's where our body kind of unpackages these complex proteins and puts them to use in the body.

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So when it comes to differentiating between animal-based and plant-based,

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it's really difficult to determine if one is necessarily,

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quote-unquote, better than the other.

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When it comes to digestion,

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it's really about those individual amino acids and looking at,

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are we getting the ones that our bodies cannot make themselves?

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That's where animal-based proteins are often deemed higher quality because they are providing

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those essential amino acids that our bodies can't make on their own.

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But that's not to say that we can't get all of our protein needs met through plant-based sources only.

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Can you give us your three top tips for getting enough protein in your diet?

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Well, first and foremost, I recommend not skipping meals,

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and this really includes breakfast.

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I see this trend among many of my clients and patients that I've worked with.

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And so simply adding a high protein

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or higher protein meal at the beginning of the day can be a very easy way to boost your total protein intake.

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Another option that I would recommend is looking at your total meal

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and really determining what is the highest protein option you have.

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It may just be a matter of adjusting the portion sizes to ensure that you are hitting your protein needs.

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A slightly larger serving of even a whole grain option or a dairy option,

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something that you may not typically think of as being the highest protein,

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can still provide a few extra grams.

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And then my third and final tip is not to overlook or discount those plant-based options.

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As we were saying earlier,

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it really comes down to that amino acid profile for determining the quality of a protein.

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But there's many great options in the plant-based category that carry additional benefits.

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So adding things like those whole grains,

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beans and legumes, nuts and seeds.

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None of these foods are exclusively protein-based,

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but they're also delivering fiber and fat,

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which are two other factors that can help you feel more full and satisfied after you eat.

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So Chelsea, there's all this hype around protein.

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Is it distracting us from any other products,

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ingredients or nutrients that we might not be paying as much attention to?

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So one nutrient experts say that we really need to be paying more attention to is fibre.

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So it's not as appealing maybe as protein.

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It's not sexy is it?

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It's not like build muscle with this fibre.

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Exactly.

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I think of fibre and then I usually link it to maybe the less...

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Going to the toilet?

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I was going to say the less glamorous parts of your digestive system,

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but that's more to the point.

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Exactly.

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So experts say that we should be eating around 25 grams a day,

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but most of us are eating less than 20 grams of fiber.

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And so fiber foods are usually plant foods.

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So those are seeds, nuts,

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anything that kind of like we mentioned earlier, helps your digestive system.

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But it also helps to even out your blood sugar levels.

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it has a whole myriad of other benefits

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that we might be missing out on if we're not maximising the amount of fibre that we have.

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So we might be seeing a fibre fad in the future as more people gain awareness of the fact

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that it has a lot of health benefits.

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Great, so next time I go into the shop I have to choose between the high protein and the high fibre.

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I'll get one of each.

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I'm just going to go to the fruit and vegetable aisle.

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Yeah, go back to basics,

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exactly, that's what I say.

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Chelsea thanks so much for coming into the studio thank you Hannah

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and thank you for joining us do let us know your

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thoughts about protein high protein high fiber what are important factors

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in your diet you can drop us a line in the

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comments below right here on YouTube we're also on Instagram

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and on WhatsApp I'm Hannah Gelbart this is What's in the

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World from the BBC World Service we'll see you next time

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