Food Isn’t Medicine

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Mr Wolrich did answer my question as to why a fully qualified Doctor cannot understand "nutritional science” though. As “biological science and nutritional science are different”, “it's a very different skill”. Oh, that clears everything up. And there I was, thinking scientific training is scientific training. You know like a trained musician can play any tune by following the score... maybe I was wrong... but then again. He forgot his own earlier writings, in which he stated that we should talk about foods and not nutrients, while unsaturated fats and specifically polyunsaturated fats are highly inclined to oxidation while heated, and also that vegetable oils contain a small amount of tran fats ( https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23744... , https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti... ). Polyunsaturated fats and especially the essential ones (those that our body cannot create by itself - omega 3 and 6) are widely accepted as healthy in moderate amounts, especially if we consume them with antioxidants, but vegetable oils might be problematic in larger quantities, and since that they are very abundant in almost all food products in the industrial world - I fear it is very easy to get too much of them. There are also amusing moments throughout the following chapters. Favourite moment: The Great Beyonce Apple Fail.

The case is mostly problematic in psychiatry, where for example some psychiatric drugs may have symptoms that are severe as the disease itself, like suicidal feelings as a symptom for some antidepressants ( https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/arti...)... The intention behind this post is good, but unfortunately the potential outcome is quite harmful. Food is many, many things but it’s not medicine. That’s not to say it isn’t important – it provides us with nutrition and energy to thrive, but it has its limitations. Anxiety and depression are very rarely as a result of food intake. Mental health is complex and boiling it down to the privilege of food choices is incorrect and stigmatising for those who struggle with it on a daily basis. For any of you who read this and felt a sense of guilt that if only you changed your food you wouldn’t struggle with mental health . . . please know that’s not accurate. You are doing a fantastic job – do not compare yourself to a celebrity with all the capacity for change and privilege in the world.’Recognising that food isn’t medicine doesn’t mean I don’t believe food can have a positive impact on someone’s health – this isn’t an either/or situation! Not only can the way we live our lives have a big impact on chronic disease, but helping people come off medication they believed to be lifelong is a wonderful aim. Ironically, accepting the differences between food and medicine leads to this pursuit becoming more realistic and attainable. I first heard of Dr Joshua Wolrich via Jameela Jamil’s podcast and his journey from a diet culture afficionado to its very outspoken critic caught my attention, so I splashed out on this hardcover. As an NHS doctor with personal experience of how damaging diets can be, he believes every one of us deserves to have a happy, healthy relationship with food and with our bodies. His message is clear: we need to fight weight stigma, call out the lies of diet culture and give ourselves permission to eat all foods. Instead of leaving the "fault" of someone from negativity, either society or himself, the author idly keeps the notion of fault repressed and "frees" it from the reader.

In elk geval, Wolrich probeert het verband tussen gewicht en diabetes vervolgens (dit doet hij trouwens ook bij de link met kanker) toe te schrijven aan de negatieve effecten van gewichtsstigma en body shaming en de stress en discriminatie die hieruit volgen. Zeer belangrijke thema's, maar een beetje kort door de bocht voorgesteld als je het mij vraagt. Het is ook leuk om nog eens bevestigd te zien dat "op dieet gaan om liefst zo snel mogelijk af te vallen" iets zinloos is, gelijk welk (populair) dieet hiervoor gevolgd wordt. De meeste diëten zijn toch niet vol te houden en gewicht komt er dubbel en dik terug bij. Dat het ketodieet en (in mindere mate) intermittent fasting nonsens zijn had ik al wel door, maar het doet me plezier dat ik nu ook weet wat het precies inhoudt en wat er allemaal juist fout mee is. Anyway, whether he is correct scientifically, my main critique would be directed to his mentality and psychology - in which he treated the matters narrowly where the topics didn't get the detailed and elaborated explanations they deserve.No, no and absolutely not - NHS doctor and nutritionist Joshua Wolrich is on a mission to set the record straight. I finished listening to the audiobook feeling upbeat about what I could achieve on a personal level.