FIX YOUR relationship WITH FOOD
Meet the British doctor taking on diet culture and weight stigma
There’s no doubt eating well can have a huge impact on our health, but it’s easy to be confused and overwhelmed by all the information out there. British surgeon and Willing to be Wrong podcaster Dr Joshua Wolrich is on a mission to sort fact from fiction. He’s not afraid to take on famous figures and even got caught in a very public Instagram stoush with pop star Justin Bieber last year.
“I was challenging him on his insinuation that you could cure mental health disorders through diet,” Dr Wolrich explains. “It certainly led to an interesting back and forth in our private messages.”
Here, the Food Isn’t Medicine author covers everything from body shaming to why he doesn’t believe in BMIs.
WAS LOCKING HORNS WITH JUSTIN BIEBER UNEXPECTED?
“I didn’t expect in a million years that he would take the time to directly argue with me in his Instagram Stories. We ended things on a positive note with him slightly altering the post I had challenged him on, but there’s still lots more work to be done. A lot of people don’t realise the harm that they might be doing with their influence, but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t challenge it.”
WHAT ARE SOME DIET MYTHS YOU’D LIKE TO DEBUNK?
“The first would be the assumption that our weight defines our health. The ubiquitously used BMI [ body mass index] scale is a dreadful proxy and simply leads to discrimination. Weight stigma in healthcare is a huge issue and we can’t ignore it any longer. The second is probably the claim that alkaline diets can cure or prevent cancer. It’s such utter nonsense! You can’t change the pH of your body in that way through food. If you could, I guarantee you would have died a long time ago.”
WHAT’S YOUR VIEW ON LOW CARB DIETS?
“I truly wish we’d stop demonising carbs. Some people really enjoy eating in that [low-carb] fashion, which is fine, but for the vast majority, they’ve been sold a lie that it’s either magical for weight loss (which it isn’t), or it’s truly the healthiest way of eating (which it certainly isn’t either). Please learn to enjoy carbs again – they’re so good for you.”
ARE THERE ANY EATING APPROACHES THAT YOU RECOMMEND?
“The one that fits your lifestyle and is as balanced as possible. I know that’s not the sexy answer, but it doesn’t make it any less true. If you want a more direct answer, I am a massive fan of intuitive eating, a framework that helps to teach us to trust our body again, like we used to as children. We need to stop disregarding our relationship with food – anything that restricts wholefood groups or demonises certain things is harmful in the long run.”
WHERE SHOULD WE GET HEALTHY EATING ADVICE?
“Am I allowed to recommend my book? I personally think it’s a great place to start for an overview on these topics, but I would say that! Try to stick to registered dietitians and registered nutritionists (depending on what country they’re from, as reliability of training can vary), and I’d advise finding ones that are weight neutral, or practise from a ‘Health at Every Size’ lens. Diet culture is sneaky, and those promoting weight loss often stray into nonsense that only serves to harm your relationship with food.”