Cooking is my therapy
Social media sensation and ME sufferer James Wythe tells Gemma Calvert how he’s transformed his health and life with a plantbased food diet
Let me show you how to make this roasted butternut squash pasta,” says James Wythe, in the sharplyedited Instagram video which rattles through the recipe in 30 seconds flat. Within three days the post is watched more than 70,000 times.
With an army of Instagram followers and a debut cookbook out this month, Bournemouth-born social media star James, aka Healthy Living James, is fast becoming the king of gluten, dairy and egg-free cooking.
His online recipes – he created 80 last year – have had 15 million views and the appeal is clear. They are easy-tomake dishes created with simple, predominantly plant-based ingredients delivered with boy-next-door charm.
But his food-making success follows five years at rock bottom.
In December 2010, James, 32, fell ill with suspected food poisoning after a dinner out with friends. While most food-borne illnesses subside within days, five weeks later James was still unable to keep food down. He lost three stone and got so weak he couldn’t walk.
“It was scary,” says James. “I wasn’t able to talk and I felt so frail that when I went to see the doctor my dad had to carry me into the surgery.”
James was rushed to the Royal Bournemouth Hospital where he stayed for over two weeks having numerous tests, but all results were inconclusive.
Concurring that James was likely suffering a virus, doctors sent him home with strict instructions to rest in order to finally recover.
He didn’t. Over the next six months James became a shadow of his former self. Once a talented golfer, he was too exhausted to leave his bedroom, which he kept dark due to being sensitive to light.
“I literally became bed bound. I could hardly talk, I couldn’t watch TV or make a phone call,” says James.
All the signs were there that James was suffering from myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), also known as chronic fatigue syndrome, a condition that can be hard to diagnose. Patients typically endure months of life-disrupting symptoms before being medically categorised.
ME is thought to affect 20 million people worldwide – around 250,000 are
in the UK – and numbers are going up. The Office for National Statistics reported an estimated 1.3 million Brits had long Covid, which often has symptoms that overlap with ME. Sufferers are unable to get back normal energy levels or a feeling of good health after a Covid diagnosis.
In addition to debilitating fatigue, other symptoms are unrefreshing sleep, muscle and joint pain, memory and concentration issues, and problems regulating pulse and blood pressure.
Dr Charles Shepherd, adviser at The ME
Association, says although there is ot yet an effective treatment for ME, medication can help to reduce some symptoms, while self-help manageent strategies can also assist.
“The most important thing is pacing, which involves striking the right balance between activity and rest,” he explains. “Diet and nutrition are also important, especially a good fluid intake and avoiding alcohol.”
Restrictive diets are not recomended by the group and people should only cut out wheat or gluten after being tested for coeliac disease, which is a chronic digestive and immune disorder triggered by foods containing gluten.
James says he was intermittently plagued by stomach problems as a child and believes his food sensitivities may be linked to his father’s recent coeliac disease diagnosis. After being medically diagnosed with ME he teamed up with nutritional therapist Francesca Moore who arranged for food sensitivity tests, which revealed that gluten, dairy and egg products were all problematic to his system. James subsequently went gluten and dairy-free.
As well as eating mainly plant-based foods – James consumes fish but not meat – he takes a daily probiotic to stabilise his gut along with various supplements including vitamin D.
After transforming his diet, James noticed his health gradually improving. By the end of 2012 he moved out of his parents’ home and in with then-girlfriend Luise, 31 – they married in 2018 – and James began learning how to cook healthy, fresh meals using zero gluten and dairy ingredients.
“I’d Google ideas and then began chucking stuff together. That turned into a skill and passion,” says James, who set up his website, Healthy Living James, in 2016.
His blog got noticed and soon his Instagram followers were rising too.
“Within a few months my following had grown to 5,000,” says James, who now has 300k followers across Instagram and TikTok.
Although James tried cognitive behavioural therapy, which health professionals recommend to people with long-term illness to help them cope with psychological distress, cooking was his saviour. “Cooking was and is my therapy. It keeps me going and puts me in such a different space and mindset,” he says.
James, whose book is aimed at anyone looking to make small tweaks to their diet to feel energised, says: “I get so many amazing comments from people saying how my recipes are changing their lives. My biggest drive comes from hearing positive feedback.”
Before Christmas, James fell ill with Covid-19 but bounced back quickly.
Happily, he now reports he is 90 per cent recovered from ME. He recently began exercising with a personal trainer and he also enjoys the odd round of golf, which is now about fitness and fun rather than pursuing a dream to play professionally.
For James, his focus is on cooking – and continuing to change lives. ■■Healthy Living James: Over 80 delicious gluten-free and dairy-free recipes ready in minutes (£20, Headline Home) is out on March 3
My biggest drives comes from hearing positive feedback from people