Physical Address

304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124

Pompous nutritionists are one of the reasons we have an obesity epidemic

I’m no fan of processed sliced ham, but it’s lack of exercise, not bad food, that kills – and hysterical hectoring hardly helps either…

I recorded a snippet for the PM programme on BBC Radio 4 this week (anything for the wonderful Evan Davis). The news was that two slices of ham a day could raise the risk of you getting Type 2 diabetes by 15 per cent. What, they had asked, might be my alternative to a ham sandwich? I rarely eat sandwiches but my suggestion was a slice of pre-sliced Jarlsberg laden with Tracklements Caramelised Onion Marmalade (really a chutney). My go-to loaf is a sourdough from the Longstraw bakery in Wiveliscombe, but for this I allowed two slices of nice and spongey supermarket bread, as my pure and wholesome sourdough is best for toast. This was a slight curveball from me, as you might know, because I often kick the ultra-processed breads of the supermarket world and, as a result, am constantly engaged in a pitch battle with the Federation of Bakers who get hysterical when I demonise their loaves.
After the snippet played, Davis admonished me for mispronouncing Jarlsberg (I said “j” not “y”) which I can take, but then came an assault on Twitter/X. From a nutritionist, no less.
“Bad food kills,” shrieked one, who advertises themselves as a “qualified nutritionist and organic gardener”. “I don’t think any food writer should recommend white sliced bread,” the nutritionist continued, “they might as well recommend a daily cigarette.”
It was a hysterical and purist reaction and one that, I think, is partly to blame for our obesity epidemic. Bad food does not kill. White sliced bread, chips, burgers, pizza, sugary drinks and ready meals do not kill. It is bad diets that kill, it is a lack of balance that kills, it is the constant consumption of fast food and a lack of vegetables and salads that kills, and it is a lack of exercise that kills. 
There is no such thing as bad food, but there are bad habits and poor lifestyle choices. But if a “qualified nutritionist” marches up and down outside a McDonald’s on a Friday afternoon, like some loony Bible-basher, with a poster and a megaphone blaring “Burgers and chips will kill you”, they are likely to be ignored. As they should be ignored when they get lairy on Twitter/X.
Overblown, pompous and righteous messaging only serves to make those to whom the message is aimed block their ears and go la-la-la-la! – like a parent or teacher who busts a kid having a cheeky fag by swiping the cigarette out of their mouth only serves to galvanise them to find a new bicycle shed behind which to have more cheeky cigarettes.
The nutritionist also admonished me about the Jarlsberg. “Cheese is OK,” they uttered sanctimoniously, “but not every day.”
Bit harsh, no? Because I definitely eat cheese every day. Grated cheddar on my baked potato at lunch, a fluffy cloud of parmesan on my pasta for supper, and perhaps a sneaky bit of cave-aged gruyère on a Bath Oliver as a snack while scribbling, or after dinner (and before my twice-daily piece of dark chocolate – preferably salted).
But, all of which I mix up – in between (professional) visits to restaurants – with different proteins, mackerel, prawns, chicken, ham, a steak now and then, lots of salad and vegetables, very little fruit and a great deal of cycling.
So, I would say, turn down the hectoring volume and learn the skills of the great teachers out there: enrapture kids with the joy of variety, espouse fast foods as rare treats, and tell Gen Alpha that if they want to look good on Instagram they should eat the colours of the rainbow  – and exercise.

en_USEnglish