We're told to avoid
saturated fats,
are marketed
health food that
is laden with
sugar and encouraged to pound out
miles at the gym. However, our chances
of getting obese are increasing - raising
our risk of Type 2 diabetes as well as other
diseases. Yet in the tiny Italian village of
Pioppi, life is as simple as it is long and
healthy. There is no gym, no supermarket,
the food is delicious and they enjoy a
glass of wine every evening. Here, people
live on average 10 years longer than
anywhere else in the world.
In this new book, cardiologist Dr
Aseem Malhotra and Donal O'Neill
combine the wisdom of this remarkably
long-lived population with decades of
nutrition and medical research to cut
through long-standing dietary myths with
an easy-to-follow lifestyle plan which
should see readers lose weight, but also
reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes, other
diseases, while saving the NHS millions.
People with diabetes may already
need to lose weight when diagnosed,
while others might end up gaining weight
after their diagnosis. This book can help
to clear up confusion about fats and oils,
fads and fakes and gives a view on 'the
epidemic of misinformation out there'. No
MAKING THE MOST
OF THE MED
A cardiovascular surgeon's diet book about
the virtues of the Mediterranean diet.
FOOD
REPORT
small order there.
Malhotra regularly writes in academic
medical journals and newspapers such
as The Guardian, The Telegraph and
The Daily Mail and is regularly seen on
broadcast media in his campaign against
sugar and highlighting the harms of too
much medicine. O'Neill is an Irish born,
independent documentary filmmaker. A
former international track and field athlete,
in 2015 he joined forces with Malhotra to
make the movie, The Big Fat Fix (2016).
However, not everyone agrees. The
fact is that we do not have the same
access to fresh local fruit and veg that has
flourished in Mediterranean sunshine, and
nor in fact do we live in a warm climate
with loads of sunshine for ourselves.
"We shouldn't swallow claims about the
Mediterranean diets whole," says Anthony
Warner, who writes as the Angry Chef.
"Stripping away the diet from the joyful,
stress-free lifestyle is a flawed approach."
Still, there's something to be learnt
from this diet (see right), so worth a try?
The Pioppi Diet by Dr Aseem
Malhotra and Donal O'Neill is published
by Michael Joseph.
The Angry Chef: Bad Science and
the Truth About Healthy Eating, by
Anthony Warner, Oneworld Publications.
Dr Malhotra's eight steps to Pioppiing (as reported
in The Independent):
• Don't fear fat; sugar and refined carbs
are the enemy
• Keep moving - exercise for health not
weight loss (and walking is best)
• Extra virgin olive oil is medicine, as is a
small handful of nuts - eat both, every day
• Get seven hours of sleep a night
• Stop counting calories - not all are
created equal
• Eat 10 eggs a week - they're satiating
and full of protein
• Have two portions of veg in at least two
meals a day
• Fast once a week for 24 hours - have
dinner, then don't have breakfast or lunch
the next day.