British medical doctor-turned-television presenter and producer Michael Mosley is best known for his programs on BBC and for endorsing a diet program which he tested on himself.
In hopes of curing himself of type 2 diabetes, whose complications took the life of his father, without relying on medications, he tried a novel approach to intermittent fasting wherein he only consumed 600 calories for two days and ate normally for the rest of the week. He called it the “5:2 Diet."
The result of his diet was remarkable; Dr. Mosley lost more than 10 kilos, the visceral fat in his liver was gone, and his blood sugar level went back to normal. He reached the non-diabetic range without taking any drugs.
He featured his personal journey in his TV show Eat, Fast, Live Longer in 2012, and by the end of the year, his 5:2 Diet was already a popular method, whose fans include Beyonce Knowles and Benedict Cumberbatch among many others. He also detailed the diet plan in his book The Fast Diet, which has already sold 2 million copies to 40 countries, with translations of 20 languages.
Apart from intermittent fasting, gut bacteria also play a big role on how our bodies function and behave, says Dr. Mosley. According to him, Psychobiotics, which refers to the intake of probiotics and prebiotics, can alter a person’s mental health, as emotional, cognitive, systemic, and neural variables could be highly correlative to health and disease.
The 61-year-old doctor, however, admits that his unconventional approaches don’t translate to more earnings. When asked by Manila Standard, he openly shared that he and his wife remain committed to teaching nutrition and losing weight to cure diseases instead of administering drugs despite losing money that could potentially reach to $20,000 to $30,000 a year.
Though a dauntless non-conformist, his knowledge and medical practices are backed by scientific references and support from Nobel Prize winners. He says he would be happy to debate vis-a-vis doctors who may be doubting his methods.
Moreover, he shares it is part of his mission to find the best medical solutions for people all over the world; to learn more about prevention and natural ways to take care of our bodies, and not just cures that heavily rely on drugs. And he is ready to test them himself.
This is exactly what he aims to discover in the latest series of his TV show, Trust Me I’m a Doctor, on BBC. Dr. Mosley and his team of experts go behind the hype to find the truth about what’s really good for our health.
Season seven’s first episode focuses on mental health and explores the impacts of sleep, laughing and food on the wellness of our minds. In Episode 2, Dr. Mosley takes on beverages. Do fizzy drinks make people eat more? Does caffeine boost physical performance? He also tests the claim that cholesterol can cut out cholesterol in Episode 3. Succeeding episodes will investigate if eating crabs at night is bad for us as well as how to minimize the effects of jet lag, among other topics.
“I hope that the series will resonate with Filipino viewers, and provide them with information that will help them live better, healthier lives,” says Dr. Mosley.
The latest season of Trust Me I’m a Doctor premieres on April 16 at 10:50 p.m. on BBC Earth (Ch. 245 on Cignal). Mae Gianina C. Pascual