This is the man: http://www.tim-spector.co.uk
In short, he has many assertions about health and diet which can be boiled down to saying that almost everything commonly claimed to be understood about diet and health is wrong and that instead of worrying about vitamins and diets, we should be ensuring that our gut biomes are healthy and everything else will follow from that.
He's certainly a bone-fide scientist who has done lots of research into this area, including extensive research with twins to eliminate genetic factors, and his actual dietary advice doesn't seem to be potentially harmful (essentially, it's to eat a wide variety of vegetables, and to also eat things like live yogurts and cheese).
But there are a few claims that have me scratching my chin. He claims that vitamin supplements confer no benefits whatsoever and are actually dangerous. The research I've seen suggests that they can be dangerous, but only if taken in extremely large quantities for months on end, as opposed to someone taking a single, all-encompassing supplement once a day. He claims that you shouldn't eat breakfast in order to fast for 14-16 hours a day, in order to give your gut biome a rest. He claims that counting calories has zero benefit when it comes to losing weight because everybody's body processes calories differently. He also claims that he can learn more about your health by analysing your faeces than by giving you a check-up.
That last definitely makes me suspicious, as that's exactly what Not-Actually-A-Doctor Gillian McKeith used to claim. And she definitely was a scammer.
I've also read reviews of his book The Diet Myth which claim that it follows the same formula as every other diet book that claims to have "the answer" and claiming all current knowledge to be wrong, and that he is inconsistent in it about how much and whether or not he gives weight to scientific food research that has been carried out depending on whether or not it supports his conclusion, and that he's also inconsistent with how he applies that judgement (one example I've seen says that he says that research on both chicken and soy is inconclusive about whether or not either is good or bad for you, yet he recommends eating chicken and not eating soy).
The last thing that makes me suspicious is that all of this has led to the creation of an app that will analyse you (based on blood & poo tests carried out by you at home with "research laboratory quality"), sugar sensors, and a food diary), give you "holistic insights" into your biology, will "retrain your biology", and give you a tailor-made diet that will solve all your problems, backed up by personal testimonials of losing weight in the first 4 weeks (which any diet will do simply by restricting calories). And all for the low low price of $59-149 a month.
That definitely makes me go "hmm".
He seems to be something of a darling of the BBC and the Guardian, so it's hard to find more neutral takes. So I thought I'd ask if anybody here more knowledgeable than I am about the science had heard of him, or had an opinion.
In short, he has many assertions about health and diet which can be boiled down to saying that almost everything commonly claimed to be understood about diet and health is wrong and that instead of worrying about vitamins and diets, we should be ensuring that our gut biomes are healthy and everything else will follow from that.
He's certainly a bone-fide scientist who has done lots of research into this area, including extensive research with twins to eliminate genetic factors, and his actual dietary advice doesn't seem to be potentially harmful (essentially, it's to eat a wide variety of vegetables, and to also eat things like live yogurts and cheese).
But there are a few claims that have me scratching my chin. He claims that vitamin supplements confer no benefits whatsoever and are actually dangerous. The research I've seen suggests that they can be dangerous, but only if taken in extremely large quantities for months on end, as opposed to someone taking a single, all-encompassing supplement once a day. He claims that you shouldn't eat breakfast in order to fast for 14-16 hours a day, in order to give your gut biome a rest. He claims that counting calories has zero benefit when it comes to losing weight because everybody's body processes calories differently. He also claims that he can learn more about your health by analysing your faeces than by giving you a check-up.
That last definitely makes me suspicious, as that's exactly what Not-Actually-A-Doctor Gillian McKeith used to claim. And she definitely was a scammer.
I've also read reviews of his book The Diet Myth which claim that it follows the same formula as every other diet book that claims to have "the answer" and claiming all current knowledge to be wrong, and that he is inconsistent in it about how much and whether or not he gives weight to scientific food research that has been carried out depending on whether or not it supports his conclusion, and that he's also inconsistent with how he applies that judgement (one example I've seen says that he says that research on both chicken and soy is inconclusive about whether or not either is good or bad for you, yet he recommends eating chicken and not eating soy).
The last thing that makes me suspicious is that all of this has led to the creation of an app that will analyse you (based on blood & poo tests carried out by you at home with "research laboratory quality"), sugar sensors, and a food diary), give you "holistic insights" into your biology, will "retrain your biology", and give you a tailor-made diet that will solve all your problems, backed up by personal testimonials of losing weight in the first 4 weeks (which any diet will do simply by restricting calories). And all for the low low price of $59-149 a month.
That definitely makes me go "hmm".
He seems to be something of a darling of the BBC and the Guardian, so it's hard to find more neutral takes. So I thought I'd ask if anybody here more knowledgeable than I am about the science had heard of him, or had an opinion.
via International Skeptics Forum https://ift.tt/3lerPT9
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