Dr Michael Mosley’s Twitter bio encapsulates all that the 61-year-old stands for: science journalist, TV presenter, self experimenter, the 5:2 guy. Born in Kolkata, India, he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics at New College, Oxford and worked as a banker before joining London’s UCL Medical School.
He started work with the BBC in 1985, going on to produce and host a number of programmes. The man behind shows like, Trust Me I’m a Doctor , Meet the Humans and The Truth about Exercise, all aired in India on Sony BBC Earth, has embarked on numerous outlandish self-experiments to come to some rather interesting conclusions, many that find their way into his books and his TV shows. Here are some of his discoveries.
A healthy gut is essential to good health
“There are at least a 1,000 different species of microbes down there fighting for survival in your intestines,” he says, over a Skype interview, holding out the minuscule pill camera that explored the depths of his innards. There is an inner world in there, with all these alien creatures,” he says, referring to the gut microbiome. And though tiny, these microbes impact our body in a big way. “They are essential to gut health and control appetite, mood, sleep by sending out chemical signals,” says Mosley, whose 2017 book, appropriately named The Clever Guts Diet, explores this mind-gut connect. “You have a second brain in your gut,” adds Mosley.
Like the brain, the lining of the gut, called the enteric nervous system, contains multiple neurons, and though loosely connected to the central nervous system, can mostly function alone. “There are as many brain cells in the gut as in the head of a cat. My cat is pretty clever which makes my gut pretty smart too,” he laughs.
The best way to nurture a healthy gut? Feed your gut flora right, believes Mosley, who advocates both prebiotics and probiotics for gut health. Prebiotics are basically a sort of dietary fibre, that ends up becoming a fertiliser of sorts to probiotics, increasing the number of good bacteria in your gut. Then there are your probiotics which include fermented foods like sauerkraut, kimchi, pickles and yoghurt.
“One of the reasons that yoghurt — full-fat yoghurt — you make yourself is so good is because it is full of living bacteria that help populate the gut and improve your health,” he says.
Prebiotics can help you sleep better
“Sleep is something people don’t get enough of, but if you sleep less, your body will start crying out. People who sleep less are likely to develop Type 2 diabetes,” says Mosley, who in the documentary has admitted that he too suffers from insomnia.
He goes on to explore a variety of methods — both the obvious and the unusual — to gauge how he could sleep better. One interesting thing that worked was the addition of inulin, a prebiotic fibre, before he went to bed. Perhaps, with sleep too, you should listen to your gut?
Losing weight can help you reverse diabetes
“I invented the 5:2 diet because I found out that I was Type 2 diabetic. Rather than starting on medication, I was trying to find a way by which I could stay healthy,” he says.
He read a lot of research that showed that a rapid weight loss diet can reverse Type 2 diabetes, so he decided to address his diet. This is when the 5:2 Fast Diet came in, a sort of intermittent fasting in which you eat normally five days a week and fast the other two days (eat 500 calories if you are a woman and 600 if you are a man).
The results, he says, were astonishing: he lost around 20 pounds and was able to restore his blood sugar levels to normal and reverse diabetes, he says. “Also, my blood pressure and cholesterol came to normal and have stayed that way for the last six years. I am very grateful for that,” says the author, who went on to write about his experience in his 2013 book, The Fast Diet .
Two years later, he went on to write inThe 8-Week Blood Sugar Diet, that involves going on an 800-calorie diet to rapidly cut fat — you can lose upto 14 kgs — is a great way to, “drain all the fat from your body.” he says. You then switch to the 5:2 diet before going into maintenance mode by adopting a Mediterranean-style low-carbohydrate diet, high in the oily fish, wine, vegetables and olive oil, all great for you, he says. “To sustain weight loss long term, it is important to go for a diet that is very rich in vegetables, has a decent amount of fat and a decent amount of protein.It is a great way for people to reverse diabetes, prevent them from getting it in the first place.”
Fat is in, refined carbs out
For years, fat has been touted as the thing that makes you obese and sick. Not so fast, believes Mosley. It is sugar and refined carbs that are bad for you, “white rice too,” he says, recommending that people shift to fibre-rich carbs like brown rice instead. And yes, full-fat cheeses, yoghurt, butter and eggs are all right too, in reasonable quantities.
“I love eggs for breakfast. People said that eggs were bad for you, but all the evidence suggests that eggs are incredibly good for you. They are certainly much better for you than breakfast cereal that is made of 50% sugar.
However, the high-fat keto diet is not the way to go either. Though it is effective in the short term, it is too low in fibre to be sustainable.
“To go into a state of ketosis, your carb is so low that you aren’t eating much of fruit and vegetable in it. Your gut bacteria won’t enjoy the lack of fibre and if your gut bacteria are unhappy, you will be too,” he says, pointing out that you can get the same effect with intermittent fasting.
HIIT makes you fit
While making a documentary titled The Truth About Getting Fit , Michael Mosley discovered that High Intensity Interval Training — short bursts of intense exercise followed by a brief break — was a great way to improve aerobic fitness, reducing the amount of glycogen in muscles and improving cardiovascular health. That coupled with a few strengthening exercises you can do at home is pretty much all you need to get fit, he says, adding that he also likes yoga. “There are three forms of exercise you need to do: HIIT for your heart and lungs, strength exercises (for your muscles) and yoga for balance and stress.”
