John Nicholson's The Meat Fix: How A Lifetime of Healthy Eating Nearly Killed Me, has been provoking fierce debate since its release. Is everything we think we know about healthy eating little more than illusion, guesswork and marketing?
For twenty-six years, John was a walking advert for healthy eating. A vegetarian and, at times, a vegan, he ate brown rice, lentils, beans, fruit, and anything else we typically consider 'healthy'. Put it this way. If you associate it with ex-Blue Peter presenters, it was likely to be part of his diet.
However, for twenty-six years John Nicholson was ill, tormented year after year by apparently untreatable IBS. He was eating the healthiest diet known to mankind yet his digestive system was breaking down. His illness was affecting his life so badly that eventually he and his partner considered doing the unthinkable – eating meat. The results were spectacular. Twenty-four hours after eating meat, he was better. After fourty-eight hours he was totally well. All his symptoms had gone – the IBS, the headaches, the mid-afternoon tiredness, achy knees – the lot. Even his eyesight improved to the point that he no longer needed to use reading glasses.
You can read all about it in the book but, for some extra details, John has done a great interview with Tom Dunne over at newstalk about the book, the world of alternative research on healthy eating, the first type of meat he ate (it's not what you might think for a vegetarian of 26 years) and quite how wonderful he looked after he started eating meat (I believe the word 'glowing' is used).