For those of you who live outside the UK, or who just don't like watching programs where people have their own poo analysed, let me tell you that Ms Gillian McKeith is a nutritionist who has a successful TV program, and subsequent book/magazine/ health product range. Her program basically takes someone who lives on chips and pizza and chocolate and tells them to start eating vegetables, and everyone is better for it at the end.
Sometimes the people on the show have digestive problems (funny that, seeing as though they live on chips and pizza and chocolate), and they always get to have their poo analysed, where apparently it can show up nutritional deficiencies or forecast the weather or something, I don't know. I try not to watch those parts.
Now, I'm telling you all this as a warning, and the warning is this - make sure your doctor is a real one. Because Ms Gillian McKeith likes to call herself Dr Gillian McKeith in her program titles and indeed in all her marketing, but from now on she won't be able to, because...well, she isn't a proper doctor.
Ms McKeith does have a PhD, but she obtained it via correspondence course from a non-accredited American university. And so the Advertising Standards Authority has ruled that she can't call herself doctor anymore in the marketing for her products.
Now, I don't know about you, but I would never have thought to doubt that someone appearing on a mainstream telly channel and credited as a doctor wasn't an actual doctor. But it does show that we really need to be sceptical about everyone, everything, and always ask questions before we trust someone with our health.
If you want to visit a nutritionist or a complementary therapist or someone who heals you by rubbing frogs' ears up your spine then for goodness' sake ask about their qualifications, and make sure that they're a member of the Royal College of People Who Rub Frog's Ears Up Your Spine.
It seems to me that we're far too happy to accept medical advice from people who have no business giving it. And any kosher therapist will be happy to tell you where they went to college and what they studied and all the rest of it, and they will be happy to explain to you what research their info is based on.
Indeed, one of the giveaway signs that something was not quite right where Ms McKeith was concerned was the fact that she's so happy to sue anyone who even remotely implies that she's wrong, rather than just arguing back with convincing logic and research.
(And on that note, I'd better stop before I get sued. I mean it - if you want proof of her litigiousness just go to Google.com and type in "Gillian McKeith", and look at the bottom of the first page of results. She even sued Google!!!)
I've never heard of this. Bizarre. From now on anyone who wants to examine my poo better be prepared to let me examine their credentials first!
Now I *really* think you should cite Dr Ben Goldachre here!! LOL!
I am indebted to Dr. Goldacre for coining the term 'referenciness' to describe the academic rigour of Ms McKeith's work.
I've always held a dislike for Ms. McKieth, partly for that reason, as I'd heard about the PHD thing before. I tend to change channels if she comes on as she annoys me. She seems to have made a living out of stating the bleedin' obvious to fat people:
"You eat badly. You eat lots of crap, processed food and takeaways. You drink fizzy drinks. You should stop all that, eat some veg and drink water and perhaps think about walking somewhere every now and then fattie."
No offense, but it really doesn't take a self-proclaimed 'expert' to deduce this. A complete stranger could work that out in the time it took to glance at them, especially if they were in the supermarket queue at the time.
I always think that if I was the victim of her show, I'd take one look at her and decide I didn't really want to look like a stork sucking a lemon and stick to my current diet.
Gillian for PRESIDENT. Man she is a cool lady with a attitude we need more people like her to kick ass. Iam over weight myself and because of her ive opened my eyes. Thank Gillian you ROCK
Natasha from South Africa
I love "You are what you eat!". I started watching it a few months ago on BBC. Now I am visiting health food stores and buying natural foods such as grains. We are loving our natural kitchen and enjoying healthy recipes with pine nuts, spinach, olive oil, onions, fresh dill, organic yogart/milk/apples, bulgar, pumpkin seeds. Gillian got me started living a healthier lifestyle than fast food at every meal. Before I watched her I was introduced to "pooh" (or #2 as we call it) by a local nutritional Dr. that came to our job each month in 2006. She spoke of detoxifying from parasites, candidas, and liver cleanse by using a coffee enemas. We giggled, but then it opened my interest in the area of eating healthy. I then read any nutritional book that I could get a hold of since that time. I used to be constipated. Now I am regular and trying to include healthy food/several physical activities in my daily life. Soon I hope to get that youthful happiness and vitality back into my life. This is what it's all about. Both doctors have brought the information as listed by the UDA of 5 fruits & veggies and showed me how I can incorporate that into my lifestyle. I have enjoyed watching other people’s condition and learning how I can also benefit from their change. What I have seen from Dr. Gillian's show is that you take pride in preparing healthy foods, start enjoying an active life, (include heavy weights to increase metabolism) then seeing the results from their glowing faces. It's remarkable. As Gillian says "You need sorting out!" I do need help and would love for her to come to America. However, I am glad to have done a web search to find that I can also read her book and have a copy of her recipes that others have used on her show. It's just sad to also see that there are others out there that do not feel as pleased as I do to have found a tv show that is helping us with educating us about our health instead of causing us to "veg" out in front of the tv with chips & queso and soda. I am in my early 30s, am 5'6, size 14, weigh 183 lbs. This is the heaviest that I have weighed and would like to trim my stress belly back down to size. It does take a lot of willpower to get on track and focus on the end result. Maybe those that dog Gillian and do not believe in her cause for everyone to enjoy a healthy life are already healthy and do not need her assistance. Please don't spoil it for the rest of us. A good "kick in the pants" (as Gillian says) is just the medicine we needed. I've heard that America needs to focus more on preventative care instead of always looking for the wonder drug to cure the effects of our bad health habits. Hopefully this helps others who are also beginning their lifestyle change. (It's 11:00am now time for Gillian's show.) Bye!
I love your show but I do have one suggestion. You seem to only do very overweight people but I do believe there are tons of skinny people eating badly who are sick because of it. I have friends who are on several medications and I know its due to their food intake and nutrition but they dont see it. It would be great if you could show some of these people. Skinny doesnt always mean healthy.
Lebasi, glad you like the show, I shall get right on that. Hmm, wait a minute...