90 MEN’S HEALTH MENSHEALTH.CO.UKyears and a bachelor’s of science degree,”
he says. “But I’ve seen online nutrition
courses that can be completed in a day.
Many ‘schools’ encourage their students
to practise while they learn, but seeing
patients when you don’t really know what
you’re doing is very dangerous.”
The problem is that dietitians aren’t
sexy. As a rule, they don’t employ
hashtags. And nutritional advice from
someone registered with The Health
and Care Professions Council is likely
to be pretty dull. You might well be told
to reduce your portion sizes, vary your
intake, and to do some regular exercise –
eventually you’ll start to see results.
The problem is eventually sounds like
a long time. The message from wellness
gurus, however, is much more attractively
filtered: overhaul your diet, and you’llDEDICATION TO CLEAN
LIVING IS MIXED IN WITH
HIDDEN HEALTH RISKS
FACES OF CHANGE
The consistent advice from registered
dietitians is that unless you suffer from
a diagnosed medical condition like
coeliac disease, nutritionally speaking
it is unwise to cut gluten from your diet.
But with so many wellness advocates
being hailed as – if not necessarily
claiming to be – ‘nutrition experts’, who
should you trust? “The problem with
the word ‘nutritionist’ is that it’s not a
protected title,” explains Miller. “Anyone
can call themselves a nutritionist and
potentially make a lot of money from
it.” Indeed, the Institute of Integrative
Nutrition in the US (which boasts famous
alumni including Madeleine Shaw and,
so rumours have it, one Pippa Middleton)
offers online ‘qualifications’ for the
princely sum of around £4000.
It is not an idea that excites Miller.
“To become a dietitian or a registered
nutritional therapist takes three to fourimmediately look and feel healthier,
happier and cleaner.
According to Vicky Orchard, a senior
editor at Kyle Books – publishers of titles
including Bowls of Goodness and The Meat
Free Monday Cookbook – when it comes
to wellness, an established social media
profile is more important than nutritional
qualifications or the ability to cook. “All
publishers are on social media looking for
the next person who’s got that platform,”
she says. Indeed, you need only see a
beatific selfie posted by Madeleine Shaw
or Clean Eating Alice to see why they’re
a publisher’s dream. When you look like
that, goes the reductive logic, who cares
whether or not you can boil an egg?
Where there’s consumer demand, of
course, there’s money to be made. Market
analysts Statista value the wellness
industry in the UK at over £25 billion –INSTAMAN
Wellness isn’t
all long hair and
leggings, as
these popular
betterment
bros proveDavid Wolfe
Advocate of raw
food and “science
enthusiast”
Wolfe’s middle
name is Avocado
(really). In the US,
his popularity has
an inexplicably
longer shelf life.Joshua Rosenthal
The founder of
the Institute for
Integrative
Nutrition leads
classes promising
“a new future for
humanity” with
just six months
of online tuition.Tom Daley
In bestselling new
book Tom’s Daily
Plan, the diver
promises a series
of life-hacks for a
“leaner, stronger,
healthier you in
no time!” Perfect
for your Olympic-
sized budgie
smugglers.bros prov