Dr Alex George, who appeared on Love Island in 2018, has opened up about his eating habits
Two and a half years ago, Dr Alex George tipped the scales at over 20 stone and was grappling with grief and depression. He admitted his ‘diet was poor’, he wasn’t exercising and indulged in ‘too much alcohol and processed foods’.
But now, everything has changed. The TV doctor, who shot to fame on Love Island in 2018, said: “I made a change at that time though to remove things that were harmful for me. I stopped drinking for one and then I started putting things in my body that were helpful to my health, such as having a diverse diet that included proteins, carbohydrates, nutrients and plants.
“When I started fuelling my body like that, everything changed. That’s not to say that what you eat can fix all of your problems or that by eating certain plants your depression goes away, but as part of broader health changes, it’s powerful.”
Alex, who once worked as an NHS A&E doctor, also confessed that during his medical school days, he had ‘nowhere near the level of appreciation’ he should have for the benefits of gut health with mental health.
He continued: “The gut is often referred now to as the second brain and there is this idea that so much of our nervous system, mental wellbeing or lack of wellbeing can be affected by or influenced by our gut.
“For example, the building blocks for serotonin – one of our key mood hormones – is synthesised in the gut, and an inflamed gut or poor gut health can implicate and impact our serotonin and the way our mind operates.”
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Discussing his current diet, Dr Alex credited his podcast ‘The Stompcast’ for providing him with a wealth of knowledge from nutrition and dietitian experts. “It goes back to the quite core basic concepts that can easily be lost,” he said.
“What we should be trying to do is find healthy ways to get sources of protein from lean meats – if you don’t eat meat then sources that are vegetarian but high in protein like nuts or seeds.
“We also need to be making sure we get fats into our diet as they are really important for the immune system too, especially healthy fats. Then we need carbohydrates to fuel our brain and our body as it is vital to things we want to do. So I make sure I get all of those everyday.”
Dr Alex swears by bone broth
Dr Alex, collaborating with the Vietnamese food brand Pho, also underscored the surprising significance of bone broth, which features in several of its dishes.
“I discovered bone broth – basically beef [or chicken] bones – and as a medic I had heard of the benefits around it,” he continued. “It contains a high dose of collagen which is great for skin and joint health. It smells amazing as it is slow-cooked over 12 hours to get as much of the nutrients and flavour out of it as possible. I’ve been having it for a long time.”
Beyond that, he encouraged people to make several other changes to improve their well-being. Instead of concentrating on a single area, he calls for a cumulative effect of various beneficial actions.
He said: “You want small changes that on their own, have very small effects but when combined with five or six other changes, have this huge overall compounding benefit.
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“For example, I stopped drinking alcohol, started eating better, fuelled my body and also started moving it. I also started taking care of my mind – I got help and started therapy. As my diet changed, I lost weight, was able to exercise more and started feeling better.”
Despite these goals, Dr Alex stressed that he isn’t seeking perfection and mentioned that aiming for it can cause people to feel like they are ‘chasing something that can’t be done’. He went on: “It’s very difficult to do and it can cause all sorts of issues. You have to also be able to live and enjoy your life, so I look at my diet to be [around] 80 per cent the way I want and that feels like a good place for me.
“Broadly, it is about looking at your plate and [asking], is it colourful? Or is it a beige plate? If all your plates and all your meals look beige, then that’s often a sign that perhaps we aren’t having diversity in our food. If you can try and eat 30 plants a week then that’s a brilliant start.”
In a separate note, he added: “It is impossible to avoid ultra-processed food in its entirety, but what we want to do is try and eat as little of it as we can. I enjoy foods that taste good, but you want to also feel good afterwards. It’s actually a good way of looking at it – if you eat something that makes you feel bad afterwards, that’s an indication your body’s telling you something.”
Dr Alex George’s go to meal at Pho (phocafe.co.uk) is the chicken pho, served with mango salad and an apple, mint and lime juice.