Dr Christian Jessen: What’s in his trolley?

​Has Dr Christian Jessen been taking his own medicine? Michael Van Straten gives his diagnosis

What’s on the menu?

• I watch what I eat carefully and while I don’t actually calorie count I do keep a close eye on fat content. I tend to stick to a low fat diet and I probably slightly under-eat.
• For breakfast I usually have muesli or granola with either yoghurt or soya milk, fruit juice, coffee and some fruit salad. Or a small cereal with yoghurt, then a cinnamon and raisin bagel with peanut butter.
• For lunch I usually have sandwiches or just sushi as I’m nearly always either out filming or in the clinic.
• My main meal of the day is dinner and follows a gym training session. Some fish to start, maybe salmon or smoked mackerel fillet, then chicken breast with vegetables. Then usually some sort of dessert like yoghurt or jelly.
• I snack on protein shakes or bars, flapjacks and sometimes chocolate bars.
• I always stock up on fruit juice, chicken breast slices or whole cooked chicken breasts, soya milk and mixed vegetables.
• I have a sweet tooth and like to finish on something sweet. I don’t consider that a vice however!

Michael’s Verdict

• As the charismatic presenter of Embarrassing Illnesses, Supersize vs Superskinny and BAFTA award-winning Embarrassing Bodies, it is a bit of a no-brainer that Dr Christian Jessen has a super-healthy diet. Compared to most, Christian is a paragon of virtue, but a wider selection of foods would make a huge difference to his future health.
• Breakfast is not bad. He did not say if the juice was fresh, but this is a good start. Long-term energy is released and he gets some protein from the peanut butter, though it would be better if he added some cheese. For a very busy man, lunch can be a problem. The choice of sushi is fine, but what is in the sandwiches?
• Dinner is the main meal and fish followed by chicken then a pudding is okay, but where are the essential carbohydrates? A well balanced diet should provide around 50 percent of its calories from complex carbs and this diet has no more than 20 percent.
• Chocolate snacks are fine, if it is the real 70 percent dark stuff with lots of protective antioxidants and not much sugar. But protein bars and shakes – they are for the gullible who believe the adverts, not an intelligent and highly qualified doctor. Please Christian, get your protein from food not fabrications. Beans, peas, lentils, nuts, meat, fish, eggs and dairy foods are what you should be eating.
• How right you are to think your daily desserts are not a vice, but your obsession with ‘low fat’ means your diet is nearly ‘no fat’ and that is bad news. Also, where is the calcium for strong bones and a healthy heart and circulation? Where do you get the healthy cholesterol that is vital for survival?
• This is a real doctor’s dilemma and I worry that you have not solved it. I don’t think your diet is varied enough to give all the nutrients needed. Long-term health depends on much more than just being thin and looking good.