The Angry Chef

A cook with a background in biochemistry, Anthony Warner – better known as the Angry Chef – uses science and sharp humour to debunk nutritional misinformation. Now, in a new book, he takes on the weight-loss industry

- Paul Wilson

Are you still angry?

My first book exposes fad diets and explains why the science behind them almost never adds up. I also try to tell people that they shouldn’t really be feeling guilty about food and shouldn’t develop obsessive food rules that say, “This is bad and this is good.” (1) But then people turn around and say, “That’s all very idealistic, but there’s an epidemic of obesity. People are getting sick, and it’s costing billions of pounds.” I’ve been accused of making those problems worse!

So you’re seen as a villain because you’re “anti-diet”?

Well, obesity is a vastly complex problem. It’s just not enough to offer simple answers like, “You should just never eat processed food,” or, “You should only shop locally.” With my new book, I want to explore this at length, because I can’t explain it in a tweet or a blog post. There are so many people profiting from selling simple messages about obesity: “All you have to do is cut carbs.” “Don’t eat sugar.” Those messages are always flawed. I want to expose them and show why they’re flawed. We have to try to understand it in a different way.

Who are your targets?