I can’t believe I smoked so much when I was away
 
I was just craving it so much. What can I say? This boy growing inside me loves the hit of a smoke multiple times per week. I’m actually thinking about it right now and know that Scottish cigarettes beat any other country so this is very exciting now I’m back in Edinburgh – the world is my tobacco-filled oyster
 
And when I say smoke, I obviously mean I ate French fries
 
They’re exactly the same thing according to multiple articles I read on Daily Mail this week (and apparently, this was taken from one of those horrible little Netflix ‘nutrition’ documentaries)
 
My insatiable cravings for French fries (and therefore enjoyment of) are as bad for me as smoking a cigarette when it comes to cancer risk
 
 
I don’t really get that angry around nutrition anymore. I get a bit riled up when I hear another diary of a CEO guest say sugar is the reason for everything from weight gain, acne and my choice in men, but I don’t feel that rise in stress within my body that makes me want to scream or cry or give up because I’ve had enough
 
If I let every bit of nutrition misinformation into my space my space would be very crowded and that’s not good for my social anxiety
 
For numerous reasons though, when it comes to the nutrition narrative around cancer, I lose my mind when people make claims falser than my lashes circa 2019 (god bless the pandemic for making me realise my eyelashes were heavier than my sorrows and darker than my soul and outright ridiculous)
 
 
Eating French fries is the equivalent to smoking a cigarette: the vegetables oils hidden in every day foods that could be linked to serious diseases 
 
 
This specific article went on to talk utter tripe about the ‘dangers’ of seed oils, which I’ve spoken about before, which is generally a really good indicator of someone’s baseline nutrition knowledge
 
If they say seed oils are bad, I can guarantee they’ve had no legitimate nutrition training whatsoever, which of course is totally fine why would they know better?
 
Provided of course, that these people aren’t then giving nutrition advice to the masses… Which is where the problems arise
 
Seed oils are not bad for you. They aren’t ‘inflammatory’ and you continue to get the benefits of unsaturated fats by consuming them
 

Colon cancer crisis in young people could be fuelled by booming drinks bans adored by teens
 
The headline about 2 scrolls down from cigarette-gate, prefacing an article that basically states Monster energy drinks (ah hi prep days I don’t miss you at all) could be ‘feeding’ cancer cells
 
There’s no evidence linking the 2 FYI
 
 
In fact, research hasn’t linked the consumption of any specific food to cancer, and whilst 30-35% of cancers may be attributed to diet, this is more than simply personal responsibility 
 
You can absolutely f*ck off if you think it’s ok to put pictures of young people who’ve been diagnosed with bowel cancer next to a headline that blames their cancer on consumption of French fries
 
And do you really think people are choosing to over-eat, binge eat, be financially constrained in their food choices?
 
Honestly, piss off with your solely personal responsibility narrative 
 
I think of the millions of people being diagnosed with cancer every year opening articles like this and feeling what, ashamed? Self-critical? Blaming themselves for this hideous disease they’re living with? Because they ate a f*cking French fry? Drank a can of monster? 
 
 
On TikTok I saw someone I loved from Love is Blind (sue me I love reality TV) asking ‘ozempic is cool but have you tried walking 10,000 steps'
 
Honestly the privilege cracked my phone screen (ok that was me when I fell up the stairs on holiday thanks to my current daily shifting centre of gravity and desire to wear floaty clothes thinking they make me look like some sort of fashionable cool angel and not a bag lady)
 
Sure babe people take Ozempic because they’re too lazy to walk 10,000 steps a day, that’s all. Not because they struggle with movement and body pain, or because they don’t have access to conditions to support healthful living
 
It’s all our own fault
 
 
Let’s be honest
 
Lifestyle,
social determinants of health,
saturated fat,
trans fats,
alcohol,
calories,
fibre intake,
they all play a role in long-term health
 
To some degree, we have autonomy over these things
 
To some degree
 
 
But to blame, with no actual evidence, cancer on personal choices? To suggest, without any evidence, that more young people are being diagnosed with cancer because of a food they ate too much of?
 
Yeah, this nutrition misinformation pissed me off

It is f*cking bullshit

This linking of any one food to any one illness or ailment is f*cking bullshit
 
 
I hope this email doesn’t make you mad but rather gives you a bit of fuel to have these conversations with people in the staff room or at the dinner table when they read these articles or watch these programmes or listen to these podcasts and regurgitate the incredibly damaging misinformation
 
The more voices the better
 
 
Thanks for coming to my Ted talk I can’t believe I haven’t told you I’m going to see Taylor tonight so I’m off to carb load in preparation
 
Have a lovely weekend
 
Em