Andrew Jenkinson Interviewed by Susannah Jowitt

Weight loss surgeon Dr Andrew Jenkinson looks at the whole question of diet and nutrition and explains how appetite really works.

Jenkinson says dieting can be counter-productive. Why are so many of us failing if dieting, exercise and calorie-counting are so simple? He looks at every aspect of nutrition, from the ‘set weight point’ that is unique to all of us, to good and bad fats, and from how genes impact our weight to how our hormones are affected after a diet ends. And he also looks at the link between obesity and COVID-19. Jenkinson combines case studies from his practice with the emerging science of appetite and metabolism to explain why many of our preconceptions on diet are flawed and why mainstream advice on diet is failing us.

Jenkinson is a consultant surgeon with a special interest in keyhole surgery. He is part of an expert team developing advances in gastrointestinal surgery at University College Hospital, London. Here he talks to writer and journalist Susannah Jowitt, who writes for the Daily Mail’s Femail section.