Meet Emily English, the London nutritionist everyone's talking about

[Celerity]

The 28 year-old is a social media sensation thanks to her healthy dishes that foodies love. She talks to Hannah Evans and shares recipes from her new book

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/emily-english-interview-cookbook-so-good-food-z8zkvgn3b

https://archive.ph/8MWes



Who would be your dream dinner party guest? I’ll tell you who probably isn’t top of the list: a nutritionist. Nobody wants a guest who is going to talk about the nutritional value of that second helping of tiramisu or third glass of wine. Except, everyone loves Emily English, a cook, author and arguably Instagram’s most famous nutritionist. The 28-year-old, who has a BSc in nutrition from King’s College London, has 1.2 million followers on her Instagram account (https://www.instagram.com/emthenutritionist/) and another 650,000 on TikTok, where videos of her recipes-for-two have become some of the hottest content on the internet. Forget what you know about nutritionists. There are no carrot sticks or green juice here. Instead, videos of her making her butter bean cacio e pepe, creamy almond curry, chicken and apricot kofta or her baked honey chipotle fish tacos rack up millions of views.



Friends my age — I’m 30 — lap up her content: the recipes are straightforward, nourishing and delicious. I am obsessed with her crispy parmesan smashed potatoes and herby potato, salmon and leek bake. And yes, I’ve made both of them at dinner parties, doubling or tripling quantities for larger groups. Broadly speaking, Instagram chefs fall into two categories. Those who make comforting indulgent dishes such as triple-cheese lasagne and croissant bread-and-butter pudding. And wellness influencers whose meal prep focuses less on flavour and more on maxing nutritional value with recipes that are either so joyless or so basic that it feels as if you are cooking from “My First Recipe Book”. English has hit a sweet spot in between. She doesn’t fall down any of the traditional “healthy” rabbit holes — there’s pasta, she uses olive oil and she loves dessert — and keeps things simple without stripping away the good stuff.



In her new book, So Good, which comes out next month, she has a recipe for a nutritionist-approved chicken katsu curry — Wagamama’s version would set you back nearly 1,000 calories, hers comes in at almost half that. Her fish and chips involve wholegrain breadcrumbs, potato wedges and peas lightly mashed with crème fraîche. Aptly, she even loves a full English breakfast — but swaps the bacon for Parma ham and tray-bakes it all in the oven. She has real foodie credentials too and must be the only nutritionist to feature on TopJaw — the viral Instagram video series that asks Michelin-starred chefs and restaurateurs for their quick-fire foodie recommendations. (She raved about the moisture content in the pizza dough at Bellillo’s in west London.)



“When I am cooking, I always think, how is what on my plate going to make me feel? Will it keep me energised? Is it going to keep me satisfied? Is it going to make me feel really tired afterwards? Is this how I want to start my day? It’s about more than just calories. I like to hybridise all of my knowledge about the fundamentals of nutrition with delicious, good food,” English explains over Zoom. “I encourage normality.” She wants people to keep an eye on the colour of what is on their plate over the calories listed on the back of packets. “Colour is nature’s multivitamin. Eating the rainbow sounds a bit childish but there are fundamentals behind it. For example, reds are a great source of lycopene, a fantastic antioxidant that is good for our skin. Or when was the last time you ate something purple?” Purple and blue foods are known for their anthocyanins, which support brain health.

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[ariadne0614]

1. Thanks ever so!

I did not know about her.

[Celerity]

2. yw!

[Maggiemayhem]

3. Thanks! Shared with my daughter.

[dlk]

4. The food looks delicious; can't wait to take a look at her cookbook

Thanks for sharing. (Interestingly, her pic resembles Ivanka.)

[Celerity]

5. unlike Daddy's Lil' Chew Toy Ivanka, Emily English hasn't had 100's of thousands of dollars of plastic surgery/fake tits

The dangers of social media.

https://www.emilyenglish.com/blog/socialmediaandnutrition

Written By Emily English

Over the last few years social media has totally transformed our lives. We have become more connected than ever and have ability to share and view any aspect of life of which someone now chooses. It influences our fashion choices, home interiors, where we stay, eat and even how we feel about ourselves. My feelings towards social platforms have always been conflicting. Whilst I agree it’s amazing to be able to connect with creatives and have access to an almost infinite stream of engaging content, I have always felt it can be incredibly damaging.

Without this becoming a lecture of how unrealistic the world of instagram is, the main point I would like to adress on is really self realisation of how your relationship with social media effect you. Does it make you feel happy and fulfilled? or does it consume you and make you feel stressed? Striking the right balance with social accounts is key. Have you ever thought about taking a few mini breaks from it? Tiny changes in your routine can end up making a massive difference. Think of it as a holiday for your mental health and wellbeing. What you feed you body is incredibly important, but so is what you feed your mind.

I feel that we are fuelling this necessity for people to see the best of what we are doing in our lives. A sense of yearning for the approval of others, and disappointment in ourselves when we don’t meet the version of us that we are trying to project to the world.

Bringing this back to food, the rise of the instagram Nutritionist and Health Coach is really quite petrifying. To me there seems to be a huge divide between influencers who are unforgiving ‘healthy’ eating activists where to thought of eating a dairy milk bar might possibly kill them. Then we have the medical professional who sneers at holistic approaches and more ‘hippy’ lifestyles. Whilst I have my beliefs and practice according to them, I respect that different things work for different people and its not up to me to laugh and say its a load of rubbish. I do however have an issue with the fact that many of these influencers are NOT trained, a 3 month nutrition course or reading a few published studies online does not make then qualified to recommend dietary advice. Often influencers attitudes towards foods are purely anecdotal, based on personal experiences which have worked for them, but are not necessarily suitable for you. Their advice can in turn fuel disordered eating behaviours and guilt stricken food patterns.

It’s important to respect the power social media can have over us and how it can in turn change our behaviours. It’s kind of like the ocean, whilst it can be full of pleasure and discovery, you must always be aware of its power. Try not to get sucked in! Just because your breakfast isn’t a green smoothie bowl with chia seeds or you didn’t have avocado on toast with flax doesn’t mean you aren’t doing it right. We are all so diverse and different, our cultures and current lifestyles all reflect in our food choices. Being healthy doesn’t always mimic this picture perfect instagram image. What I eat in a day videos on YouTube are an absolute feat, of course, a huge congratulations for those who manage to make 3 gorgeous meals from scratch a day with around 40 ingredients all together at hand, most with a shelf life of only a few days. But if you find that is totally unachievable for you, thats ok! The stress of trying to be perfect will probably do you more harm, so relax and realise that there is health in your normality.

[dlk]

6. Indeed

There's no comparison between the two other than the similar looks, one natural, one purchased.

[malaise]

7. Yummy

Thanks sis