Professor Tim Spector and Doctor Kandi Ejiofor sounded alarm bells for the couple’s health
A couple who admitted that they ate two milk chocolate bars each, every single night received a harsh wake-up call from Tim Spector and Kandi Ejiofor. The medical experts shared their urgent advice on a Channel 4 series titled What Not to Eat, which followed one couple, Vicki and Rob.
The pair admitted they had a pretty bad diet, consisting of chocolate, brownies, instant noodles, and other high-fat, high-sugar foods. Reaching for a bar of milk chocolate daily, Professor Tim Spector, an epidemiologist and founder of Zoe, revealed that if they wanted to keep treating themselves, but still have chocolate whilst not consuming lots of sugar, they needed to make a simple swap – and it was all about dark chocolate.
Tim explained: “Every night, Vicki and Rob eat two giant bars of milk chocolate each. It’s ultra-processed, and only around 25% of it is cocoa solids, and it has a staggering amount of sugar.”
Doctor Kandi Ejiofor, a GP and clinical lead who is also a specialist in lifestyle medicine, revealed to the pair: “When you’re eating those [milk chocolate], you’re having at least 100 grammes of just sugar.” Looking shocked, the pair admitted it was horrible to hear, and the thought of how much sugar they were consuming made them feel sick. Although the couple, like millions, know chocolate is not healthy, there’s a reason why so many of us crave it.
The Professor explained: “Like many ultra-processed foods, milk chocolate has been specially formulated to be hyperpalatable. The perfect combination of fats and sugars triggers the reward centre in your brain, tempting you to eat more and more.
“But not all chocolate is created equal. The more cocoa, the less sugar.”
The Zoe founder, alongside Dr Kandi, said the best thing the pair could do was to make the simple but very effective swap from milk to dark chocolate, revealing that if they ate a dark chocolate bar at 90%, “you’ll need 31 bars of it just to get the same amount of sugar” as they would in a bar of milk chocolate – and Vicki said this thought alone was “shocking.”
She continued to tell the pair: “Dark chocolate has lots of benefits, so things like anti-inflammatory properties and antioxidants and lots of minerals as well that will really be beneficial.”
Tim revealed: “Our plan is to swap them off of the sugary ultra-processed stuff and onto the good stuff.” Trying 80% chocolate, the pair said they “could get used to it” but the 90% was “very bitter.”
6-week update
Fast forward six weeks, and the Professor said that the pair’s change in dietary habits “entirely transformed” them, with Rob losing nearly a stone in weight and Vicki losing a quarter of a stone. Despite initially having “worrying levels of inflammation”, Tim said these levels are now way down, showing the pair were making daily changes to their once-poor diet.
During their check-in, Rob told the experts: “Since day one on the dot, we have not had a single piece of that chocolate in the house at all. I went straight to 90.”
Tim joked the move was “hardcore” with Rob adding: “We had some 80% chocolate the other week and it tasted really sweet.” And for anyone else wanting to try the same, the Professor suggested: “If you want to make a lasting change, it still has to feel like a treat. And for Vicki and Rob, 80% is a sweet spot.”