Dr Christian told us that many are unaware of the dangers of binge drinking and the sometimes fatal effects that booze has on the body.
‘Alcohol is a very, very toxic substance… but because its legal people don’t really realise that. It’s a rite of passage- but what doesn’t come with that is the dangers- drinking can kill you- it’s a poison.’
He continued: ‘It raises all these issues about the hypocrisy of our substance laws- its drugs and alcohol'
'Because something is legal doesn’t mean its safe.’
Dr Christian then shared his thoughts in the current drug laws, telling us that he believes they are currently doing more harm than good.
‘When you make something illegal you drive it underground so the quality of it is unknown. You have no idea what you’re actually buying- people will sell anything.’
He continued: ‘By banning things you’re creating more drugs. The whole reason we have these designer drugs is because we made the big 5 (cocaine, heroin, marijuana, ecstacy and LSD) illegal. To get around that people design more. Along comes the next thing and the next thing.’
The celebrity doc was quick to say that he in no way condones drug use and, as a medical professional, recommends that people steer clear of drugs.
‘I’m not pro-drugs or suggesting people should take drugs- but by changing the law we can make things safer.’
‘We need to de-criminalise it and make it okay for addicts to come forward rather than throwing them in prison.’
Moving on, Dr Christian also took some time to speak to us about ‘good fats’ and ‘bad fats.’
He explained that there are good, natural fats that we should be welcoming in our diets.
‘Natural fats- fats found in avocados and nuts- are good. Fat is very calorie dense but actually, particularly with pistachio but research suggests that we don’t actually absorb all the fat in a nut, so a handful of pistachios has fewer calories than we think.’
Dr Christian personally eats regularly to curb hunger pangs, and he acknowledged that a ‘grazing’ approach to eating is becoming more suitable for our modern lifestyles.
He said: ‘The convention of 3 meals a day just doesn’t work anymore… I’m a 5 times a day eater, I need to eat regularly or I get starving.’
Dr Christian doesn’t recommend that dieters take the Kim Kardashian approach to weight loss by cutting out food groups completely (Kim adopted the Atkins diet which involves cutting out carbohydrates).
He said: ‘I’m no fan of these faddy celebrity diets. You’ve got to remember that behind the celebrity diet is a whole load of people helping them out. The rest of us just do not have that. We know there are long-term health risks with these diets.’
The good news is that it’s still perfectly okay to indulge in some treats from time to time.
He finished: ‘Cut down don’t cut out. A bit of chocolate cake now and again will do you no harm whatsoever, in fact it’ll do you a lot of good cos you enjoy it.’
Read part ONE of our interview with Dr Christian here.
To celebrate World Pistachio Day (26th February) Dr Christian Jessen is working with American Pistachios to educate Brits about the health benefits of enjoying pistachio nuts as part of a healthy balanced diet. For further info visit www.americanpistachios.co.uk