Great British Bake Off’s Ruby Tandoh slams ‘fat-phobic, cruel and self-serving’ books from celebrity chefs
FORMER Bake Off contestant Ruby Tandoh has branded celebrity chef diet books “fat-phobic, cruel and self-serving”.
The outspoken baker, 24, lashed out at Jamie Oliver, Lorraine Pascale and the Hairy Bikers for “swinging from comfort food to superfood when the price is right”.
Ruby also accused Michelin-starred chef Tom Kerridge of cashing in on the weight-loss bandwagon, calling his book The Dopamine Diet “total b*****ks”.
She tweeted: “The height of self-serving, disingenuous ‘makeover’ food books.
“Cutting out carbs will not set you up for better brain health or happiness or mental wellbeing. Carbs are integral for serotonin production. I’m furious.”
In a series of ranting tweets, Ruby wrote: "The Hemsleys are releasing their own cookbooks which means half the f****** brain cells for double the price.
"Joe Wicks [is] bish bash boshing himself to a multi-million £££ turnover.
"Jamie (and Lorraine Pascale, Hairy Bikers, etc) swinging from 'comfort food' to 'superfood' and back again whenever the price is right."
She went on: "Carbs are a class issue. Cheap carbs are vital fuel for low-income communities: low/no-carb diets are about coding money/status – not health.
"Funny how the food that's morally/nutritionally 'superior' (aka a protein-heavy, chia-filled diet) is also what the masses can't afford.
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"If you can't have carbs cos you have a genuine medical condition, I do sympathise - more power to you! But truly you don't need to tell me.
"I'm not here to police your individual diets. What I care about is the diet industrial complex laying down one-size-fits-all no-carbs bulls***.
"My parents would never have been able to feed me and my siblings without bread, pasta, rice, potatoes – all the cheap, hearty stuff we relied on."
Tom Kerridge, a BBC presenter and chef at the Hand and Flowers pub in Marlow, Bucks, weighed 30 stone before giving up alcohol and embarking on his diet.
It is based on cutting out starchy carbohydrates such as rice and potatoes and substituting them with foods that he claims can produce high levels of dopamine - the "happiness hormone".
His recipes include shepherd's pie with a creamy cauliflower topping in place of mash, and a pepperoni "pizza" with an omelette base
The Hairy Bikers have transformed themselves from roly-poly kitchen jokers into healthy-eating role models and unlikely diet gurus.
Their first books included Meat Feasts, Perfect Pies and their "Mum Knows Best" family cookbook. But since then they have written a range of Hairy Dieters tomes, most recently Go Veggie.
Lorraine Pascale, who used to run a cupcake bakery, released a book called Baking Made Easy in 2011 which featured recipes for pizza, sticky toffee pudding and "I Just Don't Give A Damn" chocolate cake.
Since then she has branched into healthy eating and took up the Sirtfood diet - based on the idea that certain foods can activate a "skinny gene".
Meanwhile, Jamie Oliver followed Jamie's Comfort Food and with Everyday Super Food, giving calorie counts and nutritional data for meals.
Ruby added: “Cheap carbs are vital fuel for low-income communities. Low/no-carb diets are about coding money/status — not health.”
The rant helped her own cookbook, Flavour, surge up Amazon’s sales chart.
Ruby has previously referred to Paul Hollywood as a "peacocking manchild" and to Piers Morgan as a ";sentient ham".
The rant has fueled interest in Ruby's own cookbook