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DR UNA COALES Q&A
Before you relocated here with your British husband, you worked in the USA. How does the health of each population compare?
The Americans are very unhealthy. There are 60 million obese people in America, but when I came over here I noticed that English people were going that way.
Is that why you wanted to make this programme?
When I was working as a surgeon I used to have to treat people with cancer, or assisted in heart operations, and by that time it was often too late. I did a lot of breaking bad news. When I came over to England I was doing a lot of head and neck surgery, and again, seeing a lot of throat cancer in young people. There was one young woman in her twenties, and a fireman in his 30s, and it was really depressing, because it all could have been prevented, and of course they’ve all passed away now.
It must be agonising having to break bad news to people.
Horrible. Cancer hits in your 20s or 30s now, it’s not just 70s and 80s. It’s really good that the government is introducing this ban on smoking in public places next year. It’s the secondary smoke that is more lethal and, it’s the non-smokers who are dying of cancer as well.
How can you get through to the people on the programme?
This is a fantastic show, because it’s not me lecturing, it’s me using visual aids so I can show them the inside of their bodies, and they can see the damage they’re doing to themselves. As a surgeon I’ve been privileged to see the inside, but the public haven’t, until now.
You calculate people’s death age - how scientific is that?
It’s very scientific. The predicted life expectancy is based on whether you’re a smoker, if you have a family history of heart disease and so on. If you have morbid obesity you already knock off 13 years. We combine these with cholesterol levels, liver enzymes etcetera, so we can be pretty accurate to the year.
And can your regime really turn things around in eight weeks and radically lengthen their life expectancy?
The subjects have an expert team. There’s a nutritionist, a fitness expert, and I give medical advice. Because I’m educating them, they realise why they should be eating healthily. I think eight weeks is plenty of time.
Isn’t there still something to be said for allowing yourself treats?
Oh yes. For instance, the nutritionist on the diet plan doesn’t say you can’t have chocolate or ice cream as a little treat. It’s all about balance and moderation. I don’t tell people they can never drink again, I get them to abstain from drinking until their liver recovers and then drink in moderation.
We all know that smoking, excessive drinking, bad diet and no exercise are unhealthy. How is this show telling us anything new?
Because I show people who look absolutely fine on the outside - maybe they look a little bit overweight - and then I do the investigations, blood tests and imaging on the inside, and they’re absolutely blown away by the actual damage that’s already occurred. Normal people never get to see that until they’re diagnosed with cirrhosis and they need a liver transplant. I can show people on their liver scan that the fat has already started infiltrating the liver, or that the heart is already damaged.
What do you do to stay healthy?
I eat healthily and I don’t have microwave meals. My husband does the cooking; he’s very good at it. So it’s home-cooked meals for us, exercise - because I’m so busy it’s either walking everywhere or housework, and that’s the message that I’m also trying to get across. You don’t have to go to the gym. Running up and down the stairs, hovering - that’s exercise, burning calories. So there are no excuses!
This is a fantastic show, because it’s not me lecturing, it’s me using visual aids so I can show them the inside of their bodies, and they can see the damage they’re doing to themselves. As a surgeon I’ve been privileged to see the inside, but the public haven’t, until now.
You calculate people’s death age - how scientific is that?
It’s very scientific. The predicted life expectancy is based on whether you’re a smoker, if you have a family history of heart disease and so on. If you have morbid obesity you already knock off 13 years. We combine these with cholesterol levels, liver enzymes etcetera, so we can be pretty accurate to the year.
And can your regime really turn things around in eight weeks and radically lengthen their life expectancy?
The subjects have an expert team. There’s a nutritionist, a fitness expert, and I give medical advice. Because I’m educating them, they realise why they should be eating healthily. I think eight weeks is plenty of time.
Isn’t there still something to be said for allowing yourself treats?
Oh yes. For instance, the nutritionist on the diet plan doesn’t say you can’t have chocolate or ice cream as a little treat. It’s all about balance and moderation. I don’t tell people they can never drink again, I get them to abstain from drinking until their liver recovers and then drink in moderation.
We all know that smoking, excessive drinking, bad diet and no exercise are unhealthy. How is this show telling us anything new?
Because I show people who look absolutely fine on the outside - maybe they look a little bit overweight - and then I do the investigations, blood tests and imaging on the inside, and they’re absolutely blown away by the actual damage that’s already occurred. Normal people never get to see that until they’re diagnosed with cirrhosis and they need a liver transplant. I can show people on their liver scan that the fat has already started infiltrating the liver, or that the heart is already damaged.
What do you do to stay healthy?
I eat healthily and I don’t have microwave meals. My husband does the cooking; he’s very good at it. So it’s home-cooked meals for us, exercise - because I’m so busy it’s either walking everywhere or housework, and that’s the message that I’m also trying to get across. You don’t have to go to the gym. Running up and down the stairs, hovering - that’s exercise, burning calories. So there are no excuses!
