Five ways Michael Mosley changed our lives for the better

Michael Mosley Photo by Brook Mitchell/Getty Images

There can’t be many of us who haven’t heard of doctor, documentary maker and award-winning science and fitness broadcaster and author Michael Mosley and if they didn’t know the name until his tragic death hit the headlines, you can be sure they were well acquainted with his health and lifestyle message as he tried to help us live better, for longer.

From accessible TV documentaries to appearances on daytime TV shows to books and online, he was the medic that was available to all and the key to his success was the simplicity of his message. At a time when simply making a GP appointment can feel harder than running a marathon, not to mention being detrimental to mental health in terms of the sheer frustration experienced, his ubiquity gave him a reach that even the most starchy of couch potatoes among us could embrace and incorporate into our lives and because of this, it’s a legacy that will live on.

The 5:2 Diet

This introduced the mainstream to intermittent fasting.

We all know the theory that to shift the pounds we should exercise more and eat less but Michael Mosley gave us the method.

After being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in 2012, Mosley reversed it with intermittent fasting and changes to his diet.

His resulting BBC documentary Eat, Fast and Live Longer, which aired in 2012 saw him try out intermittent fasting and share the successful results. The message was clear. Simply cut the time window in which you eat and you’ll consume less. By taking two days out of seven and consuming 600 or 800 calories on those days while eating normally on the rest, you are cutting your overall intake and will therefore lose weight. Simple.

And if you struggle to eat less during the day, he suggested we could go to bed earlier and increase the time we’re not snacking or eating, ie. fasting, thereby allowing the body to process the food we’ve already eaten.

There’s nothing complicated about the 5:2 diet, no need to eat like cavemen, or foods of only one colour or whatever the latest fad. And for anyone still unsure about the difference between a deep fried fish supper and a salad with the right amount of protein Mosley produced cookbooks and online meal suggestions that are easily accessible to all.

And the fact he was an approachable 67-year-old man who wore socks with his sandals and rode his bike to the shops and appeared to live in the real world telling us how to lose weight, not an adonis or goddess who lived in pastel athleisurewear beside a permanently setting sun, helped encourage those of us who might be less informed about how to tackle it, or less inclined to get on board.

The Just One Thing approach

Recognising that not everyone can afford either the time or money to join a gym or engage in immersive, time-consuming fitness programmes, Mosley came up with his Just One Thing suggestions which he put in a book of the same name.

His approach was to suggest Just One Thing that could be incorporated into your life for the sake of your health and he led the reader through his experiences by trying them all out.

From doing a plank every day, to putting your phone down, having one glass of red wine, standing on one leg while brushing your teeth, eating dark chocolate, drinking a 20ml glug of olive oil to lower cholesterol, these are all achievable things anyone can do.

With the success of his book then BBC Radio 4 programme, soon everyone was thinking about doing ‘just one thing’ that could easily be fitted into their daily routine to improve their health. Taking a screen break from a stressful day and waiting for the kettle to boil, you could be doing his deep belly breathing, where your heart rate will start to drop and you'll feel calmer, or singing loudly waiting for the computer to finish buffering, or standing at a bus stop and being kind by chatting to the person next to you, all of them tried and tested by Mosley himself.

He got health and science through to us using humour

When he interviewed ice water dipping advocate Wim Hoff for the How to Live to 101 series he concluded that cold water immersion may have benefits but he only managed a warm shower with a 40 second blast of cold while singing vigorously to take his mind off it (the key he told us is to do it till you stop gasping) and admitted he wasn’t as likely to do it in the winter. Crucially, the science says that 30 seconds is enough and Mosley wasn’t one for staying in the icy jet for any longer than was necessary. Similarly he advised finding an exercise we enjoy because few people like running on a treadmill: “Don’t say you’ll run a marathon because you probably never will,” but rather do “press ups and the squats. I do them first in the morning because I know if I don't do them then I never will.” Above all he was a realist who recognised that failure is part of success and that lasting change is only achievable through increments.

Mosley had expertise and knowledge on his side

Having studied medicine in London and qualified as a doctor (he studied psychiatry at the Royal Free Hospital Medical School but chose to join the BBC as a trainee assistant producer in 1985) Mosley had expertise and knowledge on his side. He wasn’t a celebrity or influencer who had segued into health and wellbeing as a means to shift product, a snakeoil salesperson whose website was peppered with dodgy testimonies from ‘real life people in our area’ that dragged you down a rabbit hole designed to divest you of your email address and cash in return for a tiny bottle of ‘stuff’. He was a medical journalist who had science and studies that his audience could check up on, setting out the research in numerous TV shows including Trust Me I’m a Doctor for BBC 2, appearances on BBC’s teatime The One Show, about everyday topics from the impact of e-cigarettes to is high-intensity exercise effective.

As well as medical legitimacy, Mosley had industry and audience backing his programmes winning him a Royal Television Society award, an Emmy and he was named ‘medical journalist of the year’ by the British Medical Association.

He lived what he preached

From swallowing tapeworms, injecting snake venom, eating black pudding made with his own blood, taking magic mushrooms to merely having more houseplants in his home to reduce pollutants and boost mood, Mosley was dedicated to trying things out in the name of science. And it wasn’t science for its own sake, but always with the aim of improving the health of everyone, himself included. Perhaps his biggest legacy will be the one that influenced most, the practice of intermittent fasting and changes to diet that reversed his own type 2 diabetes and has been adopted by millions.