Joe Wicks, 38, who is best known as the Body Coach, has been criticised for ‘damaging’ comments that he made while on a BBC podcast.
Charity ADHD UK, has spoken out against Wicks and the comments he made suggesting that ‘ADHD is caused by ultra-processed foods’.
The organisation called the fitness influencer’s comments on X ‘abjectly wrong.’
‘In response to Joe Wicks saying #ADHD is caused by ultra-processed foods: Joe is a force for so much good but on this he’s abjectly wrong.’
The organisation continued: ‘His point that a good diet can help almost everyone is right. But diet good, bad, or ugly won’t make you have ADHD or make you not have ADHD.’
The charity also released a message from Harry Shelford, CEO and co-founder of ADHD UK, who said the comments from Wicks were ‘disappointing’.
The CEO added: ‘To suggest for ADHD that swapping sweets or burgers for a plate of veggies is all that is needed to ‘fix’ someone with ADHD is both wrong and damaging. It’s misleading and undermines the very real difficulty of living with the life-long condition ADHD.’
While appearing on Radio 5 Live’s Headliners podcast to discuss the importance of a healthy diet, the fitness guru said that he felt food caused his undiagnosed ADHD.
Wicks said: ‘Looking back now, there’s no doubt the food I was eating was directly linked to my behaviour.’
The father of three who is expecting a fourth child, explained: ‘I was never diagnosed with ADHD but I think nowadays it’s this common thing that every child seems to be being diagnosed.’
‘And I think a lot of it can stem back to the diet and the foods that we’re eating. So, when I think about my diet it was cereal for breakfast, concentrated juice from the milkman, Sunny Delight, Wagon Wheels, sandwiches just jam, Nutella, very little nutrients – pure sugar.’
In addition to linking food with ADHD, the fitness coach also linked anxiety and depression to diet.
Wicks said: ‘Ultimately, I believe, the more I talk about it, we can eat ourselves into depression.’
‘These ultra-processed foods, the way they interact with our body and our gut, there’s now science to show that it’s linked to the brain. We can eat ourselves into anxiety and depression.’
Metro.co.uk has reached out to Joe Wicks’ reps for comment.
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Sarah Carter is a health and wellness expert residing in the UK. With a background in healthcare, she offers evidence-based advice on fitness, nutrition, and mental well-being, promoting healthier living for readers.
