Diet expert says people should forget calories and just focus on these ‘medicinal’ foods

If there was a drug that could boost your metabolism, help weight loss, dampen inflammation and lead to a happier and longer life, it would fly off the shelves.

But such a substance exists, explains consultant bariatric surgeon Andrew Jenkinson, and every one of us uses it many times a day.

“This elixir of life already exists – it is called food,” he says. “But be warned, the door can swing the other way too – this same ‘drug’ can also cause weight gain, obesity, diabetes, inflammation, allergies and misery.

“Like any addictive drug, it can interfere with your reward pathways, make you feel unnaturally high, and lead to addictions and the formation of bad habits – and those bad habits and that unhealthy become you.”