Reducing the consumption of sugar and junk foods Malhotra campaigns about reducing the consumption of sugar and junk foods, particularly for children. Malhotra argues that it is unrealistic to expect individuals to avoid cheap, unhealthy, heavily marketed foods and that changes to regulation are needed. He believes that hospital vending machines which sell sweets or junk food sends the wrong message. which provides a 21-day eating plan. Very dark chocolate, butter, coconut oil, cheese, yoghurt are allowed. It promotes a higher fat intake with fewer carbs than the NHS reference intakes. The diet is called
Pioppi after the Italian village recognized as the home of the
Mediterranean diet. and then
MP and Labour Deputy Leader,
Tom Watson. The
British Nutrition Foundation's response to the Pioppi diet explained that there is no single definition of the
Mediterranean diet. However they identified that the advice in the Pioppi diet to cut out starchy carbohydrates is not consistent with an actual Mediterranean diet which would include bread, pasta and rice. In addition, Mediterranean diets are normally low in saturated fat which is contrary to the advice in the book that people can eat as much saturated fat as they like.
Rosemary Stanton also says that in most traditional Mediterranean diets, bread would be a part of every meal. The Pioppi diet was listed as one of the "top 5 worst celeb diets to avoid in 2018" by the
British Dietetic Association. According to the BDA and others, it is a new spin on a
low-carb high-fat diet that "hijacked" the term
Mediterranean diet (e.g. substituting cauliflower for rice or pizza base and cooking with coconut oil are not parts of the traditional diet of the villagers of Pioppi). This advice is part of the scientific consensus on
saturated fat shared with the
World Health Organization and the health authorities of many other nations. Current guidelines for doctors from the
National Institute for Health and Care Excellence for reducing the risk of
cardiovascular disease include giving advice on lifestyle changes before prescribing statins. Such advice includes: eating a healthy diet, exercising, stopping smoking, limiting alcohol and maintaining a healthy weight. The Director of the Centre for Guidelines at
NICE, stated that the use of statins in people with established heart disease was not controversial and was but based on robust evidence. He has attacked the
standard advice on saturated fat consumption to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease. In 2017 Malhotra wrote an opinion piece for the
British Journal of Sports Medicine which made the claim that
saturated fat did "not clog the arteries" and that heart disease can be cured with a daily walk and "eating real food". Prof Louis Levy, the head of nutrition science at
Public Health England says "There is good evidence that a high intake of saturated fat increases your risk of heart disease".
Rory Collins, an Oxford medical professor, has also sharply criticised Malhotra, and accused him of endangering lives. The article was criticized, for being based on cherry-picked science and for creating the impression that most doctors don't believe that diet and exercise are as important as drugs, and that drugs and lifestyle changes are an either/or paradigm.
Too Much Medicine campaign In 2015, as a member of the Academy of Medical Royal Colleges' Choosing Wisely Steering Group, Aseem Malhotra launched and coordinated a
"US initiative to get doctors to stop using interventions with no benefit" - the Too Much Medicine campaign - a partnership with the
BMJ and the
Academy of Medical Royal Colleges. The aims of the project were to reduce unnecessary treatment and overuse, and introduce an option to patients of "doing nothing". At the campaign's launch, Malhotra stated that over-diagnosis and over-treatment is "the greatest threat to our healthcare system". He also held that in the UK at least £2bn is wasted each year on unnecessary tests and treatment. His claims were supported by Sir
Richard Thompson, a past president of the Royal College of Physicians.
COVID-19 COVID-19 and diet In 2020 during the
COVID-19 pandemic and before there were any approved vaccines for COVID-19, Malhotra published a book claiming that following his dietary advice could grant "metabolic optimization" which would, in 21 days, decrease the risk of viral infection.
David Gorski criticized the book
COVID-19 vaccine controversy Malhotra initially campaigned in favour of taking the COVID vaccine. contrary to the available evidence. In November 2021, Malhotra appeared on
GB News to discuss an abstract for an academic poster published by
Steven Gundry and which the
American Heart Association had warned may contain "potential errors". Malhotra claimed that the abstract supported "a significantly increased risk from 11% at five years, the risk of heart attack, to 25%." after taking mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.
Full Fact warned that "Serious concerns have been raised as to the quality of the research". In September 2022, Malhotra publicly campaigned against the use of COVID mRNA vaccines. Frank Han, a paediatric cardiologist, reviewed Malhotra's 20 claims in the presentation and concluded the majority were unsupported by scientific evidence. In January 2023, during a BBC interview on the prescription of statins, Malhotra made unprompted claims about excess cardiac deaths and COVID vaccines. The BBC apologised that these claims were not challenged at the time. The
British Heart Foundation and scientific experts including noted immunologist
Peter Openshaw subsequently refuted the claims. In September 2025, Malhotra appeared at the
Reform UK conference, where he claimed that COVID vaccines were responsible for cancers in members of the
Royal Family. Malhotra's speech was introduced by Reform chairman
David Bull, who stated that Malhotra had helped to write Reform's health policy. The speech was condemned by health secretary
Wes Streeting who said "When we are seeing falling numbers of parents getting their children vaccinated, and a resurgence of disease we had previously eradicated, it is shockingly irresponsible for Nigel Farage to give a platform to these poisonous lies". Streeting demanded Farage apologise and sever ties with Malhotras' views. A spokesperson for
Cancer Research UK said "There is no good evidence of a link between the Covid-19 vaccine and cancer risk. The vaccine is a safe and effective way to protect against the infection and prevent serious symptoms." Buckingham Palace did not comment. ==Awards and honours==