How Dr Michael Mosley’s recommendation helped viewers throughout the UK

Britons today described how Dr Michael Mosley’s inspirational advice helped change their lives following his shock death.

The Mail columnist’s body was found on the Greek island of Symi yesterday after he went missing during a treacherous hike five days earlier.

A huge outpouring of grief has erupted across the country following the tragic news, with listeners calling James O’Brien’s mid-morning LBC radio show to share how Dr Mosley changed their lives.

Maria, from Barnes, said: ‘He changed mine and my daughter’s health. My daughter has got food allergies and I have food intolerance. He really changed our life because following doctors, we didn’t find any solution, even to the point they suggested my daughter start taking anti-depressants – and I refused.

‘When I heard he was missing on Wednesday I shouted “What!?”. I was shocked because he was one of my favourite presenters on TV.’

Avtar, from Hemel Hempstead, said: ‘My son has special needs. Complex medical needs. For the first five years of his life he wouldn’t really eat regular food. I used to have to process everything in a Nutribullet sort of thing.  

‘I read an article [written by Mosley] that a parent in the school shared that Michael had written about the use of probiotics. They had used a sample of children with autism and had remarkable results in the fact that children started to eat and vocalise. My son is non-verbal.

‘I took a punt to use the probiotics that were mentioned in the article. Lo and behold within a week I was driving with my son and feeling a bit peckish I went into the nearest McDonalds and got some fries. He was in the front seat with me and he reached over and took some fries and started eating them. From that moment he has been eating food.

‘He has literally changed our lives for the better and we were quite emotional when we heard the news about Michael.’

He was followed by a caller who recalled how the author and TV presenter inspired him and his partner as adults.

‘You can look back on our life and see there are certain defining moments that kind change the path that you are taking,’ said Niall, from Shrewsbury. 

‘For us as a family watching one of Michael Mosley’s programmes on TV was one of those moments. We weren’t having the healthiest life. We famously drank a bottle of red wine and had a pizza every night for 365 days.

‘He made everything simple to understand and really opened myself and my partner’s eyes in a way that we hadn’t thought about it before. The journey from nearly four years ago to where we are now. It’s crazy to think that we have become completely and utterly different people from the path that we were going down, which was one of sickness and poor health and a general unhappiness. Now we are just so healthy and happy.

‘The first problem we had was the weight loss. But once you kind of work everything out, which is what he helped us understand, it’s not necessarily about the weight loss, it’s about what you put in your mouth and everything else will take care of itself. He made it quite simple to understand from a how to get started point of view. Because of him we discovered other people in the same space that have pointed things out.

‘Before we would go into a supermarket and get completely and utterly drawn in by these unhealthy things and just fill our baskets. We now walk down the aisles with a kind of disgust, because we fully understand what those things do to you. He has made me want to change my career because I’m so inspired to change how we perceive food and healthiness in the world. He is the one that started us off on this journey. My children are going to have a much healthier and happier life then they would have done because we are not going to be giving them potato waffles and chicken nuggets.’

Another listener who was inspired by Dr Mosley as an adult was Elizabeth, from Manchester.

‘Michael was such an inspiration to me as someone trying to work in scientific communications,’ she said. ‘The way he was able to communicate complex or far away concepts and make them accessible and tangible in a way that people were able to implement them into their personal lives was really inspiring.

‘Why Michael was so engaging was that you felt like you were learning with him. There were a couple of documentaries, one where he got like a “surgical A team” together and there was a surgical or medical issue that no one had been able to help solve and he had a team together to do that.

‘I think he took LSD in a very controlled environment to see how that would impact the body and of course he swallowed a tape worm. He was part of the experimental part of the process. The tone was incredibly inviting and his approach was not at all condescending. He just had that way about him about being sweet and engaging.’

One caller shared their experience meeting the TV presenter in person, commenting on how ‘fascinating’ he was.

Richard, from Ipswich, explained: ‘I served in the Royal Marines band and being a military musician we had an operational role and in 2011 I got sent to Afghanistan for six months as the Adjutant of the UK medical group. One of the hats I had was that I was the unit’s press officer. So whenever we got a visit from the UK, I would have to chaperone them around the place.

‘Michael Mosley came out for a documentary he was doing on how medicine on the battlefield was affecting medicine back in the UK. The minute I picked him up at the flight line to take him up to the hospital in Camp Bastion. I was just absolutely amazed at his interest in everything that was going on around him.

‘When we got to hospital in Camp Bastion, the job of the musicians is to transfer the casualties from the helicopters to the hospital, which is just a short ride in a Land Rover. He took one look and said basically your role hasn’t changed in 200 years since the Napoleonic wars. The he started telling me about how musicians were first used as battlefield medics. He was just a fascinating guy and a very relatable nice guy. That’s the thing that has stuck with me.’

Dr Mosley spent his career advising on a range of topics after moving into the media when he became disillusioned after a disappointing psychiatry placement during medical school.

Over the following 25 years, he made a string of documentaries, books, podcasts and columns which transformed the health of the British public.

He was also remembered and thanked in the days following his disappearance by countless social media users. 

Remembering Dr Mosley, one X user posted: ‘Michael Mosley literally changed my life, showing me what I needed to do to lose weight & keep it off for the first time in my long life. I couldn’t be more devastated by his passing.’

Another said: ‘Very sad news about Michael Mosley. I was pre-diabetic and the 8-week blood sugar diet recipe book with a forward by Michael Mosley helped me completely reverse this condition. I owe him a debt of gratitude.’

Though most referenced diabetes and weight loss in their tributes to the journalist and TV presenter, many also thanked him for his impact on their sleep, anxiety and just their general understanding of a healthy lifestyle.

‘Michael Mosley’s book 4 weeks to better sleep absolutely changed my life when I struggled with chronic insomnia for over two years,’ said one X user. ‘I’m devastated to hear the news of his passing. He was a brilliant man and his work will have a lasting impact on many of us.’

Others added: ‘7 months ago I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, like my dad had been at the same age. Instead of taking to meds, though, I read Michael Mosley’s Fast 800 book, changed my diet completely, lost 10% of my bodyweight and last month got the all clear that I had reversed it…

‘Dr Michael Mosley’s Eat, fast and live longer is one of the documentaries that completely changed the trajectory of my life. Thank you Dr Mosley for all the amazing work you did to help so many people. My condolences to his family and may he rest in peace…

‘Like so many others, I have been helped by Michael Mosley. My Type 2 diabetes is still with me but things are improving thanks to his books. Thank you for everything Michael, what you’ve done for me & other people is immeasurable. Rest In Peace… 

‘I feel so very sad hearing the news about Dr. Michael Mosley [sic]. I’m just one of the thousands he helped. I learned about Intermittent Fasting and how to control my Type 2 diabetes. Which in turn massively helped my MS. My heart aches for Claire and his family…

‘So sad about Michael Mosley. He always seemed like one of the good guys, committed to helping people. Because of his warmth and approachability, I turned to his books when I had a diabetes scare last year. He’s helped me to turn my life around…

‘Such sad and tragic news. I feel I owe so much to #MichaelMosley. He helped me reverse my Type 2 Diabetes 5 years ago, with his 8-Week Blood Sugar Diet book. I’m still in remission… 

‘I’m sorry to hear of the death of Michael Mosley. As I have been recovering from mental health issues his radio series have helped me become healthier and eased my health anxiety…

‘Very sad to hear this news about Michael Mosley. It is no exaggeration to say that his work fundamentally changed way me and my husband think about food/eating/weight…

‘The 5:2 diet changed my life. A diet I could stick to, that made me feel better in every way, and which (over a period of years) got me from obese 98Kg to svelte 76Kg…

‘I’m so sorry to hear about Michael Mosley. It’s no exaggeration to say he changed my life. 5:2 changed my relationship with food and nutrition for the better and I’ve followed it, and him, for 12 years. I’m so sorry for his family and friends… 

‘Feeling very sad about the death of Dr Michael Mosley. One of his books (The Fast 800 Keto) helped me a lot. Daughter and I saw him speak live in Sydney last March. He was an adventurous person who was taking in all life had to offer and died doing just that…

‘Heartbroken for the family of Michael Mosley, whose work, alongside his wife Clare, saved countless lives. Through his guidance, in just four months I managed to reverse a disease, Type2, that kills millions every year. In an era sorely crying out for them, a true, selfless hero… 

‘Incredibly sad to read the news of Dr Michael Mosley. He seemed like such a nice chap who cut through the BS. The Fast 800 has helped me enormously and I wish I’d had the opportunity to tell him so. Thoughts with his family… 

Such awful and tragic news about Michael Mosley. Have a lot to thank him for, including being able to shift 15% of my body weight, following his advice has pretty much changed my life. Thoughts with his family and friends… 

‘Dr Mosley’s death has shocked me, because his knowledge, advice & collaboration with his wife, Dr Clare Bailey, helped my father reverse his diabetes, and we’ve sworn by their recipe books for years. Just awful. Thoughts & prayers to his family & may his memory be a blessing…

‘I’m sure Dr Mosley has done more for the nation’s health than can easily be measured. No one has communicated sensible health improvements in such easy, bite sized chunks. He has helped me enormously. A great loss to the world…

‘I never listened to Michael Mosley but my mum was a regular listener to Just One Thing and his diet solutions have helped her with gastritis, and her problems have become less severe thanks to Michael Mosley’s help. She’s devastated at this news…

‘I feel so sad about #michaelmosley. He changed my life this year, enabling me to finally lose my post baby weight, after 23 years. We met him and his wife Clare in Cheltenham this year, after their show in the Town Hall…

‘That’s so very sad. Following Michael Mosley’s ‘Just one thing’ advice has improved my health significantly these last few months. He’s done so much good for so many people…

‘I feel so much gratitude toward Michael Mosley for educating me over many years about health, longevity and how the human body works. I loved his podcasts and TV shows. None of us knows which day will be our last. I’m so sorry his was far too soon…

‘This book [The Fast 800] by Michael Mosley absolutely turned my life around. My diabetes went into remission, I went down to the weight I wanted, and I’ve stayed healthy ever since. I know I’m not alone. A good man whose goals for life were sound and achievable…

‘It’s not an exaggeration to say that Michael Mosley changed my life. His Fast 800 recipes taught me how to eat in a way that allowed me to lose weight while still enjoying satisfying and delicious food. I am >6.5 stone lighter and healthier for life thanks to him. Sad, sad news.’

Dr Mosley – well known for BBC programmes including Trust Me, I’m A Doctor and The One Show as well as a Radio 4’s Just One Thing – was staying with friends in a villa in the centre of Symi port.

On Saturday a Greek fire brigade helicopter hovered overhead the spot where his body was found.

Police arrived around 20 minutes after Dr Mosley had been discovered – around 100 metres from the shoreline.

A short while later a coastguard boat arrived and anchored just off the beach.

Mayor Eleftherios Papakaloudoukas had accompanied media to Agia Marina but was on his way back to Pedi when he looked back and saw something unusual on the rocks.

The waiter who found the TV doctor’s body, Mr Tsavaris, said: ‘The mayor had been here to give interviews to the media and then left on a boat to return to Pedi.

‘From the sea he saw something unusual and then he called the restaurant and asked them to check it out.

‘I was sent up there and as I turned the fence to go up I saw a glint from a watch and I then I saw the body at the same time.’

Police first filed a missing person report for Dr Mosley at 10.30am on Thursday and by midday each of the emergency services in Greece had joined the search on the tiny island of Symi.

The medic was seen leaving Saint Nicholas beach towards the town of Pedi, via a rocky path with steep sections.

CCTV footage showed him passing a café in the town, northeast of the holiday island.