Joe Wicks explains why he's created 'deadly' protein bar that can cause 'stroke, cancer, diarrhoea and death'
Joe Wicks has become the latest fitness influencer to jump on the protein bar bandwagon - but his product is a bit different from the rest.
He is selling the 'most dangerous health bar' that the UK has ever seen and doesn't shy away from the fact that its ingredients can cause 'strokes, cancer, diarrhoea and even death'.
But all is not as it seems - as the social media star isn't actually trying to put his millions of fans into an early grave.
Instead, Wicks has gone to quite a lot of effort to make a point which he hopes could lead to real change in Britain.
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The 40-year-old teamed up with Professor Chris van Tulleken, a doctor and scientist, to create something which can only be compared to the Frankenstein of the protein bar world.
The pair hope to shine a spotlight on how unhealthy these so-called wellness products can be, as they're often brimming with harmful ingredients despite being touted as nutritious.
Wicks and Professor van Tulleken openly admit that their 'Killer' protein bar is high in saturated fat and sugar, while also being made up of 96 different components which are linked to dementia, cancer and early death.
The duo aren't just making it, either - they're going to try to sell it to members of the public, too.
And according to Channel 4, the one-off documentary Joe Wicks: License To Kill will 'hold the government to account for not doing enough to protect us'.
The broadcaster explained: "Joe Wicks and Professor Chris van Tulleken have an outrageous plan: to expose the truth of ultra-processed food by carrying out a highly provocative stunt, which they have designed to convince the government into changing our food laws for good.
"In the film, Joe learns about the country’s health crisis due to our over-consumption of ultra-processed food - linked to 14% of premature deaths in the UK.
"Joe’s Killer protein bar includes notorious ingredients linked to cancer, diarrhoea, stroke and early death, all of which are entirely legal in the UK and commonly found in other products."
Wicks - better known online as 'The Body Coach' - hopes that the show will help viewers understand that there are a host of 'potentially harmful ingredients permitted by food regulators to be sold on our shelves'.
He said of the documentary: "There really is a strong and growing body of science and evidence now to show that these foods are damaging our health.
"I really believe we shouldn't accept this as the norm and carry on as we are. We deserve a chance to eat better."
A trailer for Joe Wicks: License To Kill has been released ahead of the doc's debut next week, which shows the fitness guru in a mock teleshopping commercial for his 'Killer' protein bar.
You can take a look at it here:
Wicks is seen flexing his muscles as the tongue-in-cheek voiceover states: "Hey you! Yeah, you! Do you want to slay the day and feel unstoppable?
"You've heard of killer abs, killer whales, well... Now meet the Killer Bar, created by fitness guru Joe Wicks! Higher protein, higher fibre and a higher risk of cancer!
"That's right! Side effects may include diarrhoea, stroke and an early death. Is it legal? Surprisingly, yes! Is it healthy? Yeah, right!"
Professor van Tulleken explained that a 'big part of the problem' he and Wicks want to address is that 'unhealthy food comes without warnings'.
He told the Daily Mail: "In fact, if a food has a health claim on its packaging, it's pretty much a rule of thumb that it won't actually be good for you. Joe and I are furious about the fact that a product like our bar can be marketed as healthy.
"He and I deliberately made our bar as unhealthy as we could, using all perfectly legal ingredients, to ask this simple question: why don't foods that we know are harmful to health carry warning labels?
"At the moment, the foods with the biggest health 'halo' are protein bars - now a multi-billion-pound industry, with social media and sport health influencers relentlessly pushing them. Essentially, they're pushing junk food.
"I don't blame the influencers: they're not nutrition experts and protein bars are a great example of foods that promote themselves as health products, while in reality they're ultra-processed, with high levels of salt, sugar, fat, calories and additives known to cause harm."
Joe Wicks: Licensed to Kill will air on Channel 4 next Monday (6 October) at 8pm.
Topics: Health, Food And Drink, Weird, Channel 4, Documentaries
Olivia Burke