David Gillespie (author)

David Gillespie is a lawyer and author who has written several books about health, psychology and education although he admits to no qualifications in nutrition or dietetics, psychology or education.

David Gillespie
OccupationLawyer, Author
NationalityAustralian
GenreFood and Diet, Psychology
Notable worksSweet Poison, Why Sugar Makes Us Fat, Toxic Oil, Taming Toxic People, Free Schools

Books

Gillespie has published and promoted a number of books in the self-help genre.

Sweet Poison, Why Sugar Makes Us Fat[1] is Gillespie's first book which tells the story of how and why he stopped eating sugar. This was followed by the publication of The Sweet Poison Quit Plan,[2] the 'how to' supplement to Sweet Poison; The Sweet Poison Quit Plan Cookbook,[3] a supplementary book of recipes for sweets made with dextrose instead of fructose and The No Sugar Recipe Book,[4] which is the UK edition of the cookbook under a different title. Several Sugar Free Shopper's Guides were first published in 2014 and updated in 2016, for the Australian,[5] North American[6] and British markets.[7]

Following the commercial success of his anti-sugar books, Gillespie published Toxic Oil: Why Vegetable Oil Will Kill You And How To Save Yourself[8] which examines what he believes are the dangers of eating vegetable oil.

Gillespie has also written several books about food and dieting that combine his beliefs. Big Fat Lies: How The Diet Industry Is Making You Sick, Fat & Poor[9] which combines Gillespie's views on sugar and polyunsaturated oils; Eat Real Food[10] laying out Gillespie's arguments for why one should eat fresh, not processed food and Eat Real Food Cookbook,[11] the supplementary cookbook for Eat Real Food.

In 2017 Gillespie published Taming Toxic People: The science of identifying and dealing with psychopaths at work and home[12] in which he claims to examine the scientific research on psychopaths and attempts to understand how they operate and how best to deal with them.

With six children to educate, Gillespie has also turned his attention to schooling in Australia and in 2014 published his research in Free Schools: How to get a great education without paying a fortune.[13]

General discussion of Gillespie's approach

Gillespie has researched and written a series of books about diet and other issues on the basis of his personal experience and conclusions from reading. In the introduction to Big Fat Lies he states "I'm just a lawyer who's worried about my health and the health of my family".[9] He confirms his lack of specific training in many interviews with statements such as: "I’m not a nutritionist or doctor or a biochemist or any of that sort of stuff. So, I’m phenomenally unqualified to talk to anybody about any of that stuff, but because I’m a lawyer it’s not gonna stop me."[14](02:30) His knowledge of psychology and education is also through personal research reading.[15][16]

Criticism of food and diet books

Much criticism of Gillespie's arguments cite his use of qualitative language, his stance of declaring foods "good and bad" or using terms such as "toxic" or "poison".[17] The "typical modern" meals Gillespie describes[18] are recognized by qualified dietitians as unhealthy but these experts maintain that a balanced diet as identified in scientific studies is the recommended diet rather than the extremes that Gillespie suggests.[17][19][20] Dietitian Karen Inge comments "Put simply, there are no bad foods per se. There are some that lack nutritional integrity but consumed occasionally, in small quantities as a celebratory food or treat, they would have no long-lasting negative effects on our health...But there are poorly balanced diets. There are diets that have excessively large portions of foods and drinks that contribute too many kilojoules – whether the source is sugar, fat, protein or alcohol."[17]

When Rosemary Stanton, a well known Australian dietitian, was asked to comment on Gillespie's attitude to food, she said "I really think common sense would set us off on the right path. If you're overweight you're eating too much food and it should be less junk food. And this is really far more important than finding a scapegoat. Whether that scapegoat be a particular kind of sugar, a particular kind of fat or the glycemic index."[19](16:16)

The National Heart Foundation of Australian has released a statement disagreeing with Gillespie's claims around vegetable oils and including a strong health warning. "There is no single cause of chronic diseases, including heart disease. However there is scientific consensus that replacing saturated fat with unsaturated fat, in particular polyunsaturated fat, reduces your risk of heart disease. The Heart Foundation believes that to say otherwise is dangerous, misleading and wrong. Following such advice is fraught with risk and if followed could lead to the rapid development of serious health conditions."[21]

With reference to Gillespie's attitude to sugar Stanton says: "It makes very good sense to cut down on food such as sugar where you have no nutrients present rather than cutting down on foods such as fruit and I would absolutely differ with David Gillespie here because there are lots of studies showing when people eat a bit more fruit, and I am talking about fruit not juice, that is correlated with a lower risk of weight gain."[19](10:41)

Gillespie's belief that polyunsaturated fats cause cancer is not supported by evidence-based medicine and diametrically opposed to every leading cancer authority in the world.[22]

Discussion of Taming Toxic People

Gillespie bases his analysis in his book Taming Toxic People on "available research, personal experience and observations, as well as stories of psychopaths and their victims".[23] Most studies he has examined involve male prison inmates.[24] As with his other books he claims no expertise in his subject.

The term "psychopath" is not defined in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) . Gillespie says describing someone as a psychopath "is really just a shorthand way of saying a person that completely lacks empathy."[12](p30) He uses as examples of "the possible behaviour of psychopaths", the behaviour of figures as diverse as Mother Teresa, Caligula, Donald Trump, Lance Armstrong, Winston Churchill and Jesus while saying the tests used are not scientific.[12](pp32–35)

Discussion of Free Schools

Free Schools is a book about the Australian Education system. In the book Gillespie looks at how Australia came to have current the school system and then provides a guide to finding the best school. The key finding of the book is that "there is no correlation between how much you pay and the quality of education".[25]

Gillespie argues that there are two critical factors in identifying the best school; the quality of the teachers and the quality of the leadership team and that these can be found in any part of the Australian school system.[26][25] In the book Gillespie states that he has 6 children and if he sent them to the private school he attended or the equivalent girls' school he would have to have paid over $AUS1.3 million in fees.[13](pAbout) While the book has received criticism from Teachers Unions, who he says have taken incentives away from teachers, and by the independent school system, no one has disputed that the quality of teachers count.[26]

Personal life

Gillespie is married with six children, the youngest of which are twins.[1]

References
  1. Gillespie, David (2008). Sweet Poison, Why Sugar Makes Us Fat. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Penguin Books. ISBN 9780670072477.
  2. Gillespie, David (2010). The Sweet Poison Quit Plan: How to kick the sugar habit and lose weight. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Penguin Group (Australia). ISBN 9780670074440.
  3. Gillespie, David (2013). The Sweet Poison Quit Plan Cookbook. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Penguin Group (Australia). ISBN 9780143568261.
  4. Gillespie, David (2013). The No Sugar Recipe Book. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Penguin Group. ISBN 9780718180140.
  5. Gillespie, David (2014). Australian Sugar Free Shoppers' Guide. Morton Gillespie Pty Ltd. ISBN 9780987457714.
  6. Gillespie, David (2014). The North American Sugar Free Shopper's Guide. Morton Gillespie Pty Ltd.
  7. Gillespie, David (2014). The British Sugar Free Shopper's Guide. Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. ISBN 9781522980018.
  8. Gillespie, David (2012). Toxic Oil: Why Vegetable Oil Will Kill You And How To Save Yourself. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Penguin Group (Australia). ISBN 9780670076819.
  9. Gillespie, David (2012). Big Fat Lies: How The Diet Industry Is Making You Sick, Fat & Poor. Melbourne, Victoria, Australia: Penguin Group (Australia). ISBN 9780670076024.
  10. Gillespie, David (2015). Eat Real Food. Sydney, NSW, Australia: Macmillan Australia. ISBN 9781743533017.
  11. Gillespie, David (2016). Eat Real Food Cookbook. Sydney, NSW, Australia: Macmillan Australia. ISBN 9781743540183.
  12. Gillespie, David (2017). Taming Toxic People: The science of identifying and dealing with psychopaths at work and home. Sydney, NSW, Australia: Pan Macmillan Australia. ISBN 9781743535875.
  13. Gillespie, David (2014). Free Schools: How to get a great education without paying a fortune. Sydney, NSW, Australia: Pan Macmillan Australia. ISBN 9781742612195.
  14. Guy Lawrence & Stuart Cooke (4 September 2013). "180Nutrition" (Podcast). Event occurs at 02:30. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  15. How to spot a psychopath, Conversations, Radio National, Australian Broadcasting Corporation, 18 July 2017, retrieved 6 November 2018
  16. Gillespie, David (2014). Free Schools: How to get a great education for your kids without spending a fortune. Sydney, NSW, Australia: Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd. p. 3. ISBN 9781742612195.
  17. Inge, Karen (8 July 2013). "Dietician takes on David Gillespie". Good Food. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  18. Gillespie, David (2 July 2013). "Good v bad: navigating the supermarket aisle". Good Food. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  19. "Diet myths: Dietician, Rosemary Stanton responds to David Gillespie". Radio National. 15 August 2012. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  20. "Fat - the good, the bad and the confusing". The Sydney Morning Herald. 5 March 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  21. Foundation, The Heart (27 February 2013). "Heart Foundation statement to claims in David Gillespie's book Toxic Oil". The Heart Foundation. Retrieved 15 January 2020.
  22. "Peer review: David Gillespie’s Toxic Oil". The Conversation. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
  23. Karina (10 June 2018). "Review: Taming Toxic People – The science of identifying and dealing with psychopaths at work or at home by David Gillespie". Karina Magdalena. Retrieved 25 January 2019.
  24. "How to tell if your boss is a psychopath". NewsComAu. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
  25. "What makes a good school?". workingmumsaustralia. 9 March 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
  26. "Are private schools a waste?". www.couriermail.com.au. 1 February 2014. Retrieved 27 January 2019.
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