Paleo Pete Evans rants at doctors who deigned to criticise his diet movie

He may be one of Australia’s most popular TV chefs, but health claims made by Pete Evans in his documentary The Magic Pill have been slammed by the Australian Medical Association (AMA).

Speaking to Fairfax, the AMA’s new president Dr Tony Bartone expressed his concern over the documentary that focuses on the controversial ketogenic diet. According to the My Kitchen Rules star, the diet is rich in protein, low in carbs and can relieve epilepsy, autism and asthma.

Bartone reiterated comments the AMA has previously made the Starts at 60, and said he was concerned about the “risk of misinformation” to “vulnerable members of society”. He is concerned people may believe some of the film’s claims instead of seeking proper medical advice. He’s now calling for Netflix to ban the documentary and claimed Evans’ ability and expertise began and ended in the kitchen.

Taking to Instagram, Evans hit back at the claims from Bartone and the AMA and said Netflix wouldn’t be removing The Magic Pill.

Read more: AMA slams Pete Evans’ ‘ludicrous’ new health movie

“Does the head of the AMA believe that eating vegetables and fruit with a side of well sourced meat/seafood/eggs to be a dangerous way of life?” Evans asked. “If so can they please share the evidence that this way of eating is detrimental to the health of human beings.”

The 45-year-old then questioned if the AMA was actually scared of Australians becoming healthy.

“What would this mean to their industry?” he asked. “Modern medicine is fabulous and vitally needed as we do say in the film, however, when 70-80% of illness is diet/lifestyle related, then shouldn’t prevention be a considered approach?”

The father-of-two said leading cardiologists, neurologists, doctors and scientists were used for the documentary and asked why they wouldn’t be allowed to give their dietary advice when the AMA and Bartone are allowed to speak on the topic with authority.

“So going back to the initial question, why does the head of the AMA believe that choosing to eat a non-inflammatory diet that is promoted by doctors in our film considered dangerous to the humans that choose wisely what they put into their bodies?” Evans continued. “Time and time again these simple changes have a long lasting sustainable positive impact on people’s lives. Or is the bigger picture for the AMA, that this simple approach may actually hurt the industries that rely on a large % of the population being sick?”

Former AMA president Dr Michael Gannon told Starts at 60 last year he was concerned with the messages Evans was presenting in his film.

Read more: Pete Evans is now pushing his paleo diet onto pets

“It’s entirely inappropriate that a media personality claims any authority on speaking on health prevention,” Gannon told Starts at 60. “Doctors don’t need to be told how to practice medicine by TV celebrities who engage occasionally in their fantasy world of pseudoscience. “I think we all should stick to what we’re good at. As a medical scientist and someone who is a constant consumer of evidence on health prevention, I’ll stick to my expertise and I think television personalities should stick to their obvious talents in the kitchen.”

It’s not the first time Evans and the AMA have exchanged blows. Last year, the chef called for Gannon to resign as AMA president over the claims he made.

What do you think? Should Pete Evans’ documentary be pulled? Have you watched it?