Health secretary Matt Hancock reveals he lost two stone with low-carb diet

The health secretary has spoken about how he lost two stone by cutting out carbs, as he called for an overhaul of Britain’s lifestyles.

Matt Hancock said he achieved his weight loss in three months by eliminating bread, potatoes and pasta from his diet, in order to prepare to compete in a steeplechase race.

And he said improvements in healthcare technology and wearables could help those struggling to lose weight to “take control” of their daily habits.

Speaking at the World Economic Forum in China, Mr Hancock said that tackling Britain’s rising obesity levels is one of his priorities as Health Secretary.

"I want to have a debate in the UK about how we keep healthy and also about how we personalise health,” he told The Telegraph.

Matt Hancock

"This is about people looking after themselves, taking personal responsibility - around 40 per cent of our health comes down to lifestyles,” he said. "We need to use technology to help us take control.

"It is clear that obesity is one of the rising challenges for the health of the nation, the links between obesity, diabetes and to cancer are increasingly clear.

“We need to ensure that people don’t always reach to to the medicinal solution. Losing weight, activity and eating better are there of the best things that you can do to tackle obesity.

Mr Hancock said his own diet efforts were spurred on by a competitive streak, after he was signed up to take part in a charity race at Newmarket in 2012.

"When I first entered parliament… I put on quite a lot of weight and I signed up to do a horse race and I had to lose two stone. 

"I did it over three months by not eating bread, potatoes or pasta. I had to get down to 11 stone 7 which is below my comfortable weight but I've only put one stone back on. I try to stay fit.”

The Health Secretary, who replaced Jeremy Hunt in July, said other weight loss stories could inspire Britons to lose weight. Two in three adults in England are overweight or obese.

"I want to pay tribute here to Tom Watson, who alongside being deputy leader of the Labour party fighting misogyny and anti-semitism ...  has also lost seven stones and is in remission from diabetes and no longer has to take medication,” he said. 

“Now that is multi tasking. He is an example to many.”

Mr Watson spoke last week about how he ended “a 30-year love affair with beer and curries" in a bid to save himself from an early grave.

Mr Hancock, 39, admitted to a sweet tooth, but said he tried to keep a healthy lifestyle overall. 

"I suffer the same temptations as everybody else and I do my best to resist them. Portuguese Pastel de nata is a particular problem for me,” he said.

The Health Secretary is among a number of figures in UK health to have recounted diet secrets in recent years. 

Simon Stevens, NHS England chief executive lost three stones before taking up the post in 2014, saying his secret was to “eat less rubbish”.

His predecessor, Sir David Nicholson, told how he gave up beer after a diagnosis of diabetes, having previously had up to eight pints on a Friday night.

Ask Ada, not Alexa if you are feeling ill

The scientists behind Amazon Alexa are developing a symptom checker using voice recognition technology.

Their app - called Ada - already allows patients to access free health advice after assessing signs of illness via artificial intelligence.

The developments emerged as the Health Secretary outlined ambitions to make the NHS the most advanced healthcare system in the world.

Mr Hancock said he expected smartphones to be the “first port of call” for most health problems within a decade.

He hailed the work of British start-up companies to develop apps which can provide patients with advice, and online consultations.

"The way we think about healthcare within 10 years will be radically different,” Mr Hancock said. "As the technology rolls out it will be increasingly clear that it will help GPs to cope with rising demand."

The founders of Ada said it had been able to help patients with rare diseases to get the right advice in minutes, even in rare cases where diagnosis might otherwise take up to a decade.

The app, which has four million users worldwide, is based in London and Berlin and was launched in the UK last year.

It is offered free to consumers, who are given advice about what their symptoms could mean, and whether they should see a GP, pharmacist or go to a Accident & Emergency.

Founder Daniel Nathrath said widespread use of the systems could save the NHS about 10 per cent of its £124bn budget.

Trials of London patients waiting at a GP surgery found that around 15 per cent of those completing the online quizzes could be given advice without ever seeing their doctor.