Who is Eddie Abbew – the viral food critic?

If you're an avid social media user, chances are you've scrolled across a man shouting at you for your food choices. Enter Eddie Abbew.

The former bodybuilding champion and qualified psychiatric nurse has taken TikTok and Instagram by storm by calling out processed foods and providing followers with healthier options instead.

His informative (yet sweary) clips have racked up views by the million and have even birthed a trend across TikTok. His posts have even landed him his own show in collaboration with GRM Daily.

Here's everything we know:

Who is Eddie Abbew?

Eddie was born in November 1967 in Ghana. Before his days as an internet celebrity, he won the 1997 British Championships in the world of bodybuilding.

Speaking about his bodybuilding journey, Eddie told The Global Town Hall: "As a child, I was quite skinny but this all changed by the age of 16 when I discovered weights.

"I played hockey, basketball, table tennis, tennis and tried my hand at soccer, even though I was not very good at it.

"I just loved sports as a child and I was in the school Athletics team with Paul Ereng, who went on to win a gold medal at the Olympics."

He and his wife Marisa later founded the Olympian gym in 2011 where he continues to transform the mindsets and lifestyles of many clients.

Eddie also has three children, who he speaks about on social media.

In the interview with The Global Town Hall, he said: "I am a parent with three children and I think feeding them is one of the most difficult tasks."

"Children are inundated with advertisements about junk food. As a parent who is determined make his children eat healthily, it's sometimes very difficult to contradict the messages that the advertisers convey.

"We only buy foods that we think are healthy for our children. Very rarely would you see cookies, white bread, cakes, fizzy drinks, etc. in our cupboards and fridge."

What is his message online?

Essentially, Eddie believes in ditching processed foods, and instead, eating single-ingredient foods such as eggs, chicken thigh, tuna, sweet potato, feta cheese, beef liver and turkey amongst many more. He presents his message in a humorous, dramatised way – that some fellow personal trainers online have called unrealistic.

One clip sees him calling out the irony of placing a Greggs branch under a gym.

"You can't make that s*** up," he told his 1.3 million viewers. "Greggs, Pure Gym, Card Factory – where you get your 'get well soon cards' when you get sick from eating all of that s***."

He continued: "Look at it, they got a new Burger King. Guys, wake the f*** up."

In another, he goes after 50/50 bread – or as Abbew describes it "half s*** and half s***."

"Bake your own bread or get your bread from the f***ing bakery," he says. "This is not f***ing food. Look at the f***ing ingredients. Bread's supposed to have four ingredients: water, salt, yeast and flour."

What has been the reaction online?

Abbew has garnered almost three million followers on Instagram alone, and a further million on his TikTok.

He's received positive feedback from his fans, including a TikTok trend birthed from his dramatic emphasis on certain foods.

Meanwhile, there's been a wider discussion in the online personal trainer and coach community, with one saying they while they agree with some of the statements, they disagree with others.

Online coach Francis Koji claimed: "There's been some statistics or claims that he's said that are wrong. Now, that's going to be an issue for people as if they blindly follow that advice, they may run into some problems."

He continued: "He often says 'do your own research and check your own studies,' but people don't like that and want him to cite the studies himself."

Francis advises people to carry out their own research before following any advice.

What's next for Eddie?

Eddie has just launched a series on GRM's YouTube channel titled The F*ckin Eddie Abbew Show.

Each week, Eddie will explore a trending topic by sharing his no-nonsense takes on everything from healthy eating, weight loss supplements, processed foods and protein-heavy diets.

He will also share some of his healthy recipes alongside his daughter Selina.

The CONspiracy of food | The Eddie Abbew Showwww.youtube.com

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