‘I wanted to be the bridge between science and soul’
Emily English (Nutrition, 2019), known as Em the Nutritionist to her two million social media followers, is a nutritionist, influencer and Sunday Times bestselling author of the cookbooks So Good and Live to Eat. InTouch caught up with Emily to talk about her time at King’s, eating healthily and her journey to becoming Em the Nutritionist.
Flavours of home
Food was always at the heart of family life for Emily. Growing up as one of five children in a busy, hectic household, she nevertheless remembers mealtimes as sacred. ‘My parents never let us eat in front of the TV; we always sat together at the table and my mum made sure there was variety in what we ate.’
A broader family culture around food reinforced that strong foundation. ‘My granny was a chef, and my first job was working in her restaurant – doing prep, waitressing, whatever needed doing.’
Yet, despite this, nutrition wasn’t on her radar at first.
‘I used to associate it with diet culture – WeightWatchers, SlimFast – and it didn’t feel scientific to me,’ she reflects. ‘It wasn’t until I started working as a model, and my own relationship with food started to change and suffer, that I realised I had a massive black hole in my knowledge.’
Memories of King’s
That realisation was a turning point. After navigating her own disordered eating challenges and finding a healthier balance, Emily decided to return to education to study nutrition.
‘King’s was the obvious choice. It was ranked number one in nutritional science and they had these incredible professors who were world-leading researchers and pioneers in gut health. I wanted to learn from the very best.’
Emily recalls being captivated by lectures where professors spoke passionately about their research. ‘I remember this one lecture where I learned that we have the same sweet taste receptors in our gut as we do on our tongue. It blew my mind!’ she laughs.
Food was, unsurprisingly, central to student life. Based at the Waterloo Campus, lunchtimes often meant exploring the nearby food markets with friends. ‘There was a Thai stall that did the most incredible pad thai – perfect on a cold day. And I loved walking over the bridge for tapas at Barrafina.’
Emily English (Nutrition, 2019), known as Em the Nutritionist to her two million social media followers, is a nutritionist, influencer and Sunday Times bestselling author of the cookbooks So Good and Live to Eat. InTouch caught up with Emily to talk about her time at King’s, eating healthily and her journey to becoming Em the Nutritionist.
Flavours of home
Food was always at the heart of family life for Emily. Growing up as one of five children in a busy, hectic household, she nevertheless remembers mealtimes as sacred. ‘My parents never let us eat in front of the TV; we always sat together at the table and my mum made sure there was variety in what we ate.’
A broader family culture around food reinforced that strong foundation. ‘My granny was a chef, and my first job was working in her restaurant – doing prep, waitressing, whatever needed doing.’
Yet, despite this, nutrition wasn’t on her radar at first.
‘I used to associate it with diet culture – WeightWatchers, SlimFast – and it didn’t feel scientific to me,’ she reflects. ‘It wasn’t until I started working as a model, and my own relationship with food started to change and suffer, that I realised I had a massive black hole in my knowledge.’
Memories of King’s
That realisation was a turning point. After navigating her own disordered eating challenges and finding a healthier balance, Emily decided to return to education to study nutrition.
‘King’s was the obvious choice. It was ranked number one in nutritional science and they had these incredible professors who were world-leading researchers and pioneers in gut health. I wanted to learn from the very best.’
Emily recalls being captivated by lectures where professors spoke passionately about their research. ‘I remember this one lecture where I learned that we have the same sweet taste receptors in our gut as we do on our tongue. It blew my mind!’ she laughs.
Food was, unsurprisingly, central to student life. Based at the Waterloo Campus, lunchtimes often meant exploring the nearby food markets with friends. ‘There was a Thai stall that did the most incredible pad thai – perfect on a cold day. And I loved walking over the bridge for tapas at Barrafina.’
From graduate to nutritionist
After King’s, Emily tried several roles, including working for a DNA testing company exploring personalised nutrition. But she soon realised she wanted to work directly with people. ‘I wanted to be the bridge between science and soul – bringing nutritional knowledge together with a love of food and cooking.’
She launched her own clinic, writing personalised meal plans that incorporated her own recipes. Clients were so enthusiastic that they encouraged her to share them more widely. ‘So, I set up a social media page. It grew slowly at first but reached a point where I had hundreds of thousands of people engaging with my recipes. From there, the publishers came knocking.’
Her debut cookbook, So Good, published in 2024, became one of the fastest-selling debut cookbooks of the last 15 years. She followed it up with a second bestseller, Live to Eat, in 2025 and is now working on her third book.
A voice against misinformation
But alongside the opportunities of social media, Emily is acutely aware of its challenges. ‘There’s so much black-and-white thinking around food – this is good, that is bad, you can’t eat that – and it can be really damaging.’
She sees herself as offering an antidote to online fads. ‘If I say, I’m going to make your diet more nutritious, I don’t want the first thing that pops into people’s heads to be, “Oh great, now I’m not going to be able to eat all the foods I like”. It’s not about restricting yourself. There is a place for all food; some food will make us feel better than others and we just need to think about that when making our choices.’
From graduate to nutritionist
After King’s, Emily tried several roles, including working for a DNA testing company exploring personalised nutrition. But she soon realised she wanted to work directly with people. ‘I wanted to be the bridge between science and soul – bringing nutritional knowledge together with a love of food and cooking.’
She launched her own clinic, writing personalised meal plans that incorporated her own recipes. Clients were so enthusiastic that they encouraged her to share them more widely. ‘So, I set up a social media page. It grew slowly at first but reached a point where I had hundreds of thousands of people engaging with my recipes. From there, the publishers came knocking.’
Her debut cookbook, So Good, published in 2024, became one of the fastest-selling debut cookbooks of the last 15 years. She followed it up with a second bestseller, Live to Eat, in 2025 and is now working on her third book.
A voice against misinformation
But alongside the opportunities of social media, Emily is acutely aware of its challenges. ‘There’s so much black-and-white thinking around food – this is good, that is bad, you can’t eat that – and it can be really damaging.’
She sees herself as offering an antidote to online fads. ‘If I say, I’m going to make your diet more nutritious, I don’t want the first thing that pops into people’s heads to be, “Oh great, now I’m not going to be able to eat all the foods I like”. It’s not about restricting yourself. There is a place for all food; some food will make us feel better than others and we just need to think about that when making our choices.’
A passion for education
Emily is now channelling her energy into improving food education. She gives talks in schools on the importance of gut health, nutritious breakfasts and ideas for what we can eat to aid concentration.
This year, she returned to King’s to join academics in giving a ‘gut health masterclass’.
‘I learned something new at the lecture,’ she smiles. ‘A wonderful dietician, Dr Kaitlin Colucci, who also trained at King’s, did a gut-breathing exercise. It’s something that can help the way we digest and process our food. So now I tell people, one easy change you can make is to just breathe before you eat. Taking a moment to relax before a meal can make such a difference to how well you digest your food. It’s simple, but powerful.’
Know yourself
So, what advice would she give to students or alumni wanting to follow in her footsteps?
‘Know what space you want to fill. I always knew who I was and what message I wanted to share. People don’t eat facts, they eat food. If you can communicate your passion with authenticity, people will listen.’
One thing has always been constant for Emily, whether at home with family, in the lecture halls of King’s, or exploring London’s food scene, ‘I can’t wait to try Moi in Soho,’ she says with a smile: food as joy, food as connection, food as nourishment.
‘It’s always been at the centre of my life,’ she says. ‘And I wouldn’t have it any other way.’
Find out more about our world-leading Department of Nutritional Sciences today.
Find out more about our world-leading Department of Nutritional Sciences today.
EDITORIAL TEAM
Teresa Richards
Ellie Stone
WRITERS
Kelly Archer
Paul Brooks
Hermione Cameron
Kate Denereaz
Kate Hazlehurst
Joely Langston
DESIGN
Principal design by Jonathan Vickers
Additional design by Harpoon Productions and Carly Yung
Photography by Nathan Clarke and David Tett
WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO
JH Norris
ALUMNI & EDITORIAL OFFICE
King’s College London
57 Waterloo Road,
London,
SE1 8WA
© King’s College London 2025
InTouch is published by the University’s Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement Office. The opinions expressed in it are those of the writers and not necessarily those of the University.
If you have a story for our Spring 2026 issue, email us at forever@kcl.ac.uk
Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | Accessibility Statement
EDITORIAL TEAM
Teresa Richards
Ellie Stone
WRITERS
Kelly Archer
Paul Brooks
Hermione Cameron
Kate Denereaz
Kate Hazlehurst
Joely Langston
DESIGN
Principal design by Jonathan Vickers
Additional design by Harpoon Productions and Carly Yung
Photography by Nathan Clarke and David Tett
WITH SPECIAL THANKS TO
JH Norris
ALUMNI & EDITORIAL OFFICE
King’s College London
57 Waterloo Road,
London,
SE1 8WA
InTouch is published by the University’s Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement Office. The opinions expressed in it are those of the writers and not necessarily those of the University.
If you have a story for our Spring 2026 issue, email us at forever@kcl.ac.uk
© King’s College London 2025
Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy | Cookie Policy | Accessibility Statement
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