DUE FOR A DETOX?

MOREISH mince pies, plates piled high with beef and roast potatoes and a second or third helping of Granma’s famous trifle . . . If you’re anything like us you’re still regretting tucking into every delicious extra – and ready to shake it off and get fit.

Although it’s tempting to want a quick fix, temptation is what got us here in the first place. Perhaps this year it’s best to start off on the right note, with a long-term plan to whittle down your waist.

This extract from The Detox Kitchen Bible, a new book by chef Lily Simpson and nutritionist Rob Hobson, will help you to figure out how to do it.

The Detox Kitchen Bible’s message is simple: good, fresh, natural food beats any fad diet. If you give your body the nutrients it needs with food that’s delicious and nutritious, you’ll glow with health and feel full of energy.

No, it’s not rocket science – but perhaps this year we’ll follow it to the letter and be brimming with good health!

FOOD should be tempting and pleasurable to eat. It makes no sense to prepare and serve food simply because it’s good for you. To have wholesome, healthy food in your life, it’s essential that you enjoy eating it. So the first aim is to please the taste buds. But beyond that the ingredients should work their magic on your health and wellbeing. So we limit the foods that can adversely affect health and maximise the foods that nourish and nurture.

But what do we mean by “detox”? These days, with increased pollution, our frenetic lifestyles and diets high in processed foods, it’s become even more important to be mindful of what we put into our bodies, and to give them a break from the things that can cause unnecessary stress.

A varied, nutrient-rich diet, free from processed foods, can transform the body, leaving it glowing with health. To achieve this there are two basic guidelines: focus on plant-based wholefoods, variety and flavour when cooking, and leave out wheat, dairy and refined sugar.

This may sound restrictive, but once you change your perspective you’ll see how simple it can be.

Chef and author Lily Simpson says she lives by an 80/20 split: 80 percent of the time she eats food that’s free of wheat, dairy and refined sugar, and for the other 20 percent she eats whatever she wants.