Eat better, live l onger

As part of the Mail’s brilliant Good Health For Life month, mouthwatering meals to help you defy the ageing process

We all want to live the longest, healthiest life we can, and one of the easiest steps towards this is to eat more of the foods that keep the microbes in your gut happy. Emerging science points to the ‘microbiome’, the trillions of microbes inside your digestive tract, playing a key role in healthy ageing, protecting against inflammation and a plethora of life-shortening diseases.

These microbes, made up largely of bacteria and fungi, are like incredibly sophisticated chemists, taking the food we eat and converting it into hormones, vitamins and chemicals, many of which are vital for longevity and health.

Your personal microbiome is shaped by your genetics, but it is also strongly affected by what you eat, how you exercise and how you live

day-to-day. Eating more of the right foods and less processed and junk food is the best possible way to effectively support the work the ‘good guys’ do on your behalf.

Studies have shown that what you eat can reinforce and support the armies of ‘good’ bacteria and starve out the ‘bad’ bacteria, creating a rich and varied gut garden which has farreaching effects on all aspects of your life.

Having a healthy mix of microbes will reduce your risk of heart disease, cancer and obesity, as well as bolstering your defences against coughs, colds and infections. Foods such as nuts, seeds, dark chocolate, red wine, olive oil and vegetables like leeks, garlic and onions are all packed with chemicals the ‘good’ microbes love, and fermented foods such as live yoghurt and sauerkraut have microbes that help your gut thrive.

With the help of nutritional therapist Tanya Borowski and my wife, GP Clare Bailey, I’ve developed delicious gut-friendly recipes for all the family. There’s a tempting selection here, and more in special anti-ageing pullouts in tomorrow’s Mail on Sunday and Monday’s Daily Mail.

Good food should be a pleasure, and it should be shared. Not just with your friends but with the health- promoting friendly bacteria in your digestive system. If you look after those friendly microbes, they will look after you.