Food reversed my grandmother’s ‘fatal’ heart disease

conditions — you can regain control of your medical destiny.

Being healthy, protecting yourself against disease and striving to live longer doesn’t mean you can never eat steak again. It matters less what you have on special occasions and more the food choices you make day to day.

My prescription for if, or when, you do enjoy a steak is to accompany it with a large side order of broccoli (which has been shown to help negate the cancercausing effects of meat) and perhaps have berries or other fruit for dessert.

The best available balance of evidence suggests that the healthiest diet is one that minimises the intake of meat, eggs, dairy and processed junk, and maximises the consumption of fruit, vegetables, legumes (beans, split peas, chickpeas and lentils), whole grains, nuts and seeds, mushrooms and herbs and spices — real food that grows from the ground.

Those are the healthiest choices, and that message forms the basis of my Daily Dozen.

I’m sure you’ll notice that the recipes in today’s Weekend magazine, and packed into the pullouts all next week, are vegetarian, but you might be relieved to hear that you can enjoy the benefits of a plant-based diet without having to adopt a strict vegetarian or vegan lifestyle.

Be reassured that on my plan, nothing is banned and it really doesn’t matter what you eat on birthdays, holidays or special occasions.

If you stick to my Daily Dozen most of the time, the protective health benefits will accumulate nicely.

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