Why today’s alignment of ‘angel numbers’ at 10.10 on 10/10 could be the perfect time to realise your dreams...

Beware fake sourdough. Forget baby carrots. And chuck out that fruity cereal. A leading health expert’s ground-breaking new book warns ...

GOOD news if you’re reading this while eating breakfast: you’re in plenty of time to experience one of the most spiritually powerful moments of the year, which happens today, at 10.10 am on the 10th day of the 10th month.

But fear not if you’ve missed the morning boat, as 10.10 tonight will also do the trick.

I’m talking about ‘ angel numbers’, my specialist subject and one of the hottest topics in the spiritual world right now.

At those specific times today, many believe that a gateway or vortex will be created, enabling us to feel the presence of our guardian angels. Better still, this ‘window’ may even allow some of our greatest wishes to be ushered into reality.

You may well be rolling your eyes by this point, but there are lots of believers out there. My book Angel Numbers is one of eight I’ve written about angels and spirituality, which have sold more than a million copies worldwide. A 2016 survey commissioned by the Bible Society of 2,000 Britons reported that a third believed in angels, with one in ten believing they’d encountered one in some way or another.

It may sound eccentric, but I believe there is a message behind all numerical signs. For thousands of years, numbers have been considered auspicious and a way of understanding the Universe.

The ancient Greek philosopher Pythagoras believed numbers had vibrational values that corresponded to those of musical notes and created a system to reveal information about a person’s personality based solely on the numerical values of their name, date and place of birth.

Angel numbers are a modern-day evolution of this. Have you ever caught yourself checking the time on your mobile or watch and then felt a little frisson if the numbers happen to be paired — 12.12 pm for example? Perhaps you may even think it must be lucky and quickly make a wish?

I’d argue that you were subconsciously tapping into that ancient desire to seek out recurring number patterns that are commonly seen as ‘signs’ from a higher power. These signs help you to align your thoughts and energy towards living with more meaning, purpose and light.

As these are signs, it won’t work if you ‘cheat’ by simply setting your alarm for these times. It has to be unplanned. But you can harness these numbers by planning things on ‘special’ days.

PARIS Hilton had this in mind when she chose the 11th day of the 11th month for her wedding last year to entrepreneur Carter reum. ‘11:11 has always been my favourite time of day,’ she said. ‘It’s my reminder to make a wish and be open to miracles.’

My belief is that we see signs because angels want us to know that they’re here for us on a spiritual and emotional level.

Angels cannot intersect your life without invitation. If you are open to the idea of them and would like to experience more guidance from them, the best way is to ‘call it in’.

A simple prayer in the morning along the lines of, ‘ Thank you, angels, for reminding me of your presence!’ is a good way to encourage the possibility of signs showing up in your life.

So, what exactly are angels? Every person has their own interpretation. For me, they are non-denominational beings that extend from the heart of the Universe. Less the idea of a floating spirit with wings, rather intelligent energies that remain unseen (for the most part) that guide us through signs, intuition and meditation.

Some people think of deceased loved ones or pets as angels, while other people see them as non-human spirits. I first started to experience angel numbers when I was a tween in the early 2000s in Greenock, Scotland. After getting my first mobile phone, I’d often look at it when it was exactly 1:11pm or 3:33pm and wonder what was going on.

After a while, I didn’t think of it as mere coincidence as the patterns weren’t just showing up on digital devices — they were on receipts from shops, on petrol pumps and on car number plates.

It seems that once you’ve been introduced to angel numbers, they become still more available to you.

When angel numbers appear, it’s like you’re being given a spiritual high five. The angels are encouraging you to keep on going — that you’re on the right path.

I’ve found myself wondering if I’m making the right decision, only to find myself checking out at the supermarket to £111.11. For me, this is a sign that the decision I’m making is the right way to go.

For those who are still sceptical about angels and their signs, why not see them as your conscience or the highest form of intelligence that guides you from within? If you ask me, it’s all the same thing anyway. Here are the most meaningful angel numbers, as decoded by me …

10.10

THIS is the biggie, the angel number of miracles! 1 is the number of oneness and 0 is the number of God/the universe.

When you see 1 and 0 together in one line, I believe it’s a message of: ‘You are one with creation, you are one with God’ — an encouragement to usher in miracles and positive change to your life.

It’s a brilliant sign for you to expect the unexpected and an invitation to think of the best possible outcome in anything that’s causing you concern, because positive influences are surrounding you at this time. ACTION: If you are worried about a particular situation, think of what can go right rather than what can go wrong. This is a time when you are invited to imagine and expect the best possible outcome imaginable. Tune into what brings you to a state of gratitude and trust that you are a magnet to miraculous solutions.

11.11

THE most common of all the angel numbers, most people have come to see it as a sign that you can manifest (bring into reality) your dream life. 11:11 is actually the message of ‘one, one, one, one’, which reminds us that we are all one and we’re also one with the Universe. In the moment you are seeing 11:11, you are infinitely connected to the abundant universe and connected to the totality of possibility.

ACTION: If there’s a dream that you want to become a reality, think of it as your current reality. Imagine how it would feel; experience the joy this reality would bring. Trust that you are harnessing universal power to support your dream becoming real.

1.23 or 12.34

NUMBERS that move upwards in sequence such as 123, 234 or even 345 are all messages of elevation and improvement, confirming that your hard work is paying off and that you are moving forward. ACTION: Take time to reflect on the positive changes and growth you have made in your life. This angel number is all about milestones and seeing how far you’ve come. So if you’ve made any big life decisions or positive changes recently, it’s important to acknowledge your commitment because this will create even more opportunities and help you to keep progressing forwards.

4.44

THIS number has been strongly associated with the presence of angels. When you see 444 or 4:44 it’s a message that you are surrounded, guided and guarded by the presence of angels who are helping you on your way. And the reason 444 is associated with angels? It’s because 4 is similar in look to the letter A and it’s like AAA for angels, angels, angels. ACTION: When you see this number it’s important to say, ‘Thank you angels’. It’s the ultimate message that you are not alone and that divine support is available to you. When you acknowledge that presence with a simple ‘ thank you’, you welcome in spiritual support that will guide you.

22.22

THIS sequence brings the message of energy and influence — that you can make a difference to the lives of others and those around you. It’s a number that brings partnership, community and connection, inviting you to realise that you can improve the experience of those around you through your choices and your actions.

ACTION: Ask yourself what you can do to make a difference in both your world and the wider world. How can you be more kind? How can you support those around you? As you action these questions, you also attract more of this goodness back towards you.

Kyle Gray’s new 48-card deck raise your Vibration Oracle (£17.99, waterstones. com) is out on November 1.

DR MAX IS AWAY

AFTER a health scare ten years ago I stopped eating meat, but I managed to stick it out as a vegan for only a month. Although I felt virtuous, and very much ‘ onmessage’ with the latest food trends, it was tough going.

To be honest, I missed meat and I was consumed by cravings for real cheese. It was clear to me that this fashionable dietary choice — albeit a potentially healthy one — simply did not suit me.

Now, after 30 years of studying food and disease, my team at King’s College London and the personalised nutrition company ZOE are making exciting discoveries about the highly personalised state of nutrition — we now know that no two people will metabolise any food or drink in precisely the same way.

Although genes play a part, we believe the rest is down to the highly personalised state of the microbiome which live in our guts.

These vast and diverse populations of helpful bacteria control our responses to food and even help to determine what we will and won’t eat. Our gut microbiome is as unique and diverse as our fingerprints, with very little similarity between us or even between identical twins.

ZOE’s detailed tests show that my microbiome is happiest on a largely plant-based diet with a little meat, dairy and fish, as well as fermented foods, and I know I need to eat a hugely diverse selection of plants to keep it truly happy.

I also know that my metabolism doesn’t cope well with easily available sugars, so I’ve made a lot of changes to my everyday diet.

I’m better with wholegrain rye sourdough than sliced supermarket bread, and I’m helping my gut microbiome diversity by eating a single shot of fermented kefir, kombucha or sauerkraut every day.

Our fridge is permanently stuffed with various mothers, blobs and murky alien liquids in jars because experimenting with naturally probiotic fermented foods is what has helped me improve my microbiome and health.

However, my inadvertent exploration into the world of fashionable foods has led me to discover they are not all as they seem.

Today, in the third and final extract from my new book Food For Life, I’ll lift the lid on some of the less savoury aspects of increasingly popular, new and apparently healthy foods.

Scan any supermarket shelf and you’ll find food packaging projecting images of golden cornfields or happy cows grazing to dupe us into thinking we are eating a natural food rather than a highly refined mixture of unrelated chemicals.

‘Free from’, or ‘natural’ are labels that manufacturers strive for, as it helps sales greatly to say a food is GM-free or glutenfree, even if the product is meat, dairy or even water, and so could not possibly present any gluten risk in the first place.

These apparently positive messages merely serve to distract us from thinking about the quality of the food, and food manufacturers can legally still use outdated and essentially meaningless health claims, such as declaring products ‘low in cholesterol’, or ‘high in zinc’, without any relevant health evidence to support this.

One labelling loophole means you can declare a product ‘free from additives’ even if it contains new strange ingredients in place of redflag ingredients.

Because these new components are chemicals that exist in nature, they don’t count as ‘ artificial additives’, even though they are made in industrial labs.

Beware of any product with large numbers of strange ingredients that you wouldn’t find in your own kitchen cupboard.

The result of all this is that food shopping is a minefield and it pays to be wary and gather data from multiple sources rather than merely following the latest trends when it comes to choosing what to put in your shopping basket.

STEAM YOUR SPINACH

PUSH aside that spinach salad! Steamed spinach is more nutritious than raw because although spinach is a great source of iron, raw spinach contains the chemical oxalate, which reduces its absorption. You’ll get more iron if you lightly steam the vegetable and add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil (healthy fats) with a squeeze of fresh lemon (vitamin C), both of which aid absorption.

AVOID THE BABY CARROTS

ROOT vegetables store their healthgiving compounds close to the skin (where they can protect against bugs and temperature changes) which means the watery core is nutritionally uninspiring.

So avoid vacuum-packed or tinned ‘baby’ or ‘ mini’ carrots, which are often artificial miniatures created by paring down larger carrots and throwing the good bits away.

Studies have shown lightly cooked carrots have ten times higher concentrations of healthy beta-carotene than raw ones.

Carrots used to be a dull off-white colour before Dutch gardeners in the 17th century developed a bright orange variant to suit their national colours and celebrate the Anglo-Dutch monarch William of Orange.

This added high levels of beta-carotene to the plant, which our body uses to make vitamin A, important for our brain and eyesight.

PICK YOUR OWN

BERRIES are a rich source of nutrients — a cup of mixed berries delivers twice as much fibre as a cup of chopped bananas or apples. Berries also average nearly ten times more antioxidants (polyphenols) than other fruits and vegetables (50 times more than animal-based foods).

However, the most nutritious ones are those you pick yourself (such as hedgerow blackberries), with frozen berries a close second because the nutrients are locked in when the fruit is frozen very soon after picking. For those sold in supermarkets, it’s a different story.

Within a few minutes of picking, most plants (with a few exceptions such as the onion and potato family) start using up their sugar reserves and reducing water content.

As the clock ticks, nutrients and polyphenol content generally declines. Large farms have on- site refrigeration plants to keep freshly picked fruit at 2c until it is transported to larger processing plants in refrigerated lorries, and wrapped in plastic to slow down the decline.

Carbon dioxide and, increasingly, nitrogen gases are pumped into the storage units to further reduce respiration. Some fruit packaging also includes anti-ripening enzymes as standard (with unknown effects on those who consume them).

ALL HAIL HUMMUS

CHICKPEAS may not be aspirational, but 40 per cent of British fridges feature a pot of hummus, and studies show it may reduce glucose spikes better than chickpeas alone.

This is because when you blend chickpeas with added olive oil and tahini (sesame seed paste) the combination of fibre, protein and healthy fats contributes to slower gastric emptying and carbohydrate absorption (which means fewer blood sugar spikes) and the garlic and lemon juice boost the nutritional profile.

SLIPPERY OIL PRACTICES

EXTRA virgin olive oil ranks in the top three most-faked products. Italy produces more bottles of oil than is actually possible, counting the number of olive trees, and much is rebottled from Greece or Spain which produces the most oil.

Substituting low-quality tasteless products lacking any polyphenols is a growing practice.

A recent survey suggested 40 per cent of Italian extra virgin olive oil is adulterated with other substances, such as yellow colorants.

The country of origin is often concealed: a label on a bottle of olive oil can quite legally claim that it hails from Tuscany, even if it contains only 1 per cent of Italian oil. The other 99 per cent could be cheaper olive oils from multiple countries, reducing its quality and health benefits.

To gauge the quality of your olive oil, sniff it or slurp it around your palate with plenty of air, as you might with a glass of wine. As well as grassy or even smoky aromas, you should detect some peppery, fresh and fruity notes from the polyphenols: if good quality, it sometimes makes you cough. Buying from small producers who are involved in the process from plant to bottle is also a good way of ensuring quality.

IGNORE ‘HYPE’ BERRIES

WELLNESS websites confidently declare acai (pronounced ‘a- sayehh’) berries as good for the heart and for helping impotence and inflammation as well as being antiageing, immune-boosting and good for skin health and weight loss.

It is widely claimed they contain several-fold more antioxidants than blueberries. This is all based on wishful thinking — not data.

For one serving of dried acai berries you could buy ten bowls of fresh seasonal or frozen blueberries, each with the same or better nutritional value, and the bonus of some clinical evidence and smaller carbon footprint.

Similarly, Goji berries may have good polyphenol content but they are touted as boosting the immune system and brain activity, protecting against heart disease and cancer, and improving life expectancy — all claims, again, based on thin air and dubious studies, mostly funded by

goji juice companies.

SOURDOUGH SWAP

WITH all the advantages of high fibre, long fermentation time and natural ingredients, eating something containing sourdough

should logically be great for your health and gut microbes. M ost coeliacs would be horrified at the thought of trying wheat bread again, but some small Italian studies have found that four out of six sufferers could tolerate long-fermented sourdough bread.

That’s because microbes in sourdough help degrade the gluten into smaller fragments than in

normal bread, making the protein easier to digest.

A whole matrix of micro organisms is present in any natu - ral sourdough starter, including acid-loving bacteria and fungi that break down fibres, feast on sugars, produce healthy metabo - lites and enhance the vitamin content found in the grain itself.

But be warned: many commercial sourdough brands add several

chemicals including commercial yeasts to speed up the process, as

well as flavourings or small amounts of lactic acid or sourdough flour to give it that

fake sour tang , and emulsifiers and fats. Buying hand-made from a baker or making your own is the best choice.

TRY OUT SAUERKRAUT

MANY so - called probiotic sauerkrauts are pickled in vinegar to give them a better shelf life, which kills all the microbes (rendering this no healthier than pickled onions). Better to make your own.

THE PERFECT PEAR

AVOCADO is an excellent source of fibre (about 13g in a single large

fruit), vitamin C, folate,

B6 and plenty of polyphenols.

There is little research on the benefits of the avocado because its high fat and calo - rie content meant the fruit was ignored for years.

But it may in fact be the perfect food, at least in terms of its

ability to help keep sugar and fat levels stable in the blood.

The dark side to avocados lies in their growing demand, which, as it outstrips supply , creates the perfect opportunity for criminals to monopolise supply chains.

Not only have avocados become a profitable criminal commodity , they also require huge amounts of water, resulting in diverted rivers destroying Mexican and South American communities.

Buying seasonal avocados from southern Spain is one way that we can try to reduce this this negative impact.

NOT ALL WATER IS EQUAL

‘PURIFIED water’ is usually made cheaply from repackaging tap water. Often so little taste remains after purifying that key minerals have to be replaced, which means that although most still lack the extensive range of elements found in tap water they still contain many of the disinfectants and chemicals people are keen to avoid. By definition, ‘spring water’ has to come from defined natural sources and ‘mineral water’ has to come from a

source and to also contain a minimum mineral or electrolyte content. Italian San P ellegrino and French Badoit contain enough

calcium ( more than 160mg) to help avoid calcium deficiency.

LIMIT PROCESSED FOODS

MOST people think of Quorn as being made from a friendly mushroom-like plant, but it is

actually made from mould called ‘mycoprotein’, first grown in a lab in the 1970s through a collabora -

tion between giant UK food company, Rank Hovis McDougall, and Imperial Chemical Industries. Scientists picked the Fusarium venenatum mould, discovered in

English soil, because it had a very high protein content with tendrils that resembled the size and texture of meat fibres.

Quorn is grown in vast quantities in 230-tonne vats of broth and usually mixed with dried egg whites or potato starch ( for vegans) to bind it before adding flavourings and firming agents.

This makes it an ultra-processed food (UPF) and it ’s not a good idea to allow UPFs to form a

staple part of your diet.

A PINCH OF POSH SALT

SEA salt is a billion- dollar global business, and some salts have a 5,000 per cent mark-up compared with table salt.

The most expensive is K orean bamboo salt, a delicacy at around £50 for a tiny 2oz jar, made by progressively heating up grey sea salt in a sealed bamboo stick coated with clay until it becomes molten and recrystallises.

Kosher or kitchen salt, preferred

by chefs, is a purer form of table salt without additives and with larger irregular granules, so a pinch is a third less concentrated (and salty) than table salt.

Salt really is best added from a height (and a flourish) to the pot or food, so it disperses evenly.

Sea salt, if unrefined, has a much wider surface area and irregular crystal structure. It contains several minerals, including cal - cium, iodine and magnesium, and

can contain algae. It is good for adding to plated food where these subtle differences can be picked up by the tongue but it is wasted when added to the pot.

SAY NO TO FAKE FRUIT

MANY breakfast cereals claim to contain healthy ‘natural’ dried fruit pieces, but don ’t be fooled. Manufacturers of cheap processed cereals, granola, cereal bars, muffins and biscuits use combinations of sugar , corn syrup, gelatine, starch, oil and artificial ‘berry’ flavours and dyes to create their own mock fruit flavoured product.

ADAPTED by Louise Atkinson from Food For Life: the New Science Of eating Well by professor tim Spector

(£20, Vintage publishing), to be published on October 27.