Bucking the trend
TO get to the sound advice about food and nutrition from the sheer volume of information on the topics out there, chef, author and broadcaster Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall has done the hard work for us.
In his new book, Eat Better Forever, Fearnley Whittingstall has aimed to ‘‘size up the latest good science and summarise it clearly’’ together with his own views on healthy eating based on indepth reading, research, more than 30 years’ experience in the food industry and from talking to experts in the field.
Not a fan of ‘‘single fix’’ ideas or popular diets, he hopes to ‘‘buck’’ that trend with this book.
‘‘Rather I have a cluster of useful and entirely complementary pathways — seven of them, as it happens.
The ‘‘seven ways’’ — go whole food, go varied, go with your gut, reduce refined carbs, factor in fat, think about your drink, eat mindfully — are explained in chapters covering the science, myths and how tos.
They are things he believes will make a genuine difference to people’s health.
‘‘The idea is to help you know more, think more and understand more about food and the good and bad it can do to us.’’
Fearnley Whittingstall also includes stories of his own journey with food, weight loss and alcohol.
‘‘I’ve always enjoyed ‘good food’, but the meaning of that phrase has evolved for me.
‘‘I’ve developed an approach to eating and living that is working well for me. I’m lighter, healthier, fitter and less anxious than I have been for years. I sleep better and I cope with stress better too.’’
That’s not to say his approach will work for everyone.
‘‘Tackling several different things, in whichever ways are achievable for you, has got to be the way forward.’’
Alongside this information he
has included healthy recipes for simple breakfasts, healthy lunch boxes, suppers and treats based on eating lots of vegetables, plenty of whole grains, nuts and seeds, as few processed foods as
possible, some fish and a little meat.
It is not a weightloss manual, he says. However, he does include a chapter on how to use the book to do that.