Under the microscope

TV presenter and racing driver Jodie Kidd, 40, answers our health quiz

CAN YOU RUN UP THE STAIRS?

YES. I’ve always lived a very active lifestyle outdoors, whether playing sports, riding horses or digging up vegetables in my garden. And I’ve started going to the gym — I used to avoid it like the plague but, as I approached my 40s, I had to give it another go. I really enjoy it now.

GET YOUR FIVE-A-DAY?

ABSOLUTELY — I grow as many of my own vegetables as possible. I cook from scratch and love to create new dishes: doing TV’s MasterChef in 2014 helped me understand how different flavours go with different textures.

ANY VICES?

A TREAT is a lovely bit of cheese with a big glass of red wine.

POP ANY PILLS?

I TAKE elderberry extract for immune defence, as it’s winter bug season. And, if I’m travelling a lot, I take sachets of Emergen-C — an immuneboosting powder. I’m also into teas with antioxidant properties, such as white tea and Pu-erh [a fermented Chinese tea].

WORST INJURY OR ILLNESS?

WHEN I was filming in Nepal in 2009 for the BBC’s I Believe In Miracles, I had to be airlifted out with a vicious strain of listeria.

EVER BEEN DEPRESSED?

I STARTED suffering from serious anxiety when I was modelling in my teens. I wasn’t sleeping well because I had an erratic schedule with long hours. I had sweaty palms, my appetite vanished and I thought I was going mad. The beta-blockers my doctor prescribed left me walking around in a fog and, after a full-blown panic attack during Milan Fashion Week, I never did another catwalk again. It wasn’t until I started seeing the anxiety expert Charles Linden more than 15 years ago that I understood what my body was doing. He taught me healthier coping techniques.

TRIED ALTERNATIVE THERAPIES?

I USE flower remedies to help keep anxiety at bay. I also see homeopaths and I believe in the power of crystals — they help to calm me down.

COPE WELL WITH PAIN?

I’M PRETTY resilient. I think that’s through years of falling off horses and being shouted at to get back on, even with a broken rib or collarbone!

SLEEP WELL?

PRETTY good these days. It’s lights out by 10pm and I sleep for eight hours.

ANY PHOBIAS?

LOTS, including heights and elevator doors that don’t open quickly enough.

LIKE TO LIVE FOR EVER?

NO. THE most awful thing is not being around the people you love.

Balance Your life by Jodie Kidd and amélie Khellaf-Govett is published by DK at £16.99.