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This is the last in my series of four articles about the superfoods that are not just good for us, they have also been shown to help prevent serious conditions including cancer, high blood pressure and heart disease. I’ve been using the food in these articles plus the vitamins and minerals suggested in my previous articles about detox diets, and I was startled today to see I’ve lost 5kg since New Year while eating heartily and healthily. Today I’ll carry on with the sources of protein in this article, and I’ll certainly be carrying on with this great way of eating!

Nuts are a good and popular source of protein and peanuts, along with other nuts, have been shown to lower the risk of heart disease by more than 20%. They contain unsaturated fat which helps the body eliminate so-called ‘bad fats’. Instead of reaching for sweets, crisps, biscuits and other snacks it’s good to keep plenty of nuts nearby to beat hunger attacks between meals. I had peanuts and raisins for breakfast with a cup of dandelion root coffee.

Protein also comes from certain grains. Quinoa is my favourite and contains more protein than any other grain, as well as iron, vitamin B2 and magnesium. It’s an excellent substitute for rice or pasta, and it’s such a fine grain that you can also add it to soups and stews. If you can’t find it in the supermarket you will find it in the health store, and it’s best to rinse it first as it can have a bitter taste otherwise. If you rinse it you might find you prefer it to pasta or rice as it has a lovely slight crunch to it.

Wheat germ is another good grain, but watch out for wheat if you tend to put weight on around the abdomen. This can be a sign of a wheat intolerance and it’s worth trying a wheat and dairy-free diet if you’re having trouble losing weight in other ways. Wheat germ provides magnesium and vitamin E, which is good for the skin. Wheat germ is generally sprinkled on other foods such as yoghurt, cereal or fruit salads.

Last but definitely not least are the pulses, which vegetarians know to include in their diets, and which also form an important part of the healthy Mediterranean diet. Lentils are a great pulse to include in cooking as they’re quick to cook, unlike some of the others. They provide protein and are the best plant-based provider of protein after soybeans and hemp. Lentils also provide iron, and have been part of the human diet since Neolithic times.

Not surprisingly lentils form a major part of the diet in vegetarian regions of the world including the Indian subcontinent. Lentils also contain isoflavones which are believed to help prevent breast cancer, and they also have a good amount of fibre to help keep the heart healthy. Canned lentils are still good for you and this is a very versatile pulse to add to soups, curries or to try in a variety of recipes. In Italy it’s believed that eating lentils in the new year will bring you money, so fry some garlic and onion finely chopped in extra virgin olive oil, pour in a can of chopped tomatoes then an equal amount of water, put in about half a teacup of lentils and simmer until the sauce reduces and the lentils are cooked. Whereas the Italians like to put pork sausage into this to stew you could put in some vegetarian ones to stay with the superfood theme.

The other pulses to make it on to the superfoods list are pinto beans, and these should be in the health store if hard to get anywhere else. Pinto beans contain folate which is good protection for the heart. Like most pulses you can get these canned and put them into your soups and stews.

That’s it for the superfoods, and I’ll be getting them to keep my diet healthy for 2010. If you have any recipes for these foods post them here as I’d love to try them out. Thanks for the recipes some of you are sending me personally, and if you’d post them here we can all share them and I could also find them easily.

This is the third in a series of four posts about the superfoods identified as being the fruits, vegetables, seafood, dairy, grains and nuts that are best for our health and also help prevent serious conditions including heart problems, high blood pressure and cancer. There’s enough variety in these four articles to give you recipe ideas for menus that will help prepare the way for a long and healthy life. The antioxidants in these foods also combat the free radicals that make us look older so, with exercise to back it up, this diet should keep us looking our best. In today’s and tomorrow’s articles I’ll be looking at sources of protein.

Protein is essential for a healthy diet and, whether or not you’re a vegetarian, there are good protein sources to be found among the superfoods. Although there’s no meat on the list there is seafood and I’ll start with that. Crab is a wonderful source of Vitamin B12 and also zinc, both great nutrients. If you can’t get crab fresh, or find it hard to work with, then buy it canned. It can be eaten cold with salads or cooked using a standard fishcake recipe or in soup. Take care when buying packaged meals supposedly made from crab as they could be mainly made from another type of fish.

Salmon, mackerel and tuna are the best fish to choose to get your omega 3 for the day, and this helps prevent heart disease. All three types of fish are available fresh or canned, and the canned variety is easy to prepare in salads and sandwiches. For an easy salmon recipe, get the salmon prepared into individual portions by the fishmonger, or chop into portions large enough for each diner. Put each salmon portion on to some kitchen foil, large enough that you will be able to fold the foil up around the fish. Put a few spoonfuls of chopped tomato (canned is fine) on top of each piece of salmon. Sprinkle finely chopped garlic on top of this (about half a clove of garlic is right for each portion). I like to add a knob of butter to this, and top it off with a good sprinkling of chopped parsley plus salt to taste. Fold the aluminium foil up around the fish and pinch it closed then fold the top edge over to seal in the flavour as it cooks. Make sure there are no open edges low down to let the sauce out but don’t fold the fish in too tightly. Bake on a tray in the oven for 30 minutes and put the whole parcel on each plate so guests get all the juice.

Moving on to dairy products, the best milk for you is the skimmed variety, and it tastes delicious once you get used to the change from full or half-fat. Along with a higher amount of calcium, it has vitamin D and vitamin A. A shortage of vitamin D can lead to muscle pain, and it’s not one of the easiest vitamins to get. Vitamin A is good for the skin and is thought to be of benefit for people with eczema and allergies. Skimmed milk also provides vitamin B2, also known as riboflavin, which is good for eyesight.

Choose active culture yoghurt for calcium to help strengthen bones. This is a good substitute for cream on fruit desserts, and makes a good breakfast with fruit and maybe a sprinkling of wheatgerm.

Tomorrow I’ll finish this series on superfoods with nuts, pulses and grains. If any of you have recipe ideas for these ingredients post them here as I’d love to try them out. Natural remedies are also welcome.

Yesterday I listed the types of fruit that are best for our health and have been shown to have a preventative effect against serious conditions including cancer, heart problems and high blood pressure. Today I’ll pick out the vegetables that are also seen as superfoods which can help us keep our weight regulated and also give us the best chance of long-lived good health. Some also help slow down the visible signs of ageing far better than expensive creams. The best health glows from inside and comes from the right choices in eating plus a good exercise plan.

Here they are in alphabetical order so as not to have any favouritism! First up are the artichokes, which I absolutely love, so it’s good to know they contain the antioxidant silymarin which helps prevent skin cancer. They provide plenty of fibre which is good at lowering cholesterol. Artichokes can be off-putting to anybody not used to cooking or eating them as the heart is the best part and the outer leaves don’t look appetising. The easiest way to cook them is by steaming them for about 40 minutes, then peel off the leaves and bite the softer, edible part. A squeeze of lemon (one of yesterday’s superfruits) can be tasty, and I particularly like artichokes prepared in a jar of extra virgin olive oil.

Bok choy, otherwise known as Chinese cabbage, is commonly seen on supermarket shelves these days. Like broccoli it’s believed to help in the fight against breast cancer because it contains brassinin as well as indoles and isothiocyanates. The way this works is that some of these nutrients help lower oestrogen while brassinin is thought to have a preventative effect against breast tumours. Bok choy also provides calcium and so it’s good for women at risk of osteoporosis, and a great ingredient for vegans. This vegetable works well in a stir fry, so slice it and fry it in extra virgin olive oil and garlic.

Broccoli is well known as a superfood nowadays, and it provides plenty of vitamin C and betacarotene. I won’t repeat what all of these nutrients do as it was in yesterday’s article, but broccoli adds indole-3-carbinol and sulforaphane which help prevent breast cancer. Steaming is the best way to prepare this vegetable too, and sadly it has been shown that microwaving can destroy some nutrients. I’ll be giving some recipe ideas for these superfoods soon.

Garlic contains sulphur compounds which are known to lower cholesterol which, in turn, lowers blood pressure. It is also believed to help prevent cancer of the stomach and colon. Garlic can be chopped very fine and mixed with a salad dressing of extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar, it works well in many sauces and curries, and more surprisingly it adds flavour to a traditional roast dinner with roast potatoes if you throw in a few roughly chopped cloves. Rub raw garlic on toast before putting on a topping of tomatoes drizzled with olive oil and chopped oregano, or maybe just bake whole cloves of garlic and open them up to eat the soft inside or spread it on bread.

Ginger is believed to be helpful for people with arthritis and migraines. This is due to compounds including gingerols which block the prostaglandins that cause inflammation. If you get a craving for curry when you have physical pain it could be your body telling you it wants ginger! Ginger is also a natural remedy for nausea. Fresh ginger looks a bit uninviting and hard to work with, but all you need to do is peel away the outer skin and either slice or grate it. It works well in curries and stir-fries.

Onions contain quercetin, one of the most potent natural plant antioxidants, otherwise known as flavonoids. Antioxidants help slow down the visible ageing of our bodies, and quercetin also help protect against cancer. Onions work well in salads, sauces, fried in extra virgin olive oil as an accompaniment, and a few quartered onions placed in your roasting tray and baked will add flavour to your cooking and taste good with your roast potatoes.

Spinach has long been known as a superfood. It’s not only thought to help the fight against ageing, but it also contains carotenoids called lutein and zeaxanthin which help prevent eyesight problems in the elderly. Spinach can be cooked, but also tastes delicious raw as a salad dressed with extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Squash comes in various varieties. Winter squash provides a good dose of vitamin C and betacarotene (I’m sure you’re beginning to see what the good nutrients are and how they work). Don’t worry if you’ve never cooked them. It can be as simple as cutting them in half, getting rid of the seeds and baking them. Try them with cinnamon or send me your recipe ideas.

Watercress and rocket are eaten raw and are a good accompaniment to many salads and sandwich fillings. I’m such a rocket addict that I have to grow my own stock in large quantities. Like the other supervegetables they help protect against cancer because they contain vitamin C and betacarotene. These little supervegetables also provide vitamin E which is good for the skin as it’s an antioxidant.

Vegetables and fruit are well-known as being necessary for a healthy diet, and the ones highlighted yesterday and today are the particularly nutritious ones. Tomorrow I’ll be adding the superfoods to give you protein, with grains, nuts, pulses, seafood and dairy. Something for everyone, and all foods that would fit in well with a detox diet too!

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Whether or not you’re on a diet there are certain foods that are so good for the health that they should be on your shopping list. It’s worth keeping a note of them all together, so in the next few articles I’m going to say what they are and why they’re so good. Some people call these superfoods and today I’ll start with fruit. All of these foods give you the maximum benefit for the number of calories consumed, but they also have extra health advantages.

Some of this fruit will be out of season, but there’s always fruit on this list that you can find, and you can also buy dried varieties. Here they are in alphabetical order, and first up are the apricots. Apricots have fibre, betacarotene which is converted in the body to vitamin A, and they have most nutrients before they get too ripe. Luckily dried apricots are available all year and are also nutritious. Vitamin A can be hard to take as a supplement as you can have side-effects if you take too much (it’s very important to get doses of vitamins right). It’s best to get vitamins from food if possible and Vitamin A is said to help in avoiding some cancers, especially of the skin.

Next up are avocados, which I really enjoy. Along with all the other types of fruit avocados contain fibre, and they also contain an unsaturated fat called oleic acid which helps lower cholesterol. They raise HDL levels in the body – HDL is a form of ‘good cholesterol’ which transports cholesterol to the liver to be eliminated so it’s very good for you.

Cantaloupe melons are another big favourite in our house. They contain both betacarotene and a good dose of vitamin C. Vitamin C and betacarotene are also antioxidants which help protect cells from free-radical damage. In simple terms, they counteract the free radicals that make us look older, so this is an anti-ageing ingredient. Surprisingly, a cantaloupe melon has four times as much potassium as a banana, and potassium helps lower blood pressure. Potassium taken by eating this kind of fruit every day also helps avoid cramp during pregnancy – and this certainly worked for me. Like all the fruits it also provides us with fibre.

Many of these fruits can be blended to make a smoothie, so there are plenty of ways to vary the way you fit them into your diet. One of the best types of fruit drink for the bladder is cranberry juice, which stops harmful bacteria.

Figs are good providers of potassium and fibre, and they also supply vitamin B6. The B vitamins are very important for our moods and a lack of them can make us feel stressed. Vitamin B6 helps us produce serotonin (which makes us feel happier), and it also helps lower cholesterol and is an aid to preventing water retention. If you can’t get hold of fresh figs the dried variety are also nutritious and check the health store if they aren’t in your supermarket.

Lemons and limes are rich in vitamin C, and also limonene and furocoumarins – and if you don’t know what they are then the important thing is that they help prevent cancer. It’s easy to forget to buy lemons and limes, but they’re so handy for squeezing over various types of food from fish to salads, or to put in drinks. Lemon juice can also be added to a cup of hot water in the morning as a cleansing start to the day for your system. It will bring a sparkle to your eyes too!

Raisins are a good source of iron, which is important for the red blood cells and helps the blood carry oxygen around the body. This is especially important for women, and for vegetarians who need a good iron-providing substitute for red meat.

Raspberries are delicious and are another fruit very high in fibre, vitamin C and also ellagic acid which helps prevent cancer. They are very low calorie, but, like all soft fruit, you should buy organic or pick your own. Soft fruits like raspberries and strawberries absorb the chemicals from pesticides and pollution and this can’t be washed off or cut away by peeling, unlike other fruit such as apples.

Tomatoes are amazingly versatile and can be used as drinks, in salads, in sandwiches, cooked in sauces, or sliced and placed on top of hot food like pizza or baked pasta. Tomatoes are a daily ingredient in the Mediterranean menu which is considered healthy, and regular use of tomatoes in your diet is said to dramatically reduce the risk of bladder, stomach and colon cancers. Tomatoes also have lycopene which is a very strong carotenoid, so they also have antioxidant properties which combat the ageing process. In the Mediterranean diet tomatoes are often dressed with extra virgin olive oil, and in fact oil helps us absorb lycopene.

Tomorrow I’ll write about more of the superfoods, but research for today’s article has really shown me how important fruit is in our diets. I’ll be buying more of these superfruits from tomorrow, choosing dried ones wherever fresh ones aren’t available.

I’ve decided to add to my detox diet with some supplements from the health store, so today I’ve bought milk thistle, Omega 3, dandelion root, and multivitamins plus multiminerals. The hot drinks I’ll be having are green tea and also dandelion root coffee, which I’ve tried and it tastes lovely, and the cold drinks will be plenty of water and freshly squeezed orange juice. The health store had a sale on so I was able to get the supersized bottles, plus a good stock of quinoa as I’ll be cutting out wheat during the detox. All of these ingredients were in my list of detox foods and supplements in yesterday’s article. Along with plenty of water, fresh fruit, vegetables, beans and nuts they form the staple ingredients for my recipes this week.

Here are some ideas for the daily meals in the early days of a detox diet. It’s good to concentrate on fruit in the morning, and a fruit smoothie is a refreshing way to begin the day. Some people like to drink hot water with a squeeze of lemon juice. For the early days of the diet a large salad is the best meal for lunch, concentrating on green leafy ingredients. Avocado adds some filling content to the salad and you can make a dressing of extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Even better, you could use flaxseed oil in place of the olive oil. The portions are one part oil to two parts vinegar.

For dinner you can choose salad or a hot vegetarian meal. One option is a hearty vegetable soup, selecting the vegetables mentioned in yesterday’s article together with garlic and onion for flavour and for their detoxifying properties. You could try the Italian method of dressing hot vegetables the same way we dress salad. To do this you boil a good selection of your favourite vegetables then mix them well and dress them with oil and balsamic vinegar. The foods you must miss out are coffee, alcohol, sugar, wheat, processed foods, fried foods, salt, meat and dairy products. Some detox diets recommend organic eggs, but not more than three per week.

To make an easy vegetable soup boil enough water to cover two chopped garlic cloves, one chopped onion, and a variety of chopped vegetable including celery and carrot. The more of your favourite vegetables you put in the more tasty and varied the soup will become, and it can be reheated for more meals. Add fresh tomatoes cut in half and they will blend into the soup broth to give it a good colour, plus two bay leaves and some fresh rosemary. Some people like this as the base for a spinach soup, and it can also be used for cabbage soup, but I prefer a minestrone with a large variety of vegetables including courgettes and mushrooms. A meat substitute, such as quorn, can be added to the soup to provide protein.

Cutting out wheat and dairy can show if it’s an intolerance to these products that’s making you put on weight, especially if the weight is mainly around the waist as this can be due to wheat. As the week moves on you will be able to add quinoa to the meals in place of rice or wheat. For a tasty dinner with quinoa, boil it like rice following the instructions on the packet.

Combine the quinoa with an Italian tomato sauce made by heating a can of chopped tomatoes in a saucepan. Finely chop two cloves of garlic, or crush them, and throw them in, use the can to measure about half the amount of water compared to the tomatoes. As it simmers, throw in a good handful of fresh basil (or dry if that’s your only option) but the fresh basil adds a delicious flavour so I keep some growing ready for use.

Quinoa topped with this sauce is a great substitute for pasta, which needs to be missed out during the detox diet as it contains wheat. However, there are also wheat-free pasta substitutes in health stores and many supermarkets now. It may seem hard to imagine doing without wheat but there are also many bread and cracker substitutes if you want to carry on with detox-style ingredients after the main days of the diet. Quinoa also adds much needed protein to the diet.

Nuts are another main source of protein during the detox diet and I’ve stocked up on bags of my favourites. As a vegetarian I’ll be eating eggs and adding meat-substitute recipes, like the bolognese in an earlier post, to bring in much needed protein. Meat eaters generally find they need to have a good sized portion of meat after a few days, possibly steak accompanied by tomatoes, to boost their protein.

After the first day of mainly leafy salad, vegetables and fruit, you can bring in meals with baked potatoes – using fillings like the tomato sauce described above, or the Bolognese sauce, for a good detox meal. Bananas add some much needed minerals so they are good in the morning smoothie and also on their own as a snack during the day.

I’m feeling a lot lighter eating this rather than the rich food I’ve been having over the party season. It’s also best to combine it with exercise and I walked six miles this morning, shunning other transport and going everywhere by foot! I’ll be using that as my low-intensity exercise during this week, and moving on to swimming when the weather warms up – I’m writing this for you from a very cold London. Those of you in the warmer temperatures of Australia can probably fit in more outdoor activity than me, and if you want to stay at home and exercise remember you can call in the Fitness Crew personal trainers.

Tomorrow I’ll be writing about the top foods for health and fitness and why they are so good for us. If you have any ideas for healthy recipes using the ingredients from the detox diet then do share them here.

If you want to create your own detox diet plan using healthy, natural foods, here are some ideas to get started, and many of these ingredients can be incorporated in your long-term recipes to keep you in shape and feeling well. The first thing you need to do is to cut out the toxins you’re putting into your body, so that means no coffee, tea, alcohol or smoking during the one or two weeks you give your system a good clean. Make sure you drink plenty of water as your body will be flushing out the toxins and you don’t want to dehydrate.

The correct foods for a detox diet contain the nutrients your liver needs for this process, and during the one or two-week period you should be increasing the flow of bile which carries stored fat-soluble toxins away from the liver. You may have headaches or fatigue if your body has trouble coping with the lack of caffeine, and if this is too bad you might need to slowly reduce your coffee habit before attempting a full detox. Apart from that you should feel better during a detox diet, although your body will be flushing out the toxins more so you’ll have more trips to the bathroom. If you’re constipated you’re doing something wrong and need more water to help the fibre get those toxins moving.

To create your own recipes you should concentrate on the following ingredients. Plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables are needed, especially organic to reduce any chemical intake. You need the vitamin C and glutathione from these to aid detox. Some vegetables have a greater detox effect than others: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, kale and kohlrabi (a turnip-like vegetable) all help the enzymes in the liver to clear toxins. Glutathione is best taken naturally in food because a supplement can be destroyed by the digestive system.

Artichokes contain caffeoylquinic acids which increase the flow of bile from the liver, and this digests fats. If you like beets they contain betaine which is also excellent for the liver, helping the regeneration of liver cells and promoting the flow of bile. Betaine also works on fat metabolism. Onions and garlic have compounds that contain sulphur which causes a chemical reaction called sulfation. This is very important in the detoxification of environmental chemicals and various drugs and food additives. Some of the worst toxins in our bodies are heavy metals we have absorbed from pollution and food, and sulfation also helps eliminate these.

Dandelion root also assists the flow of bile and it makes a tasty cup of tea so it can replace the coffee and tea you normally drink. Green tea is another detoxifying drink that makes a pleasant substitute. Along with these hot drinks don’t forget the water – which some people like to drink hot and claim that this helps the cleaning process. Freshly squeezed fruit juice is also delicious during the diet.

A vegetarian diet is typical for a detox, and although some people eat fish I would cut this out temporarily as fish can have taken in pollution from the water. Protein is needed as the liver uses it to function well, so it’s important to include it. Good sources are beans, nuts, seeds, quinoa (I love this grain in place of rice), or protein powder from the health store.

You might want to supplement this set of ingredients with vitamins and minerals. Multivitamin and multimineral pills with selenium, molybdenum and zinc are recommended. Vitamin C helps in the detox process and can also help avoid headaches and nausea due to withdrawal symptoms. Choline and methionine can be included to regulate fat metabolism and promote the flow of bile. If you can find the herb milk thistle in your health store it is said to help the liver’s cell regeneration and to aid detoxification of chemical pollutants and also alcohol and the results of rich, fatty food.

These are some lovely, fresh ingredients to play around with for a diet that will leave you feeling less bloated after the festivities. A detox diet can last for anything from a day to two weeks, letting your system clear itself out. There’s no need to stop exercising while on this diet as you should feel energised, and exercise will help. Try to walk as much as possible, leaving the car at home, and, if you feel up to it, take a run. Swimming and the gym could be part of your routine for the duration of the diet to give you a feeling of all-round fitness, or spoil yourself with a personal trainer from Fitness Crew to keep you motivated in your own home!

If you have detox tips or recipes I would love to hear them, so post them here. I’ll be writing more on the best foods for optimum health and will also give ideas for meal plans for your detox diet and trying them myself as we get fit and stay fit together.

The party season is coming to an end and maybe you’re just finishing the last chocolates in the box. It was fun while it lasted but I’ll bet, like me, you’re feeling the effects and nothing could be better than a good detox diet to get you feeling great and clearing away the harmful effects of all that rich food and drink. It should trim away a little weight if you’ve put the kilos on and also increase your energy to exercise.

Critics of detox diets say they aren’t really necessary because the body is good enough at eliminating anything we don’t need, but whenever I’ve tried a detox diet I’ve noticed the effects immediately. Softer skin, improved energy, clarity of mind to focus on work, weight regulation and no feeling of a sluggish bloated tummy are all signs that it has had the desired effect.

I do agree with the critics that there’s no need to spend money on expensive detox products unless you want to. Here I have to admit that I prefer cabbage soup pills to actually eating too much of the stuff! But you can have an excellent detox diet just by buying the right healthy food, and although it’s only recommended to go on this kind of diet occasionally to cleanse your system you’ll probably find that it helps you to build the habit of eating better. Once you feel the benefits of a detox you don’t want to damage your system again with all the toxins you usually put in.

Detox is short for detoxification, or clearing out all the toxins our bodies can accumulate from our environment, pollution, unhealthy eating, and bad habits like smoking. I find that a week or two of healthy eating, concentrating on the right foods (preferably organic) and cutting out the nasties leads to a dramatic change. At first you can find that you feel very sleepy if you’ve been used to a lot of caffeine and it might be necessary to wean yourself off the coffee gradually.
You might get headaches, which are a withdrawal symptom from various toxins and especially caffeine. A detox diet can also help the system to flush out toxins so you might get diahorrea or need to urinate more often, and it’s especially important to drink enough water as you’ll be eating more fibre and can dehydrate. Constipation would be the sign this is happening.

It’s vital to continue taking any medication you need during a detox diet, and not to think it could be a cure which would substitute anything your doctor has recommended. In fact it’s essential to ask your doctor’s advice before going on any kind of diet if you have a medical condition. If you have an eating disorder this isn’t the right diet for you as it’s an occasional cleansing diet and excessive fasting is not recommended. A detox diet lasts for a temporary period and then you return to normal eating – it shouldn’t be continual.

So how does a detox diet work? To start with it minimises the amount of toxins we take in – for example, by eating organic food we can avoid the chemicals used to grow other types of crop. Unhealthy foods are replaced by a concentration on healthy foods: the sort of food that gives the vitamins, nutrients and antioxidants our bodies need for natural detoxification. There are also more high fibre foods in a detox diet, plus plenty of water, and this leads to toxins being drawn out of the system and eliminated more rapidly.

Although some experts feel our bodies can do this without help, it would always depend on a healthy, balanced diet and a detox diet can redress that balance and teach us to eat the right way. Other nutrition experts believe the chemicals we ingest from our polluted environment are deposited in fat cells in our bodies and that they can build up, while our bodies are becoming less able to eliminate them. This could lead to various illnesses, tiredness, indigestion, bad breath, poor skintone and muscle pain if the theories are correct. Whichever school of experts you believe, a good healthy detox diet certainly can make you feel better so I think my vote goes for that side of the argument!

The temporary detox diet can only be carried on short term as it doesn’t usually contain all the nutrients needed for an ongoing healthy diet. However, many of the healthy foods contained in this sort of diet plan can still be included in a long-term diet. If you want to try a detox diet with me this week then watch for my next post where I’ll set out the ingredients necessary for a good system clean! I don’t know about you, but I partied quite hard this year, and a detox is just what I need.

It’s 2010 and if you haven’t started a diet no doubt you soon will be, even if you’re not overweight but still want to commit to a healthier way of eating. Just because you want to eat a healthy or low calorie diet doesn’t mean you have to give up on tasty food. One of the easiest ways to carry on eating favourite meals like spaghetti Bolognese or chilli con carne is to replace the meat with a vegetarian alternative such as Quorn or another mince substitute. This is extremely low fat, compared to mince which has fat melting into your sauce, and the vegetarian mince absorbs flavours so it works especially well in tasty sauce recipes.

For a healthy version of spaghetti Bolognese it’s best to make the sauce in the traditional Italian way as this adds more vegetables than most recipes. Start by chopping half a stick of celery, half a carrot, a couple of cloves of garlic and a small onion very finely. These should be chopped so finely that they will disappear in the sauce so a chopping gadget is really handy if you intend to make Italian sauces regularly. It’s also a great way to get children to eat hidden vegetables.

Fry the chopped celery, carrot and onion with the garlic cloves in some extra virgin olive oil – enough to cover the bottom of the saucepan. Olive oil is a monounsaturated oil, generally considered better for your health, and it’s always best to get the least processed product so choose extra virgin. Research has shown that it’s easier to stay slim while eating monounsaturated oil, so it’s best not just to assume any vegetable oil is good. I stick to extra virgin olive oil to be sure.

Add two bay leaves and a couple of sprigs of fresh rosemary to the vegetables as they fry (or dry herbs if you can’t get them fresh) and keep stirring then remove from the heat before they start to turn brown. Add the Quorn mince or other meat substitute then add a carton of tomato passata – smooth tomato sauce is better than chopped tomatoes for this recipe. Put in an equal amount of water by using the same passata container to measure it. Squeeze in some tomato puree and a splash of red wine if you want to. Bring to the boil and then lower the heat and simmer for about an hour until the sauce reduces, adding salt to taste. Keep an eye on the sauce, stirring occasionally. You can vary the amount you cook depending on the number of people eating and also because it’s easy to keep leftover sauce to eat in a variety of ways during the week or by freezing, so it’s a great recipe even if you’re eating on your own.

To make chilli con carne follow a similar method but start by frying only onion and garlic chopped finely and throw in some fresh or dry chillis – just a little as you can add more when you taste the sauce later. A few pinches of dried chilli will be enough to start. Then put in the Quorn or other mince substitute followed by the tomato passata, an equal amount of water, one can of red kidney beans,  some salt to taste and cook for an hour as it reduces. This sauce and the Bolognese can be eaten with the traditional rice or spaghetti, but they also taste great with a baked potato.

I like to use quinoa, which is prepared like rice but is a remarkable grain and available from health stores. It contains twice the protein of other cereals, less carbohydrate, more healthy fats, fibre, phosphorous, calcium and iron. I also think it tastes fantastic, and it contains the minerals manganese and copper which work together as an antioxidant to help eliminate free radicals which cause ageing as well as diseases including cancer. Quinoa is good for those on a gluten-free diet and is a great aid to losing weight as well as a tasty way of getting so many important nutrients.

The garlic in these recipes is good for your heart and blood pressure, as has been scientifically proved, because it contains allicin which relaxes the blood vessels and keeps blood flowing easily. Perhaps this also explains why many feel it’s an effective aphrodisiac. Tension in the blood vessels of rats in a test was reduced by 75% when bathed in crushed garlic juice. In fact it’s so effective that it’s best to use fresh garlic in recipes as too much garlic from supplements can lead to thinning of the blood, so take care.

Omega 3 also helps you lose weight and stay slim and you can find it in flaxseed oil which can be taken as a daily supplement, or you can find it in tofu which is another good vegetarian substitute for meat. The best types of flaxseed oil are available in health stores and should be kept refrigerated, and flaxseed and olive oil both taste nice as a salad dressing mixed with balsamic vinegar (one spoonful of oil to two of vinegar). Why not try this as a dressing on some leafy salad as a side dish to your Bolognese or chilli con carne?

If you have any more tasty healthy recipes I’d love to see them here, so share them with us.

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