Author: Healthy Diet Tips

Eating for your heart doesn’t mean giving up the foods you love – in fact, the science has shifted more than you might think. This month’s meal plan shows what genuinely heart-healthy eating looks like in practice: five recipes for two, built around ingredients with real evidence behind them, all on the table in under an hour.The focus here is on mono- and polyunsaturated fats (the kind found in oily fish, nuts, seeds, avocado and olive oil) alongside plenty of fibre, which helps lower cholesterol, regulate blood pressure and reduce inflammation. We should all be eating 30g of fibre a…

From around August to October, elderberries are in season and ready for picking. They’re not grown commercially, so if you want fresh berries, be prepared to go foraging. Some varieties of elderberries can be toxic when eaten raw – the best way to avoid this is to make sure you always cook them well first. There are recipes that use raw elderberries, but these are best avoided. Don’t let this put you off, though – once properly identified, prepared and cooked, elderberries are widely and safely used in jams, syrups, sauces and baking.To learn more, check out our beginner’s guide…

When the temperature rises, the last thing anyone wants is to spend hours sweating over a hot hob or oven. Luckily, these quick and easy salad recipes are perfect for a heatwave – they’re fresh and flavour-packed, and require minimal time in the kitchen. Try these tempting ideas for light lunches and effortless dinners that will keep you cool and satisfied.Discover more heatwave-proof ideas with our no-cook recipes and summer dinner ideas. We also have plenty more salad inspiration, including chopped salad recipes, healthy salad recipes and high-protein salad recipes.Mexican street corn saladInspired by the classic Mexican street food, this…

In other parts of the world, beans are treasured, just as they were historically in the UK – but now, they seem to have fallen out of favour with many of us (baked beans and hummus aside). In a recent survey commissioned by the Food Foundation, 66 per cent of people reported eating less than one portion of beans or pulses a week. For the sake of our health and the planet, we should be eating about seven times that amount. (For the purposes of this article, we’ll refer to most peas and pulses as beans.)Why eat beans, peas and…

Between getting everyone fed and dressed, packing lunchboxes, remembering PE kits and making it to work on time, it’s easy for parents to put themselves last from the moment each weekday starts. But while there may not be time for a long workout or making a home-cooked lunch, small, consistent habits can make a real difference to how you feel for the rest of the day.Whether it’s turning the school run into a chance to move a little more or prepping a healthy breakfast the night before, looking after yourself doesn’t have to mean overhauling your routine. Centrum has a…

Step 1Place a rack in middle of oven; preheat to 350°. Spread out ¾ cup raw walnut halves or blanched hazelnuts on a rimmed baking sheet and toast, stirring occasionally, until golden brown, 7–9 minutes. Let nuts cool, then crush into coarse pieces.Step 2Place a fine-mesh sieve over a medium bowl. Cook 2 large shallots, thinly sliced into rings, and ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat, stirring often, until shallots are wilted and most are golden brown and crisp, 8–10 minutes. Pour into sieve. Transfer fried shallots to paper towels to drain and immediately…

Riff on the lunch box staple in this no-mayo tuna salad. Instead of the stiff scoopable mixture you’d find at a deli counter, this version is inspired by Italian-style tuna, with just-broken-up fish fillets tossed with a bright vinaigrette, herbs, and crunchy celery. Add a can of white beans for heft and serve with peppery greens like arugula or a hardy chicory like radicchio. For the silkiest texture, make sure to use tuna packed in olive oil—not water. Store the salad and greens separately and it’ll stay just as punchy and fresh throughout the week.To pack this for lunch, scoop…

Beloved chicken salad gets a spicy-funky upgrade thanks to the Vietnamese dipping sauce nuoc cham. Lime juice, fish sauce, alliums, and a flash of heat from bird’s-eye chile are slightly mellowed with a big dollop of mayo. Fold in pulled chicken (a rotisserie bird is ideal, but if you’d rather poach chicken breasts, be our guest) and dinner’s done.This just-creamy-enough chicken salad is great as a large salad or in lettuce cups, topped with tender herbs and a handful of fried shallots, but that’s only the beginning. Try it on slices of sourdough, alongside cold soba noodles and crunchy veg,…

As a child, we lived above my family’s bakery (Hobbs House Bakery) in Gloucestershire. There was flour everywhere, and bread was the rhythm of our lives. I’m a fifth-generation baker, and now my son is the sixth. In many ways, this is the job – passing skills on to the next generation. I have such fond memories of jamming doughnuts in the family bakery in the middle of the night.Food has always been my first language, and my relationship with bread has inspired this. The word ‘companion’ comes from the Latin com and panis, ‘with bread’. Sharing food is one…

Torquay is a seaside town that makes you fondly remember gentler times. Locals are proud of its long association with Agatha Christie, whose statue sits on a bench near the harbour; you can have a traditional Devon cream tea and enjoy a stroll on its palm-lined promenade. But there’s more to the English Riviera than nostalgia: while still delightfully traditional, the boom in English wine is just one influence bringing contemporary flair to the southwest. It’s easy to reach by train, and there are plenty of ways to get out on the water. Take a 30-minute ferry to nearby Brixham…