Dame Mary Berry has lifted the lid on her secrets to ageing so gracefully. And it should be no surprise that the renowned chef, who turned 90 earlier this year, puts huge emphasis on a healthy diet.
Speaking on the Lessons From Our Mothers podcast, the former Great British Bake Off judge shared: “I avoid processed foods. Absolutely, definitely.”
Processed foods, which are foods that have been changed during its production, form a surprisingly big portion of the modern diet. It can include a range of items from ready meals and snacks to products with preservatives, or items that have their taste artificially changed by adding salt or sweeteners, according to Nottingham Post.
Not to be confused with ultra-processed foods., which usually have a host of ingredients you would not have at home like emulsifiers. Many recent studies have shown the devastating effect ultra-processed foods can have on health and ageing.
Ditching these, Mary’s in favour of some solid, unprocessed whole foods. She added: “I love to shop at a farm shop and I don’t mind knobbly vegetables.
“I go to my supermarket, I go to the butchers. If you go to a butchers you’ll get advice as well as well as good meat.”
With decades of experience around food, and over 75 recipe books of her own, the national treasure is no stranger to food and health trends. However, that doesn’t mean she’s always swept into the fray.
“I don’t go with the trends. I’m not a huge lover of kale. I used to give that to my pony,” she added. “I love cabbage. I’ll promote that or watercress and all those sort of things.”
Kale is highly praised for its health benefits which can protect against heart disease and has a number of cancer-protective substances according Good Food. On the other hand, cabbage can be a great source of vitamin C and helps to lower blood pressure, cholesterol and inflammation.
Mary has not been shy about her health issues in the past. She contracted polio at 13 but counts herself as “lucky” because she only had a mild case.
This was before the polio vaccine was widely available. Without treatment like this, the serious infection could affect the brain and nerves causing muscle weakness and paralysis, usually in the legs.
While most people with healthy immune systems can recover from polio, it can be life-threatening if the paralysis starts affecting muscles like those used for breathing. Others have also been left with permanent disabilities from the infection, according to the NHS.
Rarely, polio can lead to more serious symptoms that affect the brain and nerves, such as weakness in your muscles (paralysis), usually in the legs. This can happen over hours or days.
