Sirtfoods by Emma Winterschladen

Talking

SIRTFOODS with Glen Matten It’s been hailed as the chocolate-and-red-wine diet, but there’s so much more to Sirtfoods than its much-hyped ‘seven pounds in seven days’ hook. Food Editor Emma Winterschladen talks to Glen Matten, expert nutritionist and co-author of The Sirtfood Diet and The Sirtfood Diet Recipe Book, about the exciting science behind these ‘activating’ genes and why they may hold the key to optimum health, sustainable wellbeing and even longevity.

t seems every season there’s a new diet offering us a quick fix to our body woes – an ‘eat this not that’ restrictive plan to help us shed the pounds quickly. Yet with less than one per cent of dieters ever achieving long-term weight loss, they are only ever a short-term, superficial solution at best. This is exactly what Glen Matten and Aidan Goggins hope to tackle with their new approach to healthy eating – one that shuns traditional diet models and instead taps into powerful plant compounds found in so-called Sirtfoods. Looking at hotspots around the world that boast heightened health and longevity, as well as lower rates of chronic diseases and obesity, is a good place to start. ‘It’s no coincidence that those living in places known as Blue Zones, where the diet is traditionally more plant-based and

focused on wholefoods, typically live longer,’ explains Glen. From the olive-oil-rich diet of the Mediterranean to the Kuna American Indian’s high consumption of cocoa, the turmeric-infused cooking of India, and the green-tea drinking of Okinawa in Japan, Glen points out that what they all have in common is a diet rich in plants that activate the ‘skinny gene’ in the body. ‘Think of certain genes as “master metabolic regulators”. When we fast and exercise, the low-level toxins cause a certain amount of stress on our cells, called hormesis, which can trigger our body’s defence mechanisms to help us repair and rejuvenate.’ It is this cellular stress-response which, in a ground-breaking study in 2003, showed sirtuin genes to be pivotal in regulating inflammation, oxidative stress, DNA repair and Aidan Goggins and Glen Matten ageing. What’s more, increasing

evidence suggests they also help to inhibit fat storage and increase metabolism, thus potentially reducing the risk of diseases associated with excess fat, such as cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, arthritis and some cancers. ‘It is telling that millions have been spent by pharmaceutical companies in trying, and failing, to turn these powerful plant compounds into pills, when in fact we can all benefit simply by eating the plant itself, whole.’ This process of piggy-backing off these plant compounds is known as xenohormesis. ‘Plants themselves are incredibly complex organisms: if we consider they spend their life stationary, it makes sense that they need to be equipped with sophisticated tools to adapt to adverse and everchanging surroundings – so put simply, if we eat these plants we are ingesting their sirtuin-activating potential.’ In their own small-but-significant study in a gym in London, Glen and Aiden set about testing their theory that plants can mimic the effects of fasting and exercise. They identified

a selection of the best Sirtfoods and created an eating plan for 40 individuals, of varying ages and fitness. The results were startling. ‘It was unbelievable. Not only did we see drastic weight loss – far more than we expected from a typical calorierestricted diet – but we also saw an increase in muscle mass, despite no extra exercise being taken.’ With an average of 3.2kg (7lbs) of weight loss in seven days achieved, their findings suggest there is more to optimum weight and wellbeing than simply calorie-cutting and exercise. ‘We are really just at the beginning of research, but it’s an exciting time in nutrition and health – we are finally moving away from the “fat vs carbs” conversations of the last century.’ But Glen is quick to add that the seven-day ‘hyper-success’ phase should not be taken as an isolated oneweek crash diet. ‘Look at it as an initial spring-board as ultimately this is about promoting long-term wellbeing.’ Fortunately, many Sirtfoods are wellknown, readily available ingredients

TOP SIRTFOODS

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Turmeric Buckwheat Bird’s-eye chilli Extra virgin olive oil Medjool dates Red onion Rocket Parsley Strawberries Green tea (especially matcha)

that feature on the periphery of many of our daily diets already, but Glen and Aidan hope their new recipe book will put them at the centre stage of our plates. ‘The message I want to get across is that the Sirtfood diet isn’t restrictive or about demonising any particular foods. It’s about embracing all these delicious sirtfoods, one bite at a time, and if you can enjoy a glass of wine without the guilt, then that’s a bonus!’

Braised puy lentils with kale and slow-roasted cherry tomatoes Serves 1 • 8 cherry tomatoes, halved • 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil • 40g red onion, thinly sliced • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped • 40g celery, thinly sliced • 40g carrot, thinly sliced • 1 tsp paprika • 1 tsp thyme (dried or fresh) • 75g dried puy lentils • 220ml vegetable stock • 50g kale, roughly chopped • 1 tbsp chopped parsley • 20g rocket

1 Heat oven to 120ºC/

350°F/gas mark 4. Put the tomatoes into a small roasting tin and roast in the oven for 35–45 minutes. 2 Heat a saucepan over a low–medium heat. Add 1 tsp of the olive oil with the red onion, garlic, celery and carrot, and fry for 1–2 minutes until softened. Stir in the paprika and thyme and cook for a further minute. 3 Rinse the lentils in a fine-meshed sieve and add them to the pan along with the stock.

Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer gently for 20 minutes with a lid on the pan. Give the pan a stir every 7 minutes or so, adding a little water if the level drops too much. 4 Add the kale and cook for a further 10 minutes. When the lentils are cooked, stir in the parsley and roasted tomatoes. Serve with rocket drizzled with the remaining tsp of olive oil.