COULD A PLANT SAVE YOUR LIFE?

The term ‘plant based diet’ may not set your taste buds on fire. But it appears eating lots of fruit and vegetables could literally save your life. We hear from the TV doctor who is helping train medics in nutrition.

Dr Rupy Aujla (above) knows his onions when it comes to eating for health. The GP is a familiar face on daytime TV with his series The Doctor's Kitchen.

He believes that food can be our medicine, and that eating the right foods is key to eradicating preventable lifestyle related diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease, heart attack, stroke and some cancers.

Dr Rupy says medics should be promoting plants to patients. He’s even helped set up a charity to teach doctors and medical students the foundations of nutrition, and how to cook so they can share their skills with those they treat.

“Food is not a panacea, but it is a huge component of wellbeing’, says Dr Rupy, whose latest book Doctor’s Kitchen 3-2-1 features recipes that include three of your five a day, serve two people and are cooked in just one pan.

Given the confusion surrounding ‘the right things to eat’, and apathy towards a radical lifestyle change, where does he advocate we start?

“I always say start small, change one meal a day and go from there. Swap your sugary cereal for porridge with frozen berries and some sunflower seeds. And then every time you sit down to eat ask yourself: ‘Could I get one more serving of veg in here?’

“Add some spinach to a curry, a few green beans to an omelette. If you absolutely have to have a Cornish pasty, how about serving some butternut squash mash with it?”

• Dr Rupy Aujla is the founder of thedoctorskitchen.com, a regular slot on daytime TV shows such as This Morning, and a Sunday Times bestselling culinary author.