While we are becoming increasingly sophisticated about what we like to eat, it can be argued that we still only have a rudimentary knowledge of what foods are particularly good for us and why. As our supermarkets and delicatessens begin to accommodate even more exotic tastes, one wonders if we are really learning the importance of eating a balanced diet to keep healthy.
The new Healthy Food Directory, written by alternative medicine practitioner Michael van Straten, is a treasure trove of information on almost every food item you can imagine, its benefits and (where applicable) its potential dangers. Taking every food one by one in its specific category (i.e. fruit, vegetables, pulses, meat and fish, starchy food, dairy foods and eggs), van Straten turns your kitchen food cupboards into a virtual medicine cabinet.
In his book, he also includes a chart of the top 20 most versatile foods and the common ailments they may help. Bananas, for instance are deemed to help many childhood diseases; also heartburn, infertility and menstrual problems.
A naturopath, osteopath and acupuncturist practising in London and Buckinghamshire, van Straten has been treating patients using these combined approaches for the last 35 years. He has also been presenting his own radio show, Bodytalk, on London Broadcasting Corporation (LBC) for 20 years. "Food is medicine if used properly. I've written this book in response to hours of talking to patients about what to eat, what not to eat and what foods help to prevent certain problems," he explains. Did you know, for instance that beetroot is what van Straten terms a superfood, such are its health-enhancing powers? Not only has beetroot been found useful in the treatment of leukaemia and anaemia, it is also a powerful blood cleanser and natural tonic, he says.
Other so-called superfoods include the potato (its raw juice has been found to be a successful treatment for stomach ulcers and osteo-arthritis), garlic (which according to van Straten helps bronchitis, catarrh, sore throats, asthma, indigestion, constipation, diarrhoea and athlete's foot) and barley (said to relieve sore throats, urinary infections and lower cholesterol levels).
Unsurprisingly, van Straten mentions how an increased consumption of fruit and vegetables has been strongly linked to the reduction of cancer in many countries. He also suggests the Mediterranean diet is the reason why people in the countries bordering the Mediterranean sea suffer from far less heart disease, fewer strokes and a much lower incidence of a number of different cancers. Why? Well, because they consume much greater quantities of fruit, vegetables and salads than we do and also because their diet has been less influenced by modern food technology. They eat far less of the highly processed, high-fat, high-sugar foods and much more olive oil, garlic, fish and seafood than northern Europeans.
Van Straten is concerned at the growing number of homes where freshly cooked food is a thing of the past, replaced instead by processed, microwaved and other forms of fast foods. "People don't eat together any more and mothers don't cook any more so children are not learning how to cook at home. We should really be turning away from fast foods and back to slow foods," he advises. He also stresses how some of the people who believe they are eating most healthily are, in fact, limiting their diet. "Very often, it is young women who think they are on healthy diets who are nutritionally deficient. They think a low-fat diet is good. They won't eat things like sardines and avocados and they don't drink milk or eat cheese, all of which are extremely good for them. Whereas your average man who eats meat and potatoes twice a day is seldom deficient in the essential nutrients."
Like many food therapists, van Straten believes that real peasant cooking is the healthiest, having studied the diets of populations in places such as the Brazilian rainforests, southern Italy and the Kahali desert in Africa (where raw ingredients of vegetables, fruit and salad with small amounts of animal protein form the diet).
Casting his eye across the Irish Sea, he adds: "Also, if you think of colcannon, champ and Irish stew, these are wonderfully nourishing foods."
The Healthy Food Directory by Michael van Straten is published by Newleaf at £9.99 in UK