A diet of highly refined, high-sugar, high-fat and highly processed foods has proven toxic for humans; highly addictive but one that our bodies have not evolved to process. These foods have led to the disease of civilisation we see today: heart disease, strokes, high blood pressure, obesity, cholesterol problems and, it’s thought, certain cancers. p>Sign up for our newsletter to receive the latest Yellow Kite Books news, author exclusives, offers and competition details

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Although the burger and chips give an immediate sense of comfort, Mahmood-Ahmed tries to tell her patients that they actually do very little for long-term sustenance. While change is possible, it’s also important not to blame people if they struggle to break free of their dependency on SAD foods, both from an economic and mental-health perspective.

The UK’s situation has been further exacerbated by our special relationship with America, both glorifying its consumer culture and its free market, which has allowed companies to make money at the expense of our health. The more diversely we eat, the lower our risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, depression, and the more enhanced our immunity. This is a book you'll be reaching for time and again, because these recipes are a joy to eat and fuss free, and you can feel happy in the knowledge you'll be helping your body to stay healthy too.

The Kitchen Prescription: Revolutionize your gut health with

Second, there have been few books that focus gut health and how to steer your food to help your biome. Dr Ahmed writes as a doctor but also as an experienced and talented chef. This is the kind of food I want to eat, if it helps my health that’s an added bonus. While she thinks it would be misleading to say she never eats a red velvet cake or a burger and chips, they would only ever be an occasional treat. Not the everyday foods they’ve become for so many. Already, a first generation of weight-loss drugs promises to change our appetites. Although Dimbleby fears problems down the line. “We’ve seen with the Covid vaccine that side-effects for a few people lead to a negative reputation, which means people who really need them don’t take them.” To celebrate the publication of The Kitchen Prescription, we are gifting someone a virtual fridge exploration with Saliha, and a goody hamper full of gut health-friendly items. During the 45 minute session with Saliha, you will take her through your fridge and she will suggest ways to improve what is in there for optimum gut health.They’re also cheap and convenient. “Refined wheat, sugar and vegetable oil are the cheapest foods,” says Dimbleby. “A lot of these foods are things mixed in different configurations with a little bit of flavour added.” We’ve embraced the SAD diet in the UK faster than anywhere else in Europe, with the exception of Malta (an island with which the UK has long had a close alliance). As an NHS gastroenterologist, Dr Saliha Mahmood-Ahmed has spent her career working against the standard American diet and trying to educate patients about how to eat healthily. I’m excited to try the recipes in this book having read through the theory part first. It looks as though this is going to be a whole new approach to cooking. The recipes look good and the photos are lush.

The Kitchen Prescription | Saliha Mahmood Ahmed The Kitchen Prescription | Saliha Mahmood Ahmed

Eating well doesn't need to be dull food and deprivation - it should be eating a wonderfully varied, vibrant and exciting range of foods. In The Kitchen Prescription , gastroenterologist Dr Saliha Mahmood Ahmed draws on her love of good food and her expertise in gut health to create 101 recipes that are easy to make, incredibly delicious to eat and will effortlessly keep your gut and digestion in tip-top condition. But, compiling my shopping list, there were quite a few ingredients that aren’t available via my usual online shop. Where I live, there is no Waitrose and no speciality Asian shops. So I’m going to have to improvise. I’m not a vegetarian,” she says. “I eat a small amount of meat, but the majority of food I eat is fruit and veg, nuts and seeds, legumes and pulses and spices, all from scratch. The more we can do that, and the less we have sweet, sugary beverages and ultra-processed foods, the better it is for our long-term health.” Our bodies were created for periods of hunger and starvation. They’re made for processing plants and natural foods,” she says of the mismatch between our biology and SAD foods. What started in the 1950s with the allure of the American fridge, the drive-thru and the baked Alaska, now threatens to destroy the fabric of our society.The study, says van Tulleken, highlights the role of acrylamide, a molecule produced by deep frying, which is linked to brain inflammation. “But acrylamide is just one of the ways our modern diet makes us feel sad,” he explains. “The emulsifiers affect our microbiome in ways that make our guts leak and change the release of molecules from our friendly bugs that affect our brains.” The more diversely we eat, the lower our risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, depression, and the more enhanced our immunity. This is a book you’ll be reaching for time and again, because these recipes are a joy to eat and fuss free, and you can feel happy in the knowledge you’ll be helping your body to stay healthy too. Eating well doesn't need to be dull food and deprivation - it should be eating a wonderfully varied, vibrant and exciting range of foods. In The Kitchen Prescription, gastroenterologist Dr Saliha Mahmood Ahmed draws on her love of good food and her expertise in gut health to create 101 recipes that are easy to make, incredibly delicious to eat and will effortlessly keep your gut and digestion in tip-top condition. If you’re attempting to make a change in your own eating patterns, Mahmood-Ahmed cautions taking up a restrictive diet, in favour of eating a lot of whole foods. We need to stop bombarding children 24/7 with food adverts. Also, culturally, in schools and hospitals and at home, we need to start cooking better.”

The Kitchen Prescription: THE SUNDAY TIMES - Hachette The Kitchen Prescription: THE SUNDAY TIMES - Hachette

In 1950, 1 per cent of the UK population was obese. Today it’s 28 per cent. The corresponding figure is in the teens in Spain, Italy and France – although they are arguably on the same trajectory, just a little bit behind us. McDonald’s is now France’s biggest restaurant group. The consequences in the US are already dire; 70 per cent of the population is overweight or obese, and 40 per cent have metabolic syndrome, which means they suffer from obesity, bad cholesterol or elevated blood sugar. Seventy-three thousand limbs are amputated every year in the US because of diabetes. But perhaps the biggest effect is that many of us aren’t really in control of our consumption. “These foods are engineered to get around our bodies’ systems that tell us to stop.” Her new book, The Kitchen Prescription, which argues that food is medicine, contains over 100 recipes that are good for the gut. He adds: “The beauty of this system from the perspective of a food producer is that most of us respond to stress and unhappiness by eating more of the food that causes the problem.”What a great book! I have read many health cookbooks and many of them are off putting or preachy or require you to accept a dietary principle that you don’t believe in. This book avoids those tropes and traps.