Honestly Healthy – eat with your body in mind, the alkaline way

The ‘Alkaline Diet’ has popped up on my radar a few too many times for me to ignore. The Brilliant Writer has been raving about it for a while now, every Jan glossy had a spin on it and according to her Twitter feed, Victoria Beckham can’t get enough of it. Her tome of choice and the one currently residing on my bedside is ‘Honestly Healthy’, written by gourmet chef Natasha Corrett and her godmother, nutritionist Vicki Edgson.

‘When your body is alkaline you have clear skin, greater concentration, shiny hair – all the things you want with the bonus of weight loss’ says Natasha. BINGO. You see, I’ll be straight with you, I’m not going to wrap this up as some pseudo ‘intolerance’ rubbish, I just want all those things. Yes, weight loss would be nice (and I’m sure that’s what Posh is in it for), but I value amazing locks over skinny any day. In fact, in my experience skinny rarely equals amazing hair, nails or skin.

So, I’m not going to run you through the do’s and don’ts of the Alkaline Diet, there is a great back story and handy chart in the first half of the book that does that, as well as a step-by-step kick-start Cleanse plan, but my take on it is simple. I’m swapping out some of my regular meals, snacks and ingredients for easy to find alkaline alternatives. Then, rather than sticking to anything too rigidly, I’m imagining an Acid: Alkaline balance that I’m trying to tip in the right direction. Natasha recommends a 70:30 ratio of Alkaline vs. relaxed eating that seems sensible and sustainable.

So, what changes have I made? Fruits and veg are easy – lots of citrus fruits (which weirdly are really alkaline when digested), melon, avocado and berries (I buy them frozen and blitz them with almond milk). I cook with coconut oil predominantly now (WONDER ingredient, if you don’t know it’s virtues read here) and snack on these kale crisps. So far, nothing too ‘out there’. All stuff you can get in your supermarket of choice.

Buckwheat flour has become my new ‘go-to’ when I need a ‘stodgy’ hit. Namely American style pancakes of a weekend (there is a fab recipe in HH). A lunch favourite is now feta and quinoa salad with loads of fresh flat-leaf parsley and a dollop of spinach and chickpea houmous from HH (I whizz up a week’s worth on a Sunday night – isn’t it a great colour?):

There are loads of twists on unhealthy classics – from fry-ups to pizza, which is great psychologically as it never feels like a ‘diet’, and I’m yet to come across a duff, or overly complicated recipe.

The upshot? A general debloated feeling, no sluggish carb comas, nor sugar crashes but bucket loads of energy and not a zit in sight. WIN WIN WIN.

The lovely PR team have kindly said I can run a recipe on countryfille.com and I’ve picked my favourite from the book: Chocolate coconut balls. They do need some slightly more specialist ingredients but I handed my list over at my local health food shop and they didn’t bat an eyelid. I made them in 20 mins flat (inc. cooking time) and they taste like intense chocolatey, nutty, chewy bite-size chunks. Think Bounty, but better.

Ingredients – makes 12

10 fresh dates
50g raw cacao powder
25g raw almonds (I ran out so had to use cashews here)
200g coconut flakes
30g agave syrup
2tbsp coconut oil
1tsp Xylitol
2tbsp water

Preheat over to 180 degrees C or 250 degrees F.

Mix the dates, cacao powder and almonds in a food processor/blender for about a minute to make a sticky, chunky paste. Add the remaining ingredients and blend to a rough consistency.

Transfer the mixture to a bowl and divide into 12 pieces and roll into balls. Place on a baking tray lined with baking parchment and bake for 10 minutes.

Allow to cool.

Here is the finished result, both mine and a shot from the book. I realise mine look like burnt stuffing balls but trust me, they are a-mazing.

Honestly Healthy by Natasha Corrett and Vicki Edgson, photography by Lisa Linder, published by Jacqui Small, £20 hardback and ebook.