We are what we eat, which accounts for the booming success of a multi-million-pound industry based on selling tickets for short visits to nirvana. Dieting, however, is officially naff. Holistic is where it's at and that doesn't just mean giving up the passions of a lifetime and replacing them the rigors of the future. The holistic approach means balance. Not just trundling through life on autopilot but having a clear mind, acquiring muscle power, learning to breathe properly, having the chassis in top-ship shape ready for the off . . . and that's your body and not the car - though, think about it, would you put leaded petrol into a lead-free-only engine?
Too many people eat and drink too much, bottle up their emotions, walk as little as a toddler, have breakfast standing up and work too long, snacking in-between times and using caffeine as a short-term expedient to compensate for the processed food, low-fat or not, with the beneficial nutrients zapped in the cooking.
Healthy eating is about stress management. At least, so Kathryn Marsden thinks. She has made money out of The Food Combining Diet. It's based on the premise that nature didn't create a cheese sandwich - in other words, you don't mix foods that fight, namely starch and protein, so the stomach juices don't have to wage battle royal working overtime when they could be tackling either one of the other in a more energy-efficient way. Her theories were initially popularised as the Hay Diet.
But food-combining has had its detractors and Marsden's riposte is The Complete Book of Food Combining. It's another way of saying taking in your food in a nice and easy, fluid-inducing way - no headaches, no complications, no bloating, no malabsorption syndrome, lots of fresh air - and ultimately, you'll lose weight. You are bound to, indeed, by carrying around her weighty tome.
I started out sceptical. Like half the world, I have tried food combining and it has worked - at least until metal fatigue set in every time I raised cutlery to mouth.
Food combining means nothing more than keeping concentrated starches such as rice, pasta and potatoes away from concentrated proteins such as meat, eggs, cheese, and fish. Protein foods need an acidic stomach, starches, the opposite. Almost all foods contain quantities of either but it's the level of concentration that matters.
Sounds simple, until you realise it rules out pasta with cheese sauces, fish and chips, meat, potato and two veg. But this time, Marsden isn't taking the bully-boy approach. She's into flexibility these days. Taking it one day at a time as if you're a recovering alcoholic. Instead of a car-free day, have a nice-stomach day. Or even for one meal a day. Don't take that bread roll. Hang on. Have fruit-juice as an aperitif. But dilute it a little, and leave 15 minutes before going to your main course - oh, and before starting this whole business, there's the small matter of the week beforehand. That's when you cut back on milk, beef, alcohol, coffee, salt, sugar, tea, bread, cakes, fizzy drinks - in other words, all the things that make life worth living. And let's face it, if you do that, you're bound to lose a few pounds. Food you love you give up, or you learn to love something else because at the head of the first chapter is a quote from the world-renowned nutrition expert and pioneer of natural medicine, Alfred Vogel. "In all your striving, let love be your guide, for it is the greatest power in the universe."
Fruit is the new deity. It is so rich a source of antioxidants it reputably protects against cancer. Maybe that's why Eve was tempted. It is best consumed on an empty stomach, according to Marsden. Not as a dessert (if you must, stick with the carbohydrates or the protein there). Fruit likes a clear run through the system. Onions, likewise, are a superfood - they help ward against heart disease and are good for circulation. Porridge made with milk is a bit of a nono. Stop the lights. She suggests making it with water and drizzling on honey, adding banana - maybe, as a treat, creme fraiche or cream, since the protein content is lower in these than in milk.
Some things I really like about Kathryn Marsden include her assertion that if you must drink coffee, do so in moderation, but throw out the instant stuff. Use real ground coffee beans. And sleuth for good-quality fish - not just any old fleshy heap of bones since the waters from which they hail could well be polluted. And eggs should be free-range to avoid antibiotics. Ice cream - keep to quality brands so they have natural ingredients, not artificial sweeteners. And chocolate, ditto.
WATER is more essential to life than good food. Drink lots of it. And many ancient traditions teach us that it is air and not food that sustains energy. So we should learn to breathe properly as in hatha yoga, qi gong, tai chi and the meditation disciplines of Buddhism, Zan and Taoism. Or just use some basic breathing techniques, lie back and think of a hampster running round and round in a wheel, becoming slower, ending up on his back, asleep.
She goes on to write about low bloodsugar levels, bulimia, binge eating . . . and the need to detox now and again. Looking well is about feeling well and you won't feel well if you look fat and bloated.
The Complete Book of Food Combining is published by Piatkus, price £17.99 in UK