Jane Clarke's Bodyfoods Cookbook: Recipes for Life [Hardcover]

The late 90s obsession with what foods we put into our bodies shows no sign of abating--thankfully the sensible voice of Jane Clarke rises above those who would urge us to go for faddy diets and restrictive eating habits. Clarke, an experienced nutritionist, Observer columnist and author of the highly popular Body Foods For Life and Body Foods for Women, has come up with the Bodyfoods Cookbook, the soothing green and yellow cover of which entices the reader to "bring bodyfoods into your life". The book is divided into seven sections comprising "Breakfast time boosts" (mango, peach & pink grapefruit smoothies and banana and peanut butter slices), "Long and short lunches" (Jerusalem artichoke soup, sea bass with crab); "Snacks and quick fixes" (happily chocolate is not considered particularly sinful); "Sustaining suppers" (chicken and pumpkin curry, spicy cod) "Ideas for Entertaining" (prawn & saffron risotto, crispy duck with herbs & lemon coats), "Eating on the move", recipe solutions for common ailments such as insomnia, low sex drive and high cholesterol level, and, rounding it all off, "the good herb & edible flower guide".

Jane Clarke's emphasis on mood-enhanced eating to ward off hunger spells and formulate a balanced dietary (as opposed to diet) plan aims to "bridge the gap between eating the foods that you love, purely because they taste good, and those that will help you gain and maintain health and vitality". Most encouragingly, she advocates small helpings of food that have often been labelled as "bad" --butter, for example--rather than their additive-ridden, "low-fat" counterparts. Jane Clarke's Bodyfoods Cookbook is a reassuring, comforting and delicious addition to any cook's shelves--and remember to keep on drinking all that water. --Catherine Taylor

Jane Clarke believes that food can be fun, wholesome and an effective solution to many of modern life's health problems. In this book, she shows how to bring this philosophy into the kitchen by providing ideas for simple meals that can be adapted for individual needs.

Jane Clarke has been a home nutritionist since 1989 with a private practice in London's West End dealing with everyone from babies with feeding problems to terminally ill patients. She has presented a series on health for Carlton Cable TV and writes columns for the Observer Life magazine and Harpers & Queen.