Super Foods by Michael Van Straten

New Year, New You

We all hope to start a New Year with a bang. Out go all the bad habits and in come the virtuous ones. To set you on the right course, consider investing in Michael Van Straten's quartet of books, and you will soon be eating yourself to a healthy lifestyle.

Michael Van Straten is our best-known practitioner of complementary medicine. He is a practising osteopath, naturopath, acupuncturist and nutritional consultant and on the strength of all that, you need look no further. Accept his work as gospel. The bright funky covers are enough to fill you with the gusto needed to kick start yourself into action.

Organic Super Foods is a guide to all you need to know about organic food, GM food and why you shouldn't touch it. Pasta even contains some genetically modified ingredients. You have now been warned. The organic pharmacy is a useful tool: Swiss chard is source of Vitamins A and C, iron, calcium, phosphorous, carotenes and cancer fighting phytochemicals. It can give protection against eye diseases and cancer. It is also good for anaemia. The chart on additives and flavourings will have you reaching for every packet on your kitchen shelves. E102 (tartrazine) is a yellow colouring agent used in squashes. It can seriously affect food sensitive children, causing blurred vision and hyperactivity. There are recipes in this book, and they are good but basic. The strength lies in all the information crammed onto the pages.

Super Juice is where we can really get down to some business. The first step is to equip yourself with a juicer. Magimix make an attachment for their food processor and a stand alone model. Drink yourself better by recognising your ailment and using the chart, find the remedy and the quantity of cocktails needed per week to help you on the road to recovery. These juicy drinks will fill your life with zing. It comes as no surprise that Scarborough Fair contains parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme. Dracula's delight protects your blood with apples, celery and garlic. The chapter entitled Booze juices particularly appeals amongst all this self-righteousness. Virgin Fantasy is one hell of a kick-start with tomatoes, carrots, celery, parsley and vodka.

Super Boosters looks at natural supplements to treat specific symptoms. If you have a potential heart problem, look at the magical properties of gingko biloba, the maidenhair tree. By taking a standard dose, circulation and short-term memory can improve. All this is good news as there are no perceived side effects. You will have heard friends raving about echinacea which can increase resistance to infection. Gargle with it for sore throats and it can also be useful in the treatment of chronic viral conditions such as ME.

The last in this series is Super Herbs. This is principally a recipe book. Try lavender pears, a crème brûlée of pears steeped in red wine buried under a lavender infused custard. Lover's liver makes use of an interesting combination of garlic, rosemary, saffron and Amaretto. If you are just on a quest for improved health, the useful charts at the back of the book are easy to use and you will be discovering things you never knew. You might suffer from back pain: horseradish stimulates circulation and relieves the pain whilst thyme is a relaxant. Simply grate a teaspoon of freshly grated horseradish into a sandwich. Thyme can be added to food or a hot bath. It is as easy as that.

January seems to be the time for detoxing and you will find detox plans in each book, although they are all roughly the same. Nevertheless, if you have a clear three days spare, it does work wonders and will make the excesses of Christmas a little more guilt free.

Publication Details:
Organic Super Foods
128 pages.
ISBN 1840002069
To order, click here.

Super Juice
160 pages.
ISBN 1840001488
To order, click here.

Super Boosters
144 pages.
ISBN 1840003308
To order, click here.

Super Herbs
144 pages.
ISBN 1840002611
To order, click here.