In the year of her 90th birthday, Dame Mary Berry has been reflecting on her career achievements and sharing her secrets to living longer.
As well as “good genes” inherited from her mother and spending quality time with her husband walking their dog and playing croquet together, Mary has revealed the diet secrets she believes have kept her fit and healthy into her tenth decade.
Avoid processed food
“I avoid processed foods,” she declares, adding, “definitely. Absolutely.” Processed foods are those that have been altered in a way that those cooking at home could do themselves – many are processed in some way.
It’s possible that Mary was referring to ultra-processed foods, which are often making headlines. These typically have more than one ingredient that you wouldn’t find in your own kitchen.
These foods often have very long shelf lives, due to the level of preservatives, emulsifiers and generally high levels of artificial colours and flavours found in them. As a renowned home baker, it’s unsurprising Mary would want to avoid such ingredients.
Buy meat from the butchers
“I go to my butchers,” she shares, continuing, “If you go to your butchers, you’ll get advice as well as good meat.”
The NHS reiterates Mary’s insight for getting advice from a butcher when it comes to buying your meat – they too suggest avoiding processed meats is a better option.
(Image credit: Dave Benett/Getty Images for Killik & Co)
“Ask your butcher for a lean cut,” they say, adding, “Try to limit processed meat products such as sausages, salami, pâté and beefburgers, because these are generally high in fat – they are often high in salt, too.”
They also suggest to “try to limit meat products in pastry, such as pies and sausage rolls, because they are often high in fat and salt”.
Don’t fall for fads
You won’t find Mary undertaking any fad diets – even if some of them involve superfoods. Although she does, of course, know what she likes when it comes to healthy foods.
“I don’t go with the trends,” she says, although she does reveal, “I love cabbage. I’ll promote that or watercress and all those sort of things.”
However, there is one food you won’t find her eating, as she hilariously shares, “I’m not a huge lover of kale. I used to give that to my pony!”
Although Mary’s food rules are very sensible, they might be surprising considering she’s famous for being a cake connoisseur – a food notorious for its sugar and fat content.
It’s less surprising that she has just the right answer when questioned about this.
“It’s all about things in moderation,” she told The Guardian, adding that in her Bake Off days, she’d eat big portions of cake because the contestants had “taken the trouble to make something, their parents are watching, and they want to see me have a proper slice”.
However, Mary says that after enjoying foods deemed less healthy, “The next day I’m pretty careful.” She continues, “I do try to eat lots of salads and healthy foods. But cakes are healthy too, you just eat a thin slice. There’s a lot of cheer in a cake.”
