He says that he didn’t see much of his paternal grandparents (“they were unhappy he’d married out”) but did enjoy some classic Jewish food at his grandmother’s — “they were big fans of bagels and smoked salmon”, and she also fed him “roast chicken dinners and the odd gefilte fish but no huge feasts”. He also confesses a fondness for smoked salmon bagels, even if they’re not in line with his healthy eating principles, which broadly focus on nutrient dense, plant-based foods and high-quality proteins in favour of refined carbohydrates — like bagels.
“I’d love to be able to make the healthy bagel, but I haven’t succeeded yet. I do miss a bagel with salmon and cream cheese. Occasionally I have one — I think I had one last year, just to see remind myself what it tasted like. If I could make a sourdough rye bagel then I’d be in business — make a fortune.”
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The USP of his recently published cookbook is that each of the 100+ recipes have been written with the aim of maximising our intake of nutrient dense foods to improve our health without any ingredients that may be classed as Ultra Processed Foods (UPF’s) — those ‘foods’ filled with chemicals that he (and other health professionals like Dr Chris Van Tulleken) are warning us are taking over our supermarkets and kitchens.
Spector’s research into healthy eating was actually triggered by self-interest — as a way of trying to prevent him succumbing to a stroke or heart attack. Assuming himself to be a healthy 50-something (especially as a medical professional) he was shocked to suffer a mini stroke while on ski trekking in Italy in 2011.
The episode left him with high blood pressure and “the wake-up call I seriously needed.” During his recuperation, he started to investigate the practical advice patients like him were being given by the government or online. “It became clear that it was either out of date, unhelpful or unrealistic.” He writes in the book that he and his doctor colleagues simply hadn’t been taught about nutrition. “I thought I was a healthy knowledgeable doctor, but I realised I’d got it wrong, and this was quite a shock for me.”
It was around then he started to become aware of the importance of our gut microbiome — the trillions of microorganisms that live in your gut. He’d learned initially about its existence at a conference (while working as a professor of genetic epidemiology) a couple of years earlier and says he “had a hunch” that the microbiome was important. In 2012, the pieces fell into place when it came to light that twins (who were part of a large study he was undertaking) with identical genetics had different microbiomes which could explain why they developed different diseases despite their genes being mirrored.
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After experiment results demonstrated that the gut microbiome plays a role in many diseases, including heart disease, obesity and food allergies he started to bring the insights from his clinic into his kitchen, changing his diet and seeing improvements in his own concentration and energy levels.
He also saw a shift in his weight — although is keen to impress upon me this is not a weight loss diet, telling me that what he is offering us is nothing is a far cry from the dietary advice we’ve been fed over the years: “There's abundant salt [in this book], there's lots of fat, lots of chocolate. There's no mention at all of calories or portion control. There is abundance generally — you can add in all these extra things. What’s different about this book to other ones that I've seen out there is that we're trying to bring in ferments and pickles into every possible opportunity — in sort of inventive ways” he says.
Many of the ideas were inspired by his experiments in the kitchen as well as his food history — aubergine schnitzels inspired by the veal version he first tasted in his youth while working in an Austrian restaurant; and a vegan and pulse-packed version of the childhood favourite lasagne his mother used to make.
However, as a medical professor and amateur cook, he makes no claim to have done it all himself. “It was a team effort” he admits, telling me the recipes were developed together with a group of food professionals including nutritionist and Zoe social media specialist, Georgia Tyler, food writer Kathryn Bruton and Zoe’s head nutritionist, Dr Federica Amati. “I didn't realize how many people it takes to make a cookbook — it's enormous.”
Recipes include a range of fermented foods including kimchi and sauerkraut plus a wealth of colourful fruit, vegetable and pulse-filled salads, soups, pasta dishes and traybakes. Each one includes the grams of fibre per portion. He tells me we need to be aiming for 30g – 50g a day but that our average intake in the UK and US is just 20g. Recipes also state the number of plant ingredients — his current advice – evolved from the Zoe studies – is that we need to be aiming for 30 different plants a week. Forget the five or even ten-a-day mantra many of us have been following. ‘Plants’ can include herbs, spices and even our daily coffee — albeit without added sugar syrup and gallon of milk.
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There are also treats — including a (parev) chocolate mousse made with heart-healthy olive oil; carrot cake packed with no less than eight plants and beetroot brownies. He reiterates that the aim is all about abundance and adding in extra (healthy) ingredients rather than denying ourselves — even if smoked salmon bagels become a rare treat.
He’s no martyr to his cause though, admitting that he sticks to his rules 80 percent of the time, giving himself freedom for the odd glass of wine, breakfast croissant — or even that bagel.
The key, he says is to be sustainable. “Aim to do that five, five days a week or 80% of the time. So you can let your hair down socializing someone else's house. In France I have the odd croissant and things which I know don’t do me any good — but as a rare treat, they taste great.”
The Food For Life Cookbook (Jonathan Cape) is out now.
