Axminster's own celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall has released a new book to get the nation eating healthily.

'Eat Better Forever' combines vital research into the nation's health with proven-strategies to improve our own wellbeing, all accompanied by 100 of Hugh's healthiest recipes yet.

In this ground-breaking book, instead of promising a gimmicky single-fix solution to the challenge of healthy eating, river Cottage founder Hugh extracts the knowledge, advice and healthy habits, from cutting-edge research into the obesity crisis, to produce seven simple strategies that will transform your diet and your health.

From sorting the good carbs from the bad, learning not to fear fat, and looking after our gut, to renegotiating the foods we call 'drinks' and being mindful of when to eat - and when to take a pause - Hugh guides readers to a better way of eating that will last their whole lives.

It's all offered up with reassuring tips and switches that help us act on the vital knowledge he imparts. And the 100 recipes that come with it, and their endless variations, make for a lifetime of healthy eating.

High said: "The food we eat is the most important factor influencing our health and well-being. Yet despite (or perhaps because of) a decades-long debate about diet, many of us still feel confused, unhappy, guilty and anxious about what we eat. I want to help change that. And this book is my most focused attempt so far.

"More than ever, in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic, it's vital that everybody knows how much making good food choices can do to help us stay well. It's not just the healthy functioning of our digestive systems that's at stake. It's the complex web of activities in every cell of our body – what is collectively referred to as our immune system.

"So, when we eat well, we don't just function well day to day, we also fight back when viruses and bacteria come to call. We are far better at fending off challenges to our body and, when we do get ill, at recovering quickly.

"I believe that a helpful book about healthy eating must not be a negative thing, with long lists of banned food and dietary restrictions. It needs to lead with a positive understanding of what the good foods are, and it needs to make it easier for us to choose, eat and enjoy much more of them. That's my plan here." 

For more information on 'Eat Better Forever' or to order the book online, visit the River Cottage website.