For many of us, Christmas Day involved gathering together with extended family to eat, drink, be merry – and endure well-intentioned criticism so cutting it will haunt us all year. “You’re looking a bit peaky – have you been burning the candle at both ends?” a great-aunt might have enquired, after looking you up and down and observing the dark circles gouged under your eyes, and the pallid, puffy skin that hasn’t had a sniff of sunlight in months. “Are you getting enough vitamins?”
For the vast majority of people, the inevitable answer to this second question is “hell no” – particularly after a period spent largely consuming festive foods in 50 shades of beige. Regardless of the time of year, data from the National Diet and Nutrition Survey (NDNS) shows that fewer than 1 per cent of the UK population achieve all nine of the Eatwell Guide recommendations – a set of guidelines detailing how much of each food group we should be eating to achieve a healthy and balanced diet.
