Owing to its involvement in methylation reactions that help to support DNA formation, detoxification and fertility, choline is extremely important for our bodies. Ella Mills celebrated a major milestone this year, marking 10 years since she posted the first recipe (spiced sweet potatoes with an avocado cream) on the blog she titled Deliciously Ella. Not only do these types of carbs contain more nutrients, they also tend to release their energy (or sugars, more on this below) slowly because they contain more fibre. Vitamin E is one of many anti-oxidants in the body that helps to keep our cells healthy, brightens our skin, slows brain ageing, supports detoxification and feeds our gut bacteria. Protein is the fundamental building block of our body and essential but almost nobody in the developed world is deficient in it, whereas almost nobody’s getting enough fibre.

Overall, I'd say that Deliciously Ella has really changed my mindset when it comes to food and overall health. The gut contains about 70% of our immune system and the absorption of vitamins and minerals from our food is central to the health of other organs including our brain," she explains. Dressing your vegetables well and finding your confidence with sauces is key for making vegan food tasty," shares Ella.Teaching herself to cook from scratch and sharing her experiments online, the culinary seeds were sown and the novice cook’s following began to grow – today Deiciously Ella has 2. Iron requires vitamin C for absorption, so having vegetables or fruit alongside grains and nuts is recommended and it’s worth noting that tea and coffee can reduce absorption of iron, so leaving space between these drinks and meals can help. In the spirit of planning ahead for busy, weekday nights, Mills likes to batch cook on the weekend, making a big meal once, freezing it, and then tweaking the dish through the week. Our bodies can’t make protein themselves, so we need to make sure we get enough daily through the diet to supply all of these critical functions and allow the body to regenerate. Good plant-based sources of choline come from tahini, beetroot, edamame, chickpeas, split peas, cauliflower and sprouts.

That’s why the bestselling author’s latest title is something of a departure from the standard cookbook format. Omega 6 (aim for around 2 sources per day) – nuts, seeds, avocado, cold pressed vegetable oils such as linseed, sesame seeds. I was raised with a traditional diet and I'm one of those people who find it really hard to give up on eating animal products. Vitamin C (vegetables, fruit) and zinc (sunflower seeds, tahini) keeps our immunity working well and help our skin heal by forming collagen.

And while a fully plant-based diet works for Mills, she stresses that munching a burger or bowl of mac and cheese – even after you’ve vowed to quit your carnivorous diet – doesn’t mean you’ve fallen off the wagon. A huge number of young people want to be flexitarian, vegetarian or plant-based and parents are thinking, ‘What do I do?

The best types of carbs are those that remain in an unprocessed form, that is, unrefined and unprocessed. Time, the working mum knows, is of the essence, as is proving that embracing a plant-focused diet doesn’t necessarily have to be at odds with the cost of living crisis. They have also opened a London restaurant, Plants, dedicated to showing the breath of plant-based cooking. Much of this chatter has revolved around weight management, but whatever the motive, eating a ‘perfectly’ healthy diet all the time isn’t sustainable and doesn’t always make us healthier from a mental or physical perspective.It's so versatile and really increases the number of things that you can make at home with fresh, natural ingredients.