NHS doctor Rupy Aujla is on a mission to reverse preventable lifestyle diseases through food. He shares his story, and recipes from his new book, with Sarah Maber
The best thing we can all do for our health is to improve our diet and maintain a healthy way of eating every day. In my new book, Dr Rupy Cooks (Ebury, £22), I want to convince you that eating to support your mental and physical health and feel fantastic should taste incredible. We can’t rely on willpower alone to choose to eat green vegetables, legumes and fruit just because we know they’re good for us! Wherever you are on your healthyeating journey, I really hope I can make it that little bit more delicious.
MY OWN JOURNEY
Just over 12 years ago, when I was working as a junior doctor, I got ill myself. I developed a heart condition known as atrial fibrillation (an irregular and abnormally fast heart rate), which was, in part, related to poor nutrition and lifestyle – late-night shifts, not sleeping properly, not eating the right food. It was a very strange time because I transitioned from being a doctor to being a patient. I was 24 at the time, and as a patient I didn’t want to take drugs or have an intervention. So I did a deep dive into nutrition and lifestyle instead, and discovered that the principles of a good diet are the same for almost everyone: remove as many processed foods and sugars as possible, and add plenty of plants.
I started to create healthy recipes as a way of keeping myself sane when I knew I had to make these significant changes to my diet, and this opened my eyes to the fact that healthy food can be flavourful and delicious, too. I started to write down recipes for patients, and this was the genesis of The Doctor’s Kitchen, which I started in 2015 as a way of teaching everybody how they can cook their way to health.
RECIPES DR RUPY AUJLA
Crispy sumac chicken
‘I’m mostly plant-based, but sometimes you just crave the delicious f lavour of roasted chicken with warming spices.’
NUTRITION NOTES
SERVES 2, with leftovers GF DF HANDS-ON TIME 20 mins TOTAL TIME 1 hr, plus marinating
PER SERVING (1 OF 2 SERVINGS) 484cals; 21g fat (4g sat fat); 31g protein; 6g fibre; 37g carbs; 15g total sugars; 0.6g salt
YOU’LL NEED…
◆ 2 large or 4 small bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs (about 400g)
◆ 200g red onions (about 2 medium), cut into wedges
◆ 200g celery (about 4 stalks), cut into thick chunks
◆ 300g baby plum t
