Love Hugh’s programmes and have bought several of his books in the past.
Some lovely quick lunchbox recipes with interesting combinations.
Loved use of different nuts and seeds.
Salads varied widely with innovative ideas.
I make soups every week in the winter and found lots of new recipes here to try.
Liked the different variations offered for some dishes.
I also like Hugh’s style of writing- not preachy but informative.
As am vegetarian now I haven’t tried the meat recipes for myself..
Lots of good information at the start of the book about losing weight, importance of certain food groups and meal plans.
Thanks to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in return for a fair review.
4.5 Stars

This is basically a book encouraging the reader to eat better with some recipes to help the reader do that. The first seven sections explore different aspects of food and what we should aim for in food and lifestyle choices. The seven sections are
1. Importance of wholegrains
2. Need for diversity in our diet
3. Looking after our gut
4. Reducing refined carbohydrates
5. Being aware of different fats
6. Consider drinks – soft and alcoholic
7. Eating mindfully

It’s all good advice but I didn’t learn much as I’ve read a lot of similar books and articles on these topics in recent years. The only thing I can remember learning is that there are better ways to squat than the way we do in the West to empty our bowels! The whole subject of being aware of, and improving, our gut biome is a relative new one. I suspect that we will hear much more on this topic in years to come and that some of this advice will change as the research develops.

The last half of the book is recipes for putting all the advice into practical use. I have looked at all but none are jumping out to inspire me to try them. At least a third contain nuts which I am unable to eat so I think this is maybe not the best book for me. They are mostly vegetarian but there are a few for fish and meat but none were grabbing me as being that different to things I already cook.

I think the main point potential readers should be aware of it that this is not a recipe book but an educational and advice book with some recipes at the back. The first recipe appears on page 212. Despite not suiting me personally it's a well written and very nicely presented book with a lot of information from sources I trust.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

A really informative, balanced book on diet and more importantly modifying your diet so it is healthier - and good for the environment. Tips on reducing sugar when baking was helpful as were some of the recipes. I do recommend if you have a family or are wanting to change your diet for a healthier lifestyle.

I like Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and his enthusiasm for food. I own several of his books and I was delighted to receive an early preview copy of this book from Netgalley and the Publisher.
This book is written in a style which is clearly set out and easy to follow. You can imagine Hugh narrating it as you read. It is easy to understand the information and points that he is making.
This is not a recipe book, although there are some recipes. It is not a dieting book, and there is no calorie counting. Instead the book is about eating sensibily for a healthy body. How to eat to strengthen your immune system and have a nutritious diet.
He states that no food should be forbidden, you can still eat treats, just not every day. This book is about making changes in what you eat, very little processed food. Most of the foods that he suggests are also widely available in most supermarkets.
He suggests swaps that you could make, so eventually you make healthy decisions and choices naturally.
As someone who has health problems I found this book interesting. I will definitely try to adopt some of his suggestions. I would definitely recommend this book for anyone who wants to make changes to their diet and eat more healthily.

A beautiful coffee table book, well laid out. It is informative, with some great suggestions for healthier eating.
Rules for a healthier relationship with your diet are accessible over a few chapters and reiterated and summed up at the end of the them, clear and concise. I did feel that the book represents an important personal journey for Hugh, which is helpful and interesting.
The recipies are all great suggestions, following up from the new rules of how to eat in a better way.
For me, this was more of an affirmation that I already eat well! There were a few tips I can follow up on, thankyou!
An interesting affirmative read!!

Great common-sense approaches to eating well.
He isn't too radical or preachy suggesting that any change is better than none at all.

Recipes are simple to follow, with beautiful pictures & accessible ingredients.

Filled with a wealth of increasing information, I will definitely be going back to it.

I've always been a fan of Hugh's straight forward eating and cookng ethically and locally. Here he has reviewed current ideas on diet and eating in a healthier way and come together for 7 ideas for a diet for life.
Full of practical ideas for you to consider, backed by research, it is just right for new year resolutions. He suggests that you try to make a few tweeks at first, then as a habit forms, add something else.
The recipes at the end help you to gets started.

I found the writing before the recipes very good. It was factual and interesting and I liked the way it explored how food affects us - some really good recipes that don't contain too many weird and wonderful ingredients you wouldn't use again.

As a fan of Hugh, I was very excited to get this book. Hugh focuses on eating whole foods and gives a solid explanation on how to eat better in a way which is sustainable as opposed to a short term switch. He includes a number of delicious looking recipes.

The book explains how to follow a wholefood healthy diet at all meals. It is full of lots of information. Over 40% of the book is information, so the recipe section is actually fairly small. There is information explaining what eating better entails and how it can benefit you. Fibre is explained as are pre and probiotics, low carbing and wholefoods. There is a "variety audit" spreadsheet included so you can mointor that you are getting enough into your families diet. There is a sample 7 day meal plan to get you started and useful tips for how to switch to healthier snacks e.g. swap an afternoon chocolate bar for nuts (duh!). If you do nothing else Hugh extorts that at least you can eat less meat and make sure half your plate is comprised of vegetables. A lot of the information is pretty well known and I found it quite dull.

I can't say I was very impressed by the recipe section. It was sectioned into Breakfasts, Lunchbox salads, Satisfying salads, Meals,Feisty Fish, (Less is more) meat, Treats and Drinks. It's all very worthy, almost a hrak back to 70's style veggie and macrobiotic eating. There recipes for (very trendy at present), fermented foods such as Kimchi, Kombucha, kefir and kraut.. I kind of felt the book would have been better being launched in the summer as I think people crave lighter, healthier food then than when the wind is howling outside and the rain is lashing your windows. For example breakfasts include: "thickies" - shakes made with bananas, and recipes such as Blueberry, Avocado and Almonds which is exactly that, along with another comprising strawberries and cashews , a "Banana breakfast" consisting of bananas, berries and seeds. There is a root sald made from julienned carrots and nuts. On a winter morning, I'd not look forward to these. They could have all been listed on one page but a page is given to each with a photo. There is also a recipe for overnight oats and finally a hot breakfast of eggs and kimchi.

Lunchbox salads has items such as beetroot and chickpea wrap (bet that looks great after a few hours in a plastic box with beetroot staining the wrap.). Bean pate and egg, cauliflower, kraut and parsley salad. These recipes just didn't appeal to me. meals include: Spiced gazpaucho and summer greens. Curried bean cullen skink. The Fish dishes were more appealing to my partner(although not for veggie me) and include: hake with Kimchi butter, fish and vegetable parcels and fish finger tomato and bean salad. Meat dishes include: Chicken livers and lentils, duck red cabbage raisin and orange and Roots burger and beans. . For "treats" there are rye and banana cookies, seedy almond cake and ice lollies.

Hmm.. I can't see me cooking form this book. I like healthy food but it's all a bit worthy and I found the photos or the food and the ingredient combos quite unappetizing. Not a hit with me.

As a general lifestyle/cookbook, Eat Better Forever is really good and it's full of good advice about improving your diet by eating whole foods etc. I would like to give it five stars but ,as a vegan, there was sadly not enough recipes which I will be able to do. Great book, otherwise

This is an exceptionally thorough guide to eating well, fuelled by Fearnley-Whittingstall's obvious passion for good food and good health. For those who were a fan of Hugh's early cookbooks, the recipes here are no less hearty, family-friendly and exciting as ever. Focusing on the importance of variety, Hugh explains (never preaches) the importance of different food groups and how they contribute to your longterm wellbeing. Rather than a book about what you can't eat, Hugh's enthusiasm for food is so infectious that you cannot help finish the book excited to eat better forever!

This book seems to target people who eat a lot of processed food, and are not enthusiastic in the kitchen, yet as a keen gardener and cook, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed it. It was very readable; a common sense approach, reinforced by academic input from professionals in nutrition, to better eating. The basic principles were not new to me, but the excellent presentation in this book encouraged me to re-evaluate my diet and ways I could improve what I eat.
The recipes were not as interesting as I had expected, given how much I have cooked from Hugh F-W other books, notably his Veg Everyday. However, I do not think that detracts from the overall value of the book if you are an enthusiastic cook – there is more than enough in the content to inspire you to rethink the way you eat and to adjust recipes to fit.

Heavily disappointed in this book, I mean most of us all know to eat healthy but when I think of eating better and needing advice or information the last person to take advice from would be a chef, it'd probably go for a Doctor or Dietician. But whilst Hugh F-W does have a lot of knowledge as a chef, there is a lot of in depth information on various topics such as refined sugars, healthy eating, saturated fats and whole foods, etc etc , and whilst that is good, it seems a little condescending at times as did some of the recipes, such as Orange and Apple Breakfast, which was really, really basic. There are some other recipes such as Overnight Oats, which are okay but nothing special, this book hasn't got anything that I've never thought of or couldn't find online which is what I love most about recipes. Plus most of the book was taken up by seven chapters of talking about eating healthy.

I feel that this book would be perfect for a person who wants to eat healthy but doesn't know how to go about it, or a beginner chef looking to explore cooking and basic recipes as a starting point, but otherwise for more advanced cooks, it's a bit basic. I'm not sure if it's been marketed as towards beginners so this may always come up with other people who love to cook, bit disappointing.

It's nice that HFW is wanting to promote healthy eating but at the same time, this book isn't very friendly to people on budgets or with families, most children won't eat some of the things in this book and for people on tight budgets such as almonds etc.

I didn't really feel that there was anything in this book that I would really realistically make. I think it's important to eat healthy, yes but make healthy eating yummy and fun really does make it beneficial. Nobody wants to eat salad with cashews in my house and I can't imagine suggesting it to the kids or the other half.

With thanks to Netgalley, Publishers and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall for my free ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Giles Coran, in his TIMES review of this book, criticised that Fearnley-Whittingstall, like so many “healthy eating” writers, preaches to the converted i.e. the middle class - the ones that CAN afford and source “whole”/unprocessed foodstuffs. Fearnley-Whittingstall has a point, that everybody is able - in a small way - to give some, but a minority, of his suggestions a try. But his blinkered landed-gentry view gets somewhat in the way of this being a suggestion for the vast majority of people. *getting off soapbox*

Unsurprisingly, there are no great revelations to be found in the 200-odd pages that precede the recipe section: Eat shedloads of a vast variety of fruit/veg/pulses/wholegrains/nuts with a smattering of dairy/fish/meat! Unprocessed is the magic word. Hey presto! Without the ubiquitous self-congratulatory and humble- braggy comments, it could have been done in 100 pages.

I did like his chapter on “mindful eating”, even though I despise the use of “mindful” anything.

However, one thing I cannot forgive him, is his total omission of sprouting seeds, pulses and “microgreens”). A one-time investment in a stacked sprouting box (mine’s been in use since the 80s) or a simple Mason jar, seeds, water and the small commitment of rinsing the seeds twice a day will give you the freshest, cheapest greens ever, packed full of nutrients/vitamins/minerals, and independent of seasons. They come in a great taste variety from mild to nutty to peppery. You do not need an acre of smallholding - even the humblest bed-sit has room for it on the windowsill. Even better, children will love to grow their own favourite variety of greens. And HFW does not mention them even once. Biiig booboo, Hugh!

He also pushes “ferments” for gut health biiig time: kombucha, raw sauerkraut, kimchi (yuck!). Not a word of warning though that all of them are really not good for your teeth: all highly acidic (similar to coke!) and kombucha IS after all a sugary fizzy drink - similar to the ones he vilifies...

The recipes, when they finally appear halfway into the book, were not terribly inspiring, more like a random generator of stuff thrown together and lunch, according to HFW, is always cold, apart from soups. The ingredients, although variable, are...not that easy to track down: hemp seeds, tamarind paste, seaweed flakes and the ever-present kimchi (yuck!) will not be stocked by your average supermarket. And another thing: If you stress the glorious taste of plant-based food, why does the majority of the recipes drench them in chillies, chilliflakes/powder/paste?? That, to me, sends out the wrong message: that plants AREN’T tasty in themselves.

The food styling is quite appealing, though - hurray for Simon Wheeler - lots of handmade ceramics and scrubbed wood surfaces.

All in all, at £26 RRP, a pretty coffee table addition for the smug AGA brigade.

Eat Better Forever by Hugh Fearnly - Whittingstall has plenty of information on how to change your diet and live healthier and lots of recipes. Unfortunately I didn’t get on with this book as the author is very pompous and comes across as a know it all. He’s condescending and it comes across as if you don’t do it his way you are wrong.

This is all you'd expect from Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall and more. If you'd like to improve your and your family's diet this is for you. It is most definitely NOT about dieting, but understanding the small changes you can make to improve your health by considering what you are eating. Think about eating whole foods rather than anything processed. There are plenty of the practical tips that will work, from exercise, to drinking moderately to eating well. You really feel that Hugh is practicing what he preaches.

Whilst there are many lovely recipes, I'd suggest you'd buy this book for all the practical tips. Take those on board then try the recipes which are fuss free and delicious.

The first part of this book is Hugh’s 7 ways to improve your diet, although interesting there isn’t really anything new or that we haven’t heard before. I like the look of a few of the recipes but none really stood out to me. The recipes really do incorporate the 7 ways that Hugh bought up in the beginning of the book but many of these are not really for people on a budget.

Thank you to Bloomsbury Publishing for this advanced copy.

I had always been worried about books by authors like Hugh as was not sure if they were going to accessible and I really didn't want to get new ingredients and also have a family who is very British traditional and know what they like, so I approached this book with trepidation but wanted it to give it a go.

The first section of the book covers his story and why it is important and easy to make this a life changing decision.

Then it started on the recipes - each one was photographed - helps.

I tried a number of recipes in this book - the accessible ones - fish, mussels, beef and some really good breakfast dishes. I also loved the take on the tiffin - will be making that one more.
I didn't try the recipes that I felt that my family would not take to, but will in the future as the journey continues, so I cant comment on them.
This is a very good and accessible book
I was granted an advance copy of the book in exchange for an honest and fair review. which I have done so

I've read a couple of Hugh Fernley-Whittingstalls books and loved them, Eat Better Forever doesn't disappoint!

The book focuses on steps towards eating better as part of a lifestyle change rather than a fad diet. It is divided up into various sections of health and foods and explains simple changes to improve your health. For example Go Whole is one section which focuses on reduction of processed foods, and emphasises the importance of whole foods. Some of the sections also focus on aspects of health such as alcohol, sleep, drinking water and also exercise.

I particularly thought the recipe section was great. There were lots of wholesome recipes which looked delicious. I can't wait to try some.

I think this book is brilliant and motivating for those who deep down know the importance of a healthy lifestyle but need a push in the right directions.

With thanks to Netgalley, author and publisher for the ARC of Eat Better Forever in return for an honest review.