Some would say I’m an unlucky person. At 48, and despite having always taken care of my health, I’ve had five heart attacks and counting. The first three, which occurred within one week when I was just 36, were so huge that at one point my sobbing husband was ushered into the operating theatre to say goodbye.
But I didn’t die. In fact, I pulled through. Then having been well for more than a decade, disaster struck last year and I suffered a further two heart attacks – which is why viewers of ITV’s Lorraine show, where I’m resident chef, will have seen a bit less of me recently.
So, yes, this could be seen as very bad luck. But do I think I’m unlucky? No. In fact, I consider myself to be one of the luckiest people alive.
Recipe for life: Sally prepares a nutritionally packed meal, which she credits with her heart attack survival
I’m on the mend again and determined to feel better than ever. I believe that when it comes to our health, we can make our own luck.
After those first attacks, I devoted my life to spreading the word about the thing I believe saved me: a balanced diet and healthy approach to life. I’d always eaten well, but during my recovery I realised that when I ate nutritionally packed food, my body reacted in positive ways. If I didn’t, I began to feel poorly again.
-
Cooking up weight loss! MasterChef’s fitness fanatic…
The easiest pulled pork burgers ever! Australian mother, 47,…
Gino’s healthy Italian (on a budget): Spinach and courgette…
Beauty trends gone viral! This week WATERMELON make-up…
With this in mind, I began to write my own recipes. And my doctors, stunned by my recovery, agreed that my approach to healthy living was the reason I beat the odds.
Eat yourself healthy… my ultra-simple 10-point plan
Eating well is about a holistic view, not focusing on a single component like calories or carbs. To get started, here are my top healthy-eating tips:
- Listen to your body. If you are hungry, eat… but not because the clock says it’s meal time.
- Cut out processed food and drinks. Know what you eat.
- Drink eight glasses of water a day. Keeping hydrated supports all your organs.
- Try to eat not five or ten, but seven portions of fruit and vegetables a day.
- On your plate, your pile of veg should be large, protein (chicken, meat, fish, legumes) middle-sized and carbohydrates (brown rice, potatoes – not fried – brown pasta) should be the smallest.
- One or two treats a week isn’t going to kill you. But if you are going to have a piece of cake, make it homemade.
- Fast for 12 hours at night so your body has time to reboot. If you eat breakfast at 7am, don’t eat dinner later than 7pm.
- Try not to eat on the run. Sit at the table and enjoy meals.
- Everything you feed your body will have an effect. It’s your choice whether that effect is negative or positive.
- Love yourself enough to eat a healthy diet. Please. I am living proof that it works.
Michelle Obama, a great advocate of good nutrition, famously bought 12 copies of my first recipe collection after a trip to the UK.
Now, alongside appearing on Lorraine, I am an ambassador for Heart Research UK and also write my Real Superfoods column for The Mail on Sunday, sharing my conviction that good nutrition doesn’t mean buying expensive foods or hard-to-find exotic ingredients. I’m a busy mother-of-three – Tarik, 18, Kazim, 15, and Lela, 13 – so I don’t have time to scour health-food shops for the latest wonderberry or rare grain.
My sixth recipe book, Beelicious, will be published this month and is a culmination of everything I have learned in a collection of recipes, some of which are featured on these pages.
But it’s also a journal in which readers can record their thoughts and feelings – and more practical things such as whether they’ve had enough water that day. My hope is that the book will be your chef and life coach rolled into one.
Of course, I can’t deny the magnificent medical care I have received over the years. But by eating well, you can support your body and help it to function better for longer. And if and when disaster strikes, you will be better placed to survive and recover. I truly believe I am a living example of that.
My rare conditions
My initial heart attacks were a rare type, due to something known as spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD), in which the arteries around the heart tear.
There is no specific treatment for it but I am on a high dose of beta-blockers, which keep my heart relaxed. And I take statins, known to lower cholesterol and for their anti-inflammatory effects. But I know the reality is that I could have another attack at any time.
Two years ago, I had some tough news when it was discovered that I suffer from fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD), a rare condition that causes the blood vessels to grow in abnormal ways, narrowing in some places and bulging in others.
The arteries in my brain, neck, heart, kidneys and legs are affected, meaning I’m prone to heart attacks and strokes.
Suspecting the two problems might be linked, doctors started testing patients who had suffered a SCAD heart attack for FMD, which is how I came to be diagnosed.
And then it happened. On November 12 last year, I was walking along with Bob, my border terrier, and Dogan, my husband, when I fell over, face-first into the pavement. Dogan tried to get me up, but I couldn’t move. The wind had been blown out of me. I was aware that I was counting my teeth with my tongue, hoping they were all there. Eventually, Dogan got me home.
Six days later, feeling fragile, I sat up in bed and felt an unmistakable sweep of ‘impending doom’ wash over. I’d felt it before my first heart attack, and I knew what was coming. The pain in my chest arrived. I stumbled downstairs and Dogan called the ambulance.
I survive the unsurvivable
At hospital, blood tests showed I had suffered a fourth heart attack. I believe that the shock of being told this triggered a fifth right there in hospital.
The artery that goes around the back of the heart had ruptured. There was nothing they could do to help me. It was simply a case of wait and see and hope and pray. I was devastated. I’d worked so hard to build up my strength both physically and emotionally. I was back at square one. Worse, in fact, because this was another round of damage my heart had sustained. I knew that many people in my situation would need a heart transplant to survive.
For the next few days, I cried in my bed. I hated the world for doing this to me. I slept. Then it dawned on me. I was still alive and had wonderful people taking care of me. My family needed me, my friends needed me. All my hard work over the past 12 years to stay fit and well was not wasted, it had worked. I had again, survived the unsurvivable.
And then, some amazing news: despite the massive attacks, the new damage was minimal. I gave a quiet little cheer. A few weeks ago, further tests showed the power output of my heart is normal. My approach has saved me again.
The next year is going to be challenging for me but I’m determined not to miss a thing. My mantra is simple: every day, make sure you are the best you can be.
- Order your copy of Beelicious, by Sally Bee before June 25 for the special price of £17 (RRP £20) at Sally-bee.com
Turkey, sweetcorn and avocado griddle mix
You need a griddle pan for this dish – and yes, you can cook avocado. It’s delicious, and a fantastic source of heart-healthy fats. Turkey is naturally low in fat and calories, making this a good dish if you are watching your waistline.
Serves 4
Preheat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas amrk 6. In a large bowl, toss 600g sweet potatoes, cut into wedges, with 1tbsp olive oil, a sprinkle of celery salt, garlic powder and a pinch of smoked paprika. Pour out onto a large shallow baking tray and roast for 30 mins, tossing halfway. Meanwhile, make the dressing: mix 5 tbsp Greek yoghurt with the zest and juice of 1/2 a lime – set aside the other half for later and add 1tsp of Tabasco sauce, and 1tbsp water. Pop in the fridge.
Next, heat a griddle pan over a high heat. Put 1tbsp olive oil into a bowl and then add a bunch of spring onions, trimmed and halved lengthways and 1 corn on the cob. Rub the oil all over them, and season well. Griddle these for 3-4 mins until charred. Then slice the corn kernels off the cob and set aside with the onions. Now, griddle 1 firm but ripe avocado, cut into 1cm slices for a minute on each side, turning carefully; set aside and squeeze over the remaining juice of 1/2 a lime to stop discolouring.
Finally, pop 440g turkey breast steaks, cut into strips, in the bowl with the remaining oil and 1 jalapeno chili, finely sliced. Griddle for 3-4 mins each side. To build the salad, put a 130g bag of watercress, rocket and spinach salad on a large platter. Top with the sweet potato wedges, salad onions, sweetcorn, avocado, turkey and jalapeno. Drizzle over the dressing and serve.
Creamy garlic mushrooms on toast and homemade pesto
Have a go at making this homemade pesto – it is delicious and will keep in the fridge for up to three days. It’s lovely on top of fish too. Sourdough bread is made with fermented dough. The process means the bread contains compounds that make it easier to digest and less likely to trigger bloating. As a major bonus, it’s more nutritious too!
Serves 2
Start by making the pesto: whizz up a handful of fresh flat leaf parsley, 1 clove of garlic, peeled, 50g of pine nuts, the juice and zest of 1/2 a lemon, and 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, along with 2tbsp of water. Set aside.
Next, melt 20g of butter in a large, non-stick frying pan over a medium heat and cook 275g of portobello mushrooms, thinly sliced, for 10 minutes. Toast two large slices of sourdough bread. Add 2 cloves of garlic, grated to the mushrooms and cook for 1 min. Next, add 170ml of low fat creme fraiche and 2 tsp low-salt soy sauce, stir through to warm, then take off the heat. Pile the mushrooms on the toast with some of the sauce and a big dollop of the pesto. Finally, top with a handful of watercress.
Summer Strawberry Cake
We all love a tasty piece of cake now and again – and a couple of sweet treats a week isn’t a crime. It’s called feeding your soul. Always try to go for homemade so you know what’s in it.
Serves 12
Preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Grease a 20cm round springform cake tin and then line with baking paper.
Put 170g soft butter at room temperature, and 170g light muscovado sugar in a bowl or mixer and beat together until light and fluffy. Sieve 170g of self-raising flour and 2 tsp baking powder.
Next add 1 tsp vanilla extract, 3 free-range eggs and 2 tbsp of the flour and mix together well until increased in volume.
Now gently fold in the remaining flour using a large spoon, to keep the air in the mixture.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared tin, and smooth down. Decorate the top with a small punnet of fresh strawberries, halved and sprinkle with 1 tbsp demerara sugar.
Pop in the oven and bake for 20/25 mins or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the cake comes out clean.
Leave the cake to cool in the tin for 10 minutes, then turn out on to a cake stand or serving plate. Dust with icing sugar, cut into slices and serve warm.
Delicious!