Stop whining over wine!

The only thing that obsesses the world as much as money and sex, is the latest health fad. Millions of deluded souls are chomping their way through Atkins bacon and eggs, shunning food-combining, blending their own ginseng smoothies, and paying fortunes for tailor-made lifestyle sheets that begin with hot water and lemon and never include that necessary glass of champagne.

The latest shock and horror for our health is the "discovery" by American researchers that those of us who drink three glasses of wine a day are turning our brains to mush. Apparently, I have all the problems of alcoholism - lack of co-ordination, fuzziness, memory loss, possibly even Alzheimer's, all because I drink half a bottle of wine a day.

But this is from a country that bans unpasteurised cheese and has labels warning people that coffee is hot.

There is a marvellous book called A Votre Santé, probably out of print now, because it doesn't cede to fads of any kind, which will tell you to drink champagne when you are depressed and wine from the Medoc if you need iron. I regard its life-loving commonsense as the cornerstone of my health and well being.

Wine is good for you. The only thing to remember is to drink the best you can possibly afford. Good wine is usually produced using minimum additives and sprays, and shouldn't give you a hangover. Lay it down, buy it in Europe, and above all, take pleasure in it. Pleasure is the key to health.

Pleasure in food, and a real love of nature, is why I have eaten only organic produce for 15 years now. It tastes better, it has a higher vitamin and mineral content, you eat less of it to be full, and your body is not loaded with toxic residues.

Take no notice of people who say it's too expensive. We have one body each, and one planet. Both are worth looking after. If you add up the money spent on ready-meals and processed junk, you will soon find that nearly everyone can afford organic. I made a chicken casserole for six people at the weekend, and it cost me 10 quid all in.

I am lucky because I live in the country and grow a lot of my own veg. I keep hens, which are as easy as goldfish, and perfectly suited to London gardens too. Once you have kept hens, you will understand why battery farming is so cruel, and why real food is light years away from what most people are eating most of the time. The river that runs past my house is stocked with trout and crayfish. In summer there is no better meal than fresh-hauled crayfish, a big bowl of homegrown salad, and mayonnaise made from my own eggs.

I buy the rest of my food from local organic producers. Nothing I eat is flown in or harmfully farmed. I am not allowed by law to buy unpasteurised milk, but I get it in a jug from a friend.

I had an allergy test early this year, when I had a routine medical MOT, and I don't have any allergies. Not to wine, bread, chocolate, or anything. This cannot be a coincidence - it has to be to do with my diet. I always have five or six portions of fruit and veg a day, meat only twice a week, and litres of water. I have to confess that I do start the day with hot water and lemon, but I always end it with a convivial bottle of wine.

What do I eat? Breakfast is muesli, banana, freshly squeezed juice, a couple of espressos and a chocolate biscuit. Lunch is soup, or bread and cheese, and an apple or pear. Supper is protein, plus veg or salad. I don't have coffee past breakfast time, and if I have tea in the morning, I don't drink coffee at all on that day.

I love cooking and I love food. Washing and preparing real food is never a chore, because the smells and the textures and the anticipation are so seductive. Soon wild salmon will be in season, and I will gorge on it, and when the season ends, I won't eat salmon again till next year. Remember, pleasure is the key.

I eat like this because I have discovered-that it makes me feel good. We have to understand our individual bodies, and then work with a few broad brushstrokes of common sense: plenty of water, small amounts of the best of everything and not too much caffeine. How do people make money out of selling this simple stuff ?

Of course I take exercise. I go to the gym five days a week and I spend a lot of time tending my garden. I take exercise because without it I get stir-crazy and bad tempered, not because I am on a treadmill of ideology. I want to get the most out of my body and the most out of life.

That means staying fit and well, having plenty of energy, and not worrying about the latest fads. For me, at least, it also means not shopping in supermarkets because there is no sensual pleasure - everything is wrapped up - and the amount of packaging depresses me, and as we know, depression lowers the immune system.

For the record, I have had one cold in the past 12 months, I weigh 47 kilos (but I should because I am only 5ft tall), and I can run five miles comfortably.

Age is not something we have to fight against, but it is something we have to work with intelligently. At 40, I realised I had put on about a stone, partly because the metabolism slows down, and partly because I was not as active as I had been. I went back to the gym, and it took a year to lose that extra weight and to get fit again. I didn't rush it because I wanted the change to be permanent. I listened to my body, not some hot new manual, and my body told me what to do.

Living in the country with a veg garden and an Aga is better than living in London any day, and I don't regret leaving the capital, but country life itself is not the cure-all. I believe that all cures start inside ourselves, and I trust the wisdom of the body.

So if you are feeling like a makeover, don't buy yet another selfhelp book: eat organic, cook it yourself, join a gym, and when you've had two litres of water, open the wine and say, Cheers.