The Celebrity Shopping Trolley - Emma Forbes

With a health obsessed mother, Elton John as her baby sitter, a career in show biz and her own website giving out fashion, beauty, health and diet advice, does Emma get to wear the gold star or sit on the naughty step when it comes to her own eating habits? I poked my nose into her shopping trolley!

As the daughter of Director Bryan Forbes and actress Nanette Newman, Emma had a celebrity upbringing, including living next door to Elton John.

She was about six when Elton took her and her sister to Disneyland and baby-sat when their parents went out. He used to give them disgusting lollies called Fudgsicles and that must have upset their heath-food nut mother. But dear “Uncle Elton” does not seem to have done any real harm as today Emma is a model of nutritional balance and good sense.

Her typical breakfast is a bowl of organic granola with blueberries and semi-skimmed milk or pitta bread with manuka honey or lime marmalade plus a cup of rooi bos tea with semi-skimmed milk. Both of these are great starts to the day with good carbs, protein, calcium and lots of protective antioxidants. I would normally drink rooi bos without milk, but this “red bush” tea from South Africa is a major source of antioxidants and flavanols without the caffeine or tannins in black or green tea.

Emma enjoys lunch of homemade soup - watercress is a favourite - with crackers; or tuna salad with olives, avocado, apple and anything else that’s in the salad drawer. Lemon juice and olive oil is a healthy dressing, then yoghurt or banana. As tuna has a higher residue of toxic mercury than other oily fish, salmon, sardines, herring or mackerel would be a better option.

Dinner is usually grilled salmon with couscous and salad, or roast chicken with roast vegetables and mashed potato. These are yet more healthy options, but I would like to see rather more vegetables as there are not the minimum five portions a day. And where is the cheese for extra bone building calcium?

Rice cakes with honey, grapes, bananas, dried fruit, nuts or even some dark chocolate, are the snacks Emma enjoys and there is nothing bad about any of them. They are all sources of good nutrients, including the chocolate. Cranberry juice and elderflower cordial make excellent drinks, but the ginger ale contains lots of sugar.

Top 5 foods from the supermarket are granola, fruit,
yoghurt, chocolate and bread and they are fine as far as they go, but again – cheese, vegetables and pasta all deserve their place.

When it comes to vices Emma admits to chocolate, which is not bad in moderation; cakes once in a while is good for the soul and if you chose well, for the body too; rice pudding is a healthy choice and the nutmeg is one of the best feel good spices. Emma should not describe herself as “bad” because she indulges sometimes. Her own words say it all: “life’s too short to live without them though, so I would never not eat things I love.”

Emma has a great website but I question some of the health advice; goji berries are a very expensive Superfood when our own home-grown black berries, black currants, raspberries and strawberries are a fraction of the price and just as good without the thousands of air miles. I also think some of the people who comment are just plugging their own commercial activities!