James Wong’s latest book, How to Eat Better , is the botanical equivalent of a Christmas present — colourful, fun, and full of surprises. Its 80 tried, tested, and beautifully-laid-out recipes are the result of a two-year process that Wong undertook in his London home, where his garden serves as a lab station for growing crops from around the world. His findings — such as how storing mushrooms on a windowsill will get you hundred times the Vitamin D2 in just a couple of hours, and how leafy greens have negative calories — come from a lifetime spent outdoors, including studying traditional food systems in Java, Ecuador and South China.
Wong is a scientist and broadcaster and has presented the BBC coverage of the well-known RHS Chelsea Flower Show and the series, The Secrets of Your Food . “I have been obsessed with plants ever since I can remember. I used to follow my grandma around the garden, picking off leaves and tasting things (sometimes to her horror), so I guess I have genetics to blame,” writes Wong, author of Grow Your Own Drugs and Homegrown Revolution , in an email interview.
It was an interest the 36-year-old sustained, resulting in him being trained at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, getting a Master’s in Ethnobotany, and researching under-utilised crops. “I am fascinated by how plants constantly detect and respond to their surroundings with an ever-changing internal chemistry. As all the nutrients in plants are chemicals, a few simple tips can dramatically enhance their nutrient content, even when harvested. A significant increase in nutritional value does not require loads of time or effort.”
The simple stuff
This kitchen science is what Wong hones in How To Eat Better (Hachette, UK). “Trawling through scientific literature from around the world was fascinating, but took months of work. That’s before devising and testing the recipes based on these findings. It’s probably one of the most gruelling yet satisfying projects I have ever worked on,” says Wong of his research that strips away food diets and superfood fixations.
In the introduction, Wong writes that many “have a need to seek out fancy superfood ingredients from the depths of the Amazon. However, there is a simpler way, as dieticians and doctors have been telling us for years — eat lots of fruits, vegetables and wholegrains and go easy on the red meat, fat and sugar”.
Justifying that improving the nutritional benefits of crops isn’t rocket science, Wong looks at three cardinal points — Select, Store and Cook — that can boost the foods you have. “In a world of fake news and a growing mistrust of science, it can be difficult to sort fact from fiction,” says Wong. “I have underpinned every fact in the book with evidence from studies published in academic journals. I further explain how these experiments were designed and how researchers arrived at their conclusions. All these claims were re-examined by one of the UK’s leading registered dieticians, Dr Emma Derbyshire, to make sure it was watertight.”
Some of the findings are: most heavily-processed foods are actually more nutritious than less-processed alternatives (for example, the pressure-steaming method used to create parboiled rice, causes it to retain higher levels of B vitamins, niacin, riboflavin and thiamine); pre-slice your salad for 50% more polyphenols; and the more sunshine there is, the more good stuff you get. So, pick tomatoes grown in sunny countries over those grown under overcast skies, and store them on the counter and not too long in the refrigerator.
Making the best choices
How does this translate for the tropics, where vegetables spoil easily? “I grew up in the sweltering heat of Singapore, and when I moved to the UK, I was surprised at how different the approach to storing many foodstuffs was. Storing anything in the fridge is the best way to retain freshness and nutritional content. However, for tomatoes, the chemical reactions needed to produce key nutrients can occur at only higher temperatures. Even in the tropics, they are likely to last a good few days outside. The extra nutrition would be worth the slight decrease in shelf life. This slight decrease in shelf life would be worth the extra nutrition. ,” says Wong, adding that he also made some unusual discoveries.
“Contrary to the popular perception of coffee being terrible for your heart, mood and even a contributing risk factor for cancer, scientific evidence actually suggests the opposite. Coffee is one of the richest-known food sources of polyphenols, which may actively protect against degenerative conditions,” he says.
Wong, who is working on science documentaries for the BBC, will also be running a series of talks to raise funds for UNICEF. “I didn’t bank on how popular the book would turn out to be in the UK. It is, in many ways, a practical cookbook, and also a book about plant science. Now, who knew that would make it to the bestseller list?”
