Something fishy with Simon Rhodes from Lobsterpot Fishmongers, Wood Street Food Hall

HAVING shopped until you’ve dropped, stressed yourself silly about the right presents and cards to be sent, drank and eaten for England and entertained friends and family, now is the time to start the New Year with a healthy and positive attitude.

Maintaining a healthy, natural diet will go a long way to ensure you feel good about yourself and tip top for this summer’s festivities.

Lobsters, salmon and scallops were sold in abundance over Christmas but it was nice to see customers experimenting with different types of fish and shellfish; hake, halibut, crevettes and oysters.

But the biggest hit was our giant wild African tiger prawns, which we couldn’t get enough of. Our seafood platters also proved a great success.

It would be nice to see our shopping habits change where we eat fish at least twice a week this year.

As a nation we have a long way to go to make fish a natural part of our healthy diet. Eating more fish can reduce cholesterol; improve joints, energy levels and brain power, not to mention that it can help with weight loss.

Our children generally love fish, but as an easy option we tend to give them foods high in sugars and salts because they are readily available in easy to cook packets and the information about salt and sugar content is cleverly hidden.

Maybe it’s the influence from America that our diet is based around fast foods and bad fats.

The result of years of this fast food culture is that we are the second most obese nation in the world, behind the USA.

It is important for us all to take the production and information of our foods more seriously. We should know where our food has come from, how far it has travelled and what additives have been used.

Maybe we should be looking at our European neighbours for our influences.

So, this year have a serious look at the way we shop and eat and try some different types of fish. For inspiration or just a chat about food come and talk to us.