The Sirtfood-Rich Diet

These are the highest-rated 20 foods for a Sirtfood-rich diet and how you can incorporate them into your daily meals.

Bird’s- Eye Chilli. Also sold as Thai chillies, they’re more potent than regular chillies and also packed with more nutrients. Use them to enhance sweet or sour recipes.

Buckwheat. Technically a pseudo-grain: it’s actually a fruit seed related to rhubarb. Also available in noodle form (as soba), but make sure you’re getting the wheat-free version.

Capers. In case you’re wondering, they’re pickled flower buds. Sprinkle them over salad or roasted cauliflower.

Celery. The hearts and leaves are the most nutritious part, so don’t throw them away if you’re blending up a shake.

Chicory. Red is best but yellow works as well. Include it in a salad.

Cocoa. The flavonol-rich kind improves blood pressure, blood sugar control and cholesterol. Look for a high percentage of cacao.

Coffee. Drink it black – there’s some evidence that milk can reduce the absorption of sirtuin-activating nutrients.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil. The extra virgin type has more Sirt benefits, and a more satisfying, peppery taste.

Green Tea or Matcha. Add a slice of lemon to increase the absorption of sirtuin-producing nutrients. Matcha is even better, but go Japanese, not Chinese, to avoid potential lead contamination.

Kale. Includes huge amounts of sirtuin-activating nutrients quercetin and kaempferol. Massage it with olive oil and lemon juice to serve it as a salad.

Lovage. It’s a herb. Grow your own on a windowsill, and throw it into stir-fries.

Medjool Dates. They’re a hefty 66% sugar, but – in moderation – don’t raise blood sugar levels, and have actually been linked to lowered rates of diabetes and heart disease.

Parsley. More than just a garnish – it’s high in apigenin. Throw it into a smoothie or juice for the full benefit. Chicory Red is best, but yellow works fine. Throw it in a salad.

Red Onion. The red variety’s better for you, and sweet enough to eat raw. Chop it and add to a salad, or eat it with a burger.

Red Wine. You’ve heard of resveratrol: the good news is it is heat stable so you can get benefits from cooking with it (as well as glugging it straight). Pinot noir has the highest content.

Rocket. One of the least interfered-with salad greens available. Drizzle it with olive oil.

Soy. Soybeans and miso are high in sirtuin activators. Include it in stir-fries.

Strawberries. Though they’re sweet, they only contain 1 tsp of sugar per 100g – and research suggests they improve your body’s ability to handle sugary carbs.

Turmeric. Evidence suggests that curcumin in it has anti-cancer properties. It’s difficult for the body to assimilate alone, but cooking it in liquid and adding black pepper increases absorption.

Walnuts. High in fat and calories, but well established in reducing metabolic disease. Mash them up with parsley for a sirt-flavoured pesto.

Another listing of the foods in the Sirtfood-rich diet can be found here.