‘Deliciously Ella’ takes next steps in fostering healthy living

What does it take to turn a Haribo jelly-obsessed, vegetable-hating, sugar addict into a paragon of virtuous eating and author of the fastest selling debut cookbook since records began?

For Ella Woodward, then a 19-year-old history of art student at St Andrews, it was the sudden onset of a mysterious illness that left her dangerously bloated, in pain, and unable to walk the length of her west London flat “without needing to lie on the floor”.

After four months of medical tests, she was diagnosed with the chronic condition, postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS). To manage the severely debilitating symptoms, she was put on a regime of medication and steroids, “but sadly it didn’t have much effect on me”, the now 24-year-old food writer and entrepreneur says.

“The illness affected so many of my everyday functions, from my heart rate to my digestion, immune system, circulation and energy levels. I spent the majority of my time in bed and really struggled mentally to adjust to the sudden change,” says the eldest daughter of former Labour MP and cabinet minister Shaun Woodward and grocery heiress Camilla Sainsbury.

“I started researching alternative healing methods and came across lots of people who had managed various illnesses through diet and lifestyle. I was really inspired by this and decided to give it a go. None of my friends and family thought I’d stick to the changes, as they seemed so radically different to what I was eating before. But I did and I now absolutely love the way I eat and feel so good for it.”

Pick ’n’ mix

The eating regime that Woodward devised involved saying goodbye to gluten, dairy, refined sugar, processed food, additives and meat. “It was a dramatic change, especially as I had mainly lived off pesto, pasta, pick ’n’ mix and chocolate up until then.”

Within 18 months, the improvements in her health and wellbeing were remarkable. “I really attribute it to a change in lifestyle. The medication was never designed to cure the illness, simply to manage the symptoms. I found changing the way I ate to focus on natural foods, starting exercising and learning about mindfulness and taking care of myself properly, had a massive effect. I’m really well on a day-to-day basis now, but I’m still conscious to take care of myself, as I have to manage my symptoms every day.”

Although the benefits were considerable, Woodward struggled to make her diet interesting. To challenge herself – and avoid falling off the wagon – she began a blog, Deliciouslyella.com, writing new recipes and working out how to create lovely things to eat within the constraints she had imposed on herself.

This led last year to a newspaper column and a debut book, Deliciously Ella, that went straight to number one, has sold more than 250,000 copies in the UK and was Amazon's bestselling book of 2015.

Woodward is now a poster girl for healthy eating, and is credited with influencing, for the better, the eating habits of several generations, as well as her immediate family. “I live with my fiance and he loves the way I eat. We make lots of big veggie curries and pastas at home, and porridge with peanut butter and berries for breakfast. It’s all about balance though, and he equally enjoys a burger when we’re out and ice cream at home in front of a movie. My family eat in much the same way: they’ve introduced lots of healthy foods into their diets and eat more veggies than before – my mum’s even become a vegetarian.”

Does she miss anything from her previous diet? “Giving up sugar was really hard and I struggled a lot to begin with, but once I started playing around with sweet recipes using natural ingredients like dates and almonds, it all became much easier,” she says. In fact, sweet things – healthy ones, of course – are a feature of Woodward’s books. She’s also accomplished at devising really good – and I’m struggling to avoid using the word delicious here – dips, dressings and finishing touches that add interest to what might otherwise be rather virtuous but dull plates of food.

Training as nutritionist

Woodward's second book – Deliciously Ella Every Day – has just been published and she is working on a third. She recently opened a cafe, the Mae Deli, in Marylebone in central London, is training as a nutritionist at the College of Naturopathic Medicine, and is getting married to fiance Matthew in April. Quite the whirlwind for someone for whom the future once looked bleak.

The deli opened to controversy when it was revealed it would be serving meat and fish, with vegans and vegetarians accusing Woodward of selling out, but she is unapologetic. “The deli is a collaboration between Matthew and I. We wanted to create a place that celebrated healthy eating, but also felt accessible to everyone, which is why we included chicken and fish. Matthew isn’t a vegetarian, and neither are most of our families, so we wanted to create a space that we could all enjoy together that properly catered to everyone’s needs.”

Her commitment to the cafe is more than a celebrity endorsement deal. “I spend all my time there at the moment. We didn’t have a manager when we first opened, so Matt and I shared that role and opened and closed every night. We’ve been totally hands on in every aspect of the business, from creating financial models to cleaning the toilets. I like working on the till so that I can chat to everyone who comes in.”

Deliciously Ella Every Day by Ella Woodward, out now published by Yellow Kite, £20. © Ella Woodward 2016