The New Year is always a good time to consider a radical overhaul of one's eating habits. The Christmas excesses which make one feel like Mr Blobby inspire thousands to go on diets, send thousands more to thunder treadmills at their local gyms and leave the rest of us vowing to become more abstemious in the interests of our health and well-being. If this is you, read on.

"More and more people are becoming interested and concerned about what they eat, where it's come from and how it's affecting their health," says Ann Currie, a macrobiotics chef and dietary consultant. "We now have a waiting list for our cookery courses and we're finding that all sorts of people are looking at macrobiotics as a way of improving their diet and how they feel.

"People also come because they have specific health problems which can benefit from our organic and wholefood-based diet."

Macrobiotics is not "a diet" per se, it's a way of eating which revolves around eating balanced meals chosen from wholefoods in season. It used to have a fairly disciplinarian image of dour folk wedded to brown rice, miso and a long list of forbidden foods. But Currie is far more relaxed about the concept preferring to put the emphasis on good quality food and gradually improving one's existing diet.

She accepts that there are elements of the macrobiotic diet which some people may find hard to take and she is no killjoy either so a "one and one" can still be on the menu. "Fish and chips are okay once in a while as a treat to enjoy, but not as food for every day," she says.

A typical macrobiotic diet would involve a combination of cereals, beans, fresh vegetables, sea vegetables, tofu (soya bean curd) and desserts made from naturally sweet foods such as dried fruit. The diet is not strictly vegetarian but meat, fish and poultry are eaten only in small quantities with little or no no dairy products included.

Currie says that one of the most common complaints from people who come to her for dietary consultation is a constant feeling of tiredness. "Tiredness seems to be one of the main malaises of our time," she says. "I think it's down to a number of factors including big changes in how we eat such as the increase in snacking and not eating proper meals of good quality.

"Our food is absolutely vital to how we feel. For example, in winter we need to eat differently than in summer because our body needs stronger foods to withstand the elements. So, we would add things like kale, pumpkin and other squashes to our diet because they are the fortifying foods which are in season."

Part of the problem now, says Currie, is that, with the availability of fast food and fruit and vegetables all the year round, people don't cook in season as their parents and grandparents did. "We should eat foods in season because this is when they are at their nutritional best."

She is fundamentally opposed to the genetic modification of food and encourages people to think hard about the subject and to try to buy organic foods wherever possible.

"We have absolutely no idea of the long-term effects of genetically modified foods," she says, "and I feel that as consumers we should have a choice. This means insisting that foods which have been modified are labelled as such. At the moment, there is no proper labelling system so people don't know what they're eating."

Currie has been involved with macrobiotics for 20 years. She first became interested when ongoing migraine headaches threatened to play havoc with her life.

"I was never one for taking medicine and, after a particularly bad attack, I was told that this was it for me for the rest of my life. I just couldn't accept that, so I started to look around for other solutions and ended up going down this particular road."

Having become committed to the macrobiotic way of life, Currie opted to give up work when she became pregnant with her first child. "We had decided that we were not going to have the baby immunised so I felt it was vital that I should be there to ensure that she had everything she needed from her food," she says.

"All three of our children, now aged 10, 7 and 4, have been reared on a macrobiotic diet and they are very healthy."

Currie concedes that such a regime could be hard on children when they reach school age and encounter foodist peer pressure. "We've never stopped our children from having so-called treats. They go to parties and eat what's going with everyone else.

"Basically we let them make the choice but, by and large, they are happy to stick with our kind of food. They don't feel good if they eat junk food and, even though they're young, they recognise this."

One of the main advantages of the macrobiotic diet is lots of energy and a general feeling of being less stressed. "It's not that we don't have stresses in our lives, it's just that our bodies are stronger both physically and spiritually and we can cope with stress better."

How can Christmas sinners begin to atone for their excesses? "Well, they could start with breakfast," she says. "I'd recommend the introduction of porridge - it's a great food, it gives you loads of energy and fills you up so you're not reaching for a chocolate bar or a sticky bun before 10 in the morning.

"I'd also suggest that people start substituting organic foods wherever possible in their diet. For example, organic jumbo oats for their porridge. Those who want could try soya milk on it instead of dairy milk and corn syrup or brown rice syrup to sweeten it rather than sugar."

Sugar, according to Currie, is bad news. "Sugar attacks the spleen and the pancreas and gives artificial boosts of energy which constantly need to be topped up. Far better to get your sweetness from natural sources such as dried fruit or fresh fruit in season."

However, she does have a word of comfort for the many women who crave sweet things with chocolate normally at the top of the list. "Women need more sweetness than men - that's a fact. It's to do with the location of organs. But that doesn't mean reaching for the box of chocolates. Try a good quality dessert such as an apple mousse or a soya yoghurt or a fruit crumble instead."

Ann Currie's next series of evening cookery classes begins on January 28th and lasts for eight weeks. There are also courses beginning in April and September. Day classes are also available between February and April. For information, contact Ann Currie, Teac Ban, 6, Parnell Road, Dublin 12 - phone (01) 454 3943.