The BBC Good Food Eat Well Show 2015

It was unlikely that I was ever not going to love the BBC Good Food Eat Well Show – a whole day devoted to delicious food that just so happens to make you feel awesome? Yes please.

I’d been expecting green juices, energy bars and coconut water galore. And I’m pleased to say I was pretty spot-on.

A brand new BBC Good Food show, I think the fact that the Eat Well Show was launched says a lot about current foodie trends: healthy eating is hot right now. Yay!

And held in Olympia London, the location was perfect for all the spiralising, vegan, yoga bunnies of Chelsea. Less convenient for the healthy-intentioned-but-poor Bristol students amongst us but hey, it could’ve been worse. And the pilgrimage was totally worth it.

It also gave me a brill reason to meet up with my dear friend, Ellie. And on a gorgeous sunny London day, we made our way into the venue for a few hours discovering new food products, learning from healthy experts and sampling yummy things.

Now I simply love finding new brands and foods, so I pre-warned Ellie that I was going to be trying pretty much everything on offer. And there was a lot on offer. I think I may have eaten about three meal’s worth of energy bar samples from various different companies. But you don’t judge me, do you?

And as you can see, she got pretty stuck-in too.

I loved that there were both established brands like Nak’d, Merchant Gourmet and Vita Coco at the show, as well as little-known, brand new companies.

ALL the Nakd bars!

And Bounce balls too!

Allow me to share with you some of my fave discoveries:

I LOVED Doisy & Dam's chocolate! As you can see in the photo of the two smiling chaps above, it's totally gluten-free and vegan, and having sampled each flavour, I can assure you they're all delish. My fave was the goji and orange though. I've tried healthy chocolate before that really does taste too healthy and not chocolatey enough, but I think Doisy & Dam get the balance just right.

Aloe vera juice is meant to do wonders for your skin as well as general well-being - Ellie herself has the silkiest of complexions because she's been drinking it for a long time. The trouble is, I don't think aloe vera juice tastes nice in the slightest. 

Simplee Aloe, on the other hand, is ludicrously delicious. It's blended with fresh grape juice and lemon for a beautiful refreshing flavour, and I think it would make a lovely alternative to coconut water.

Now I love Deliciously Ella's healthy Nutella recipe, I really do. But to be honest, it doesn't taste like Nutella. JimJams' healthier chocolate hazelnut spread, however, tastes just like the original. While potentially not 100% healthy, it's a hell of a lot healthier than classic Nutella and is gluten-free, reduced sugar and lower fat too. And yummmmmy!

Although not the type of thing I tend to buy myself (because I like to do all my baking from scratch), I was blown away by the Ugg Foods cake samples I tried. The packet mixes are totally gluten-free, dairy-free and no added sugar, and all you do is add eggs, milk and oil.

I particularly enjoyed the chocolate chia muffins and the fruit and seed loaf. If you're not someone who usually bakes yourself I recommend giving these a try!

I've seen Oppo ice cream in Waitrose on numerous occasions but had never tried it before as it's somewhat out of my student budget, alas. So when the opportunity to sample a spoonful arose at the Eat Well Show, I pounced. 

Dayum, this is tasty stuff. It's all-natural, low-sugar and boosted with superfoods, yet tastes like the most indulgent ice cream you've ever had. "Feed like an elephant, feel like a feather," say Oppo, and that's something with which I can get on board. I tried the salted caramel with lucuma flavour and it was diviiiiiine. 

And then of course there were many more tasty offerings - far more than I can harp on about here...

Not sure how healthy those last ones were but hey.

The whole show felt bright, springy and, well, green. I loved the fact that there were daffodils everywhere.

And if free samples weren't enough for you, there were all sorts of enticing-looking food trucks selling delicious wares.

One of the biggest attractions of the show was the main stage, where healthy experts were giving cookery demonstrations. I was a little surprised that Deliciously Ella wasn't part of the line-up on any day of the show, but I was thrilled that both Natasha Corrett of Honestly Healthy and the Hemsley sisters would be taking to the stage while I was there.

Naturally, I dragged Ellie to their demonstrations. Poor girl didn't have much of a choice. 

The Hemsley sisters

Natasha Corrett

It was great to see the ladies who've long inspired me in action, and I jumped at the opportunity to ask Natasha a question - Does she see naturally occurring, non-refined sugars such as those in fruit and maple syrup as part of her 20% non-healthy eating? Her answer, in short: yes.

So I know that's what I need to do if I want to improve my diet further. While I basically don't eat refined sugar any more, I'm still nomming up looooaaaads of fruit, honey and coconut sugar. 

It was a brilliant day out though and I'm already looking forward to going next year.

Oh, and if you're wondering, the rather appropriate green daffodil-print top I'm wearing was kindly sent to me by Wolf & Whistle (but you can see it looking much better on their model here). I love it!

What do you think of the healthy eating trend and the Eat Well Show? Do let me know!