Nigella Lawson has spoken out against the contemporary mantra of clean eating and said she dislikes the idea that some people think they’re more superior for cooking every night.

Talking to Stylist editor-in-chief Lisa Smosarski at Stylist Live, the British chef said, “It’s not the food, because I like all food - sometimes I’ll be very happy to have sweet potato and a bowl of kale. I just don’t like the term. I don’t like the view that that other forms of eating are dirty and evil and shameful.

“Some people say that clean eating is just eating foods that aren’t processed, but I think it’s about banishing so many food groups that I think it does encourage an unhealthy attitude towards eating. I’m not an extremist. I feel that it is absolutely natural and right that we should prefer to put food into our body that makes us feel healthier, better, happier and generally fit for purpose.

“However, that doesn’t mean persecuting yourself with fears of what terrible things might happen were you to have a slice of cake. The french have a saying ‘all things in moderation, including moderation’.”

“I don’t like it when people use food as a way of feeling they're better than other people and that makes me feel uncomfortable. Everyone is free to choose what they want to eat to make themselves feel better but not to make themselves feel like a better person.”

While Nigella says she has yet to find a takeaway that hasn’t disappointed her, she dislikes the idea that some people think they’re superior for cooking: “You’re not a better person because you cook - why do people think that? I think it makes me feel embarrassed when people go on as if they’re morally superior because they cook every night. As I would say, ‘I buy my clothes, I can’t sew’.”

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