AS a child, my mother always urged me to eat my greens. Now I’m glad she did.

For science has shown, that veggies like broccoli and cabbage, can reduce the risk of developing cancer.

This month, Barbara Cox of Nutrichef in Poole, launched a new food plan called The Rainbow Diet for people concerned about their long-term health.

In a nutshell, it provides a wide range of antioxidant-rich fruit and vegetables in a variety of colours.

Barbara offered me a three-day trial and the following Monday morning I opened the front door to find a large cardboard box on the step – it felt as though Christmas had arrived early!

Inside there were lots of plastic containers numbered from 1 to 9 containing all my meals.

There was also a corresponding menu so I knew which meal to have on which day, and a book about The Rainbow Diet by Chris Woollams, who is a friend of Nutrichef and the inspiration behind the eating plan.

For breakfast I had mango yoghurt with honey, granola and strawberries, which was thick and creamy and the fruit was fresh and juicy.

For lunch I had blackened chicken with mango and a superfood quinoa salad, which my 12-year-old son said looked like seaweed, but this was one of the highlights of the menu for me – I would happily eat it every day for a week.

So far, so good.

For dinner it was salmon with lemon vegetables, which I had to heat in the oven.

By the following morning I was feeling more energised than normal – I decided to cut out alcohol and caffeine to make the most of the detox and drank green tea instead.

I thoroughly enjoyed my spinach and courgette frittata for breakfast but I had a low spell at lunchtime.

The turkey, chicory, fig and orange salad was lovely but I was still hungry afterwards and by 4pm I was tucking into toast and jam (don’t tell Barbara!) to tide me over to dinner.

That was cajun chicken with smoked baked beans and greens.

On my third and final day I had a cherry and almond yoatie for breakfast which was absolutely delicious and very filling.

Lunch was fennel and pear soup and a sundried tomato and chicken wrap, which was more substantial than the previous day.

My last meal was lamb meatballs with salad and harissa yoghurt, which was spicy and satisfying.

Barbara says the portion sizes are fine for most people but I do quite a lot of exercise so maybe that’s why I needed a little more food.

However I wasn’t on the plan to lose weight – it was more about how to eat more healthily.

Overall, it was an imaginative, healthy, fad-free eating plan.

  •  For more information about The Rainbow Diet visit website nutrichef.co.uk