I wasn’t sure what to expect from our Family Wellness consultation with Ian Marber, the Food Doctor. None of my children has any dietary issues or food intolerances, I just wish that making them eat healthy food was not such a battle. We went to the Holland Park centre one morning straight after breakfast. Ian sat them round a large table and they told him what they had had for breakfast, and what their favourite food was. For Jimmy (aged 5), the answer was ‘sugar’. Ian did not balk; in fact it was probably a good answer to demonstrate his point. ‘And how do you feel, when you have had some sugar?’ Jimmy had never considered that what he put in his tummy could affect his mood. With a little prompting he agreed that after his sugar fix he felt full of energy, not ready for bed.

Ian explained how our bodies are like engines: the food we eat is the petrol, broken down in our stomachs to release energy to keep us going through the day. He made them all imagine they were sitting in a class (probably double maths) trying to concentrate but that their eyes kept wanting to shut. This was plainly a feeling they were familiar with. Then he turned to his flip chart and drew a horizontal line – the line went up with Jimmy’s sugar intake when he wanted to whizz out and play football, but then went down in the middle of double maths. It wiggled across the page in a series of humps. He explained that a straight line would be ideal.

To illustrate the point further, he drew a tap and a bottle with a narrow neck.  If you try to fill the bottle from the tap on full blast, what happens? Some of the water goes in the bottle but some is wasted. Sugar-coated rice krispies act like a tap on full blast trying to squeeze energy into the bottle.

The way to achieve a straight line is easy, Ian promised: eat something, every three hours, and that something has to include some protein.

We promised to fill in a week’s food chart, which Ian will assess before our second, more tailored session. We learnt so much from just the initial consultation. Who would have believed it could be so simple? They want to put seeds on the top of their cereal, they ask for a stick of cheese as a snack (to go with their fruit winders). The logic makes sense, they want to give it a go.

Family Wellness Package £125 for two consultations The Food Doctor, 76-78 Holland Park Avenue W11 2 7792 6760 http://www.thefooddoctor.com