Last week I was invited to a fabulous lunch put on by McCormick (makers of herbs and spices among other things) to hear how they've looked into their foodie crystal ball and are brave enough to predict five key global food trends for 2013. Known as the McCormick Flavour Forecast®, they've pulled together the best hunches from their chefs, sensory scientists, dietitians and culinary trend trackers to have a stab at forecasting what will be in fashion for the year head.

Eating a wide variety of different foods is a key principle of good nutrition - if you're short on iodine, selenium or some other trace element, for instance, you stand a better chance of getting it from 40 foods than from just 10. This principle of Variety is so important it's enshrined as the first of 13 Dietary Guidelines for good health.

Eating a wide variety of foods is a key principle in nutrition. It’s so important that the official government guidelines on healthy eating state ‘Eat a wide variety of nutritious foods’ as their first guideline, ahead of guidelines that we limit saturated fat, choose foods low in salt, limit your alcohol and prevent weight gain.

I can't stress how much variety matters. Think swings and roundabouts! Study after study shows that those of us who eat a wide variety are in better health and live longer than those who don’t.

Wilted vegetables, milk past its use-by date, stale bread, last weekend's leftovers - who isn't guilty of throwing uneaten food into the garbage bin? While it might not feel like much at the time, as a nation Australians waste over $5.3 billion worth of food each year, according to a survey carried out by The Australia Institute.

Add these 20 superstars to your daily diet to give your body a recharge and help protect your future health. Identifying nutrient-rich, health-promoting star performers isn't difficult! What’s tough is narrowing it down to only this handful. Read why I’ve selected these and how they can benefit your health and wellbeing without adding weight.

Certain types of fish can accumulate mercury and these are the ones to avoid or limit when pregnant and breast feeding. But it's not as simple as avoiding ALL types of fish. Fish is very important at these times for its rich content of omega-3 fats which are needed for brain and eye development in the growing foetus and baby. But it's a careful balance between eating enough omega-3s and not overdoing the mercury.