Eat your vitamins
At M&S, we believe it’s better to eat your vitamins than to take vitamin pills. And with a little help from our expert nutritionists and food writer Dr Rupy, we’re making it easy and delicious to do just that!
Your vitamin meal planner
We’ve all heard that vitamins and minerals are important for health – but what does that actually mean?
“Vitamins and minerals are crucial to the complex workings of our body,” says M&S nutritionist Sophia Linn. “Different functions of the body need different nutrients to function effectively, and a balanced diet should provide all the nutrients we require. Combinations of certain foods can also help enhance or reduce the absorption of certain vitamins and minerals when consumed.”
Read on for more inspiration on how to incorporate foods with more vitamins and minerals into your diet.
Dr Rupy’s top tips
We’ve teamed up with NHS GP and food writer Dr Rupy to share some inspiring tips on how to pack plenty of vitamins and minerals into your diet.
“Whole foods such as cabbage or broccoli not only contain high amounts of specific vitamins (such as Vitamin C and K), but also multiple types of fibre and the many other plant chemicals that make consuming vegetables so beneficial for health,” says Dr Rupy. To up your vitamin intake, try his easy ideas:
“Following a largely plant-based diet with lots of colour guarantees a great mix of nutrient-dense ingredients.”
“Eating whole foods that have undergone minimal processing is a good strategy for making the most of your ingredients – try steaming and sautéing, rather than boiling, your veg.”
“Using good-quality fats, such as nuts, seeds and quality cold-pressed oils, will help absorb some of the fat-soluble vitamins. Hazelnuts are a great example!”
“Red cabbage is one of the most nutrient-dense veggies – shave raw into salads, or stir-fry.”
Your vitamin meal planner
Discover a day’s worth of meals that contain your recommended daily intake of nutrients, developed by our expert nutritionist Sophia Linn
Breakfast
M&S Bran Flakes with Plant Kitchen oat milk and banana
45g M&S bran flakes
150ml Plant Kitchen oat milk
1 banana
“Our M&S bran flakes are Remarksable Value and fortified with vitamin B6, B12, niacin, iron, pantothenic acid, thiamin, riboflavin, and folic acid – a great way to start your day!” says Sophia.
Lunch and snack
For lunch, fillet of Scottish salmon with a quinoa salad with za’atar, curly kale, sprinkle of sunflower seeds and crumble of feta. Served with a wholemeal pitta
1 salmon fillet
1 M&S bulgur wheat, quinoa, freekeh and red rice pouch
10g feta
20g sunflower seeds
Sprinkle of Cook With M&S za’atar
95g kale
1 M&S wholemeal pitta, enriched with vitamin D
“Simply sprinkling pumpkin seeds on your soup or salad is a delicious way to add a source protein, vitamin E, magnesium, phosphorous, manganese and selenium,” says Sophia.
For a snack, try mixed nuts and Greek yoghurt
150g M&S 0% fat Greek yoghurt
A handful of M&S Collection mixed nuts
Dinner
Stir-fried steak with peppers, M&S vitamin-D-enriched mushrooms and wholegrain rice
1 M&S wholegrain rice pouch
100g M&S chestnut vitamin D mushrooms
1 red onion
1 red pepper
“One red pepper has all the vitamin C you need for the whole day!” says Sophia.
Easy ways to eat your vitamins
Pick up everything you need in store
Vitamin D chestnut mushrooms
Our special vitamin D chestnut mushrooms are naturally enriched with vitamin D, which is important for healthy teeth and bones
Vitamin D bread
We’re the only national retailer to enrich all our bread with a special yeast that naturally contains vitamin D
Super citrus
Our tiny tangerines, 100% seedless easy peelers and juicy blood oranges are a brilliant source of vitamin C, which increases iron absorption
Disclaimer: Consult your doctor or health-care professional before embarking on a new diet. Supplements may be required for a variety of health needs and at particular life stages: for 6 month olds to 4 year olds, pregnant and breastfeeding women, and the elderly. Vitamin D levels in this country are low and therefore government advice is that we all take a supplement of 10µg of vitamin D a day. 100g M&S Bran Flakes >15% RI niacin, iron, pantothenic acid, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B6, B12 and folic acid. 100g of M&S pitta contributes 15% RI vitamin D, 100g vitamin D mushroom contributes >30% RI vitamin D. 100g of red pepper contains >100% RI vitamin C. 20g of pumpkin seeds contains >12% energy from protein and >15% RI for vitamin E, magnesium, phosphorous, manganese and selenium.
Hungry for more?
Eat Well
Our Eat Well range of over 1,000 products right across our store means it’s easy and delicious to make healthy choices
Chris Baber recipes
Cook up a storm with chef Chris Baber’s tasty mid-week family recipes
Tom Daley’s healthy eating tips
Discover athlete Tom Daley’s exclusive weekly meal planner, plus lots more inspiration to help you kick-start your healthy-eating journey
