Sat Bains: How a heart attack changed the way I eat – and why it could change yours too

It was an ordinary day, or so Sat Bains thought. One of Britain’s most celebrated chefs, a man who had spent decades honing his craft at the two-Michelin-starred Restaurant Sat Bains in Nottingham, was exercising in his garden as he so often did. Fitness had always been part of his routine – a habit as ingrained as the precision in his kitchen. But as he pushed through his workout, something felt off.

“I noticed a deep pain in my chest. I assumed it was muscular, so I just carried on,” Bains recalls. Soon, the dull ache spread to his left eye socket and jawline, and suddenly the signs were unmistakable. At just 49 years old, Bains was having a heart attack.

The attack was shockingly understated. “I was doing heavy weights and said to Nick [Warren, his trainer], ‘Bloody hell, it’s a hard one today!’” He pushed through the session, showered, ate and went to the park with his wife Amanda. “At the park I lacked energy and felt tired, not like me at all,” he says. When he finally called 999 and was rushed to hospital, Bains was told the blood clot that caused the heart attack “should have killed me that morning”.

What followed was life-changing: emergency surgery, a triple heart bypass – and months of physical and mental recovery. For someone who had always prided himself on his resilience, the hardest part was listening to his body. “My mind was saying, ‘Oh come on, get up,’ but my body just failed me. I was so exhausted from the trauma of it all. It took me five or six months to get back to a strong place. I’ve always had a strong mindset and I think it’s this that got me through it.”

Heart disease remains one of the biggest health challenges in the UK. According to the British Heart Foundation, more than 7.6 million people live with heart and circulatory diseases – and coronary heart disease is the single biggest cause of premature death. With around 100,000 hospital admissions annually due to heart attacks, Bains’ story is a wake-up call many will recognise.

He writes in his book, Eat to Your Heart’s Content, published earlier this year, about the moments of frustration during his recovery – “I couldn’t even walk up the stairs. Just wearing compression socks was an event. Amanda had to help me put them on.” Cooking, despite losing his appetite, remained a source of joy and purpose.

Bains has always known food. It’s been his life’s work – the thing that earned him Michelin stars, accolades and international recognition. But after his heart attack, food took on a new meaning: not just a creative medium but a tool for survival. “My appetite disappeared. All I wanted were small, bland portions of food, but I knew I had to rebuild my strength,” he writes.

The experience “totally changed my perspective on life. It made me considerably more aware of my mortality,” he tells me. “I tweaked my diet and learned so much through the research and help from Dr Neil Williams,” referring to the nutritionist he collaborated with on the book. It’s a deeply personal collection of recipes that are as heart-healthy as they are full of flavour – designed to prove that eating well doesn’t mean sacrificing taste.

One of the most common misconceptions Bains wants to challenge is that heart-healthy eating is dull, restrictive or about diet food laden with artificial promises. “One of the biggest issues is consumption of super-processed food; diet food that is low in sugar and fat,” he explains. “These foods are, in fact, terrible for one’s health. They’ve been chemically manipulated,” stripped of natural compounds like fats or sugars and replaced with artificial substitutes to make them taste acceptable. “The best rule of thumb to stick to is eat whole foods – the foods that have been messed about with the least – and everything in moderation.”

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His advice is straightforward and refreshingly pragmatic: “Just stop eating rubbish and get out and exercise as regularly as you can,” and, “cook your meals from scratch. Small steps will lead to big improvements.” Start by adding an extra portion of vegetables to your meals or swapping processed snacks for a handful of nuts. But be realistic: “Everything needs to adapt to your time, budget and discipline – if it doesn’t, you’ll struggle to stick to it.”

Bains’ recipes focus on simple, accessible ingredients that deliver maximum flavour. Eat to Your Heart’s Content draws inspiration from Mediterranean and Japanese diets – two of the world’s “Blue Zones” where people live the longest, healthiest lives. “My thoughts went straight to Mediterranean and Japanese diets,” he explains. “I already knew the health benefits of lots of fish, lean meats, vegetables, yams, dashi, seaweed and green teas and thought this could be the way forward.” It was during a trip to Japan in 2007 that he learned to make dashi stock, understanding how ingredients like kombu, katsuobushi and miso could transform dishes.

He’s particularly passionate about flavour, which he says is key to making healthy food satisfying. “I am by no means a heart expert but what I do know, after 36 years in a kitchen, is how to extract flavour from ingredients,” he says. Flavour has been an obsession for his entire career. “Adding anchovies to dressings, parmesan to vegetables or a splash of soy sauce gives you that umami hit without the need for lots of salt or heavy fats.”

Bains includes practical tips throughout the book for people looking to make small, sustainable changes. For the chef, the building blocks of a heart-healthy meal are straightforward: “Eat the rainbow (include as many different colours of fruit and vegetables as you can in your diet), always include a good source of protein, be it lean meat or fish, and eat a handful of nuts each day.” He encourages readers to focus on flavour rather than fuss by adding fresh herbs, spices and a squeeze of citrus to elevate even the simplest of dishes without the need for extra fats or salts.

Healthy fats are another cornerstone of Bains’ advice. Instead of relying on saturated fats, he recommends olive oil, nuts and avocados – ingredients that not only benefit heart health but add rich, satisfying flavours. For those who feel short on time, Bains suggests embracing batch cooking. Preparing meals in advance ensures that eating well remains easy, even on the busiest days. It’s not about perfection, he says, but about making better choices one meal at a time.

Bains is the first to admit he’s not a saint. Even after overhauling his diet, he still allows himself the occasional treat. “I’ll get a takeaway once or twice a year – a curry, fish and chips or a burger – and savour it. Moderation is essential.” For Bains, indulgence isn’t about excess but about balance.

His recovery journey has also given him a new perspective on the food industry. While chefs like him focus on sourcing the best ingredients and cooking them beautifully, Bains is critical of the wider system. “As a chef, it’s my obligation to only serve the best food and ingredients I can get my hands on,” he says. “But the responsibility of educating the wider public falls on the government. The food industry is pushing fast and processed foods onto people, which is a huge systemic issue.

“Supermarkets and fast food chains are making it so cheap and easy to access fast and processed food for less that people can’t afford to eat simple, unprocessed food at home. As a nation, we’re not prioritising health over junk food and this is something that needs to change.”

For someone who has made a career from the finest, most indulgent dining experiences, it’s a refreshingly down-to-earth approach. “What I didn’t want to do was write a preachy, unattainable ‘diet’ book that would end up gathering dust on a shelf,” he says.

As Britain hurtles toward another year of quick-fix diets and empty promises, Bains’ journey offers something more profound: a reminder that food is not just fuel, but the foundation of a longer, better life. By embracing whole foods, cooking from scratch and finding joy in balance, Bains proves that eating well isn’t about sacrifice – it’s about reclaiming control. After all, as he so nearly learned the hard way, it’s not just Michelin stars or accolades we’re chasing. It’s time. And the choice to protect it starts with what’s on our plates.

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A fricassee of mushrooms is one of the most evocative, delicious things I can imagine: earthy notes, meaty mushrooms – and who doesn’t love a fried egg? The beluga lentils add a great texture to the dish, and garlic and thyme are just meant for each other. You can try other mushrooms here, if you like.

Nutrition notes:

This recipe is crammed full of lovely flavoured nutritional goodness. Shiitake mushrooms increase our all-important daily vegetable intake here, and they contain the heart-healthy soluble fibre beta-glucan, which can reduce insulin resistance, lower cholesterol and support body weight and heart health.

Mushrooms are also high in potassium, which is important for heart function. Combining these great mushrooms with lentils means this recipe is very high in fibre, supporting overall heart and gut health.

Serves: 1

Ingredients:

200g shiitake mushrooms, wiped clean

50ml olive oil

40g salted butter

3 garlic cloves, crushed

2 shallots, finely sliced

2 sprigs of thyme

1 x 100g pouch of precooked beluga lentils

2 large organic eggs, cracked into 2 small bowls

Flaked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Method:

1. Cut the mushrooms into nice even slices, about 2cm, but still keep them large enough to create texture. Add the olive oil to the pan until it gets nice and hot, then add the mushrooms. Turn up the heat and sauté for several minutes until lovely and toasted, then turn the heat down a little and heat the butter until it melts and bubbles. Add the garlic, shallots and thyme and stir well for a few moments, then add the beluga lentils and stir to coat.

2. Make 2 wells in the mixture and crack an egg into each one. Pop the lid on and cook for 4-5 minutes or until the eggs are beautifully cooked. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

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I love this mix for my chicken escalope; I make more than I need and use what I need for however many chicken breasts I am using and save the rest in a freezer bag or an airtight container in the cupboard, where it will last for several weeks. The seeded mix adds an incredible texture to the chicken and it is definitely something you will come back to again and again.

Nutrition notes:

Nuts are very energy-dense – most contain 50-60 per cent fat – so in the past they were incorrectly considered unhealthy. This high-fat content, though, is mainly unsaturated healthy fat like oleic acid (similar to that found in olive oil) and either poly- or monounsaturated fat. Nuts are also high in protein (10-30 per cent) as well as in heart- and gut-healthy fibre (5 per cent).

A large long-term clinical trial showed that men and women over the age of 60 consuming 30g of nuts per week had 30 per cent less risk of heart disease and stroke over a five-year follow-up compared to a group on a low-fat diet.

In a nutshell, they’re a great source of unsaturated fats, fibre and protein and we should all aim to consume a good mix of unprocessed nuts and seeds every week.

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 tsp dried harissa powder

2 chicken breasts, cut in half and slightly flattened

Extra virgin olive oil spray

For the crumb coating:

100g panko breadcrumbs

1 tbsp toasted cumin seeds, crushed

1 tbsp toasted coriander seeds, crushed

1 tbsp pumpkin seeds

1 tbsp sunflower seeds

1 tbsp chia seeds

1 tbsp poppy seeds

1 tbsp black sesame seeds

50g pine nuts, chopped

50g nibbed almonds

Pinch each of flaked sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1. Combine all the crumb coating ingredients in a bowl and spread some of the crumb coating over a plate (store the rest for another time). In another bowl, whisk the eggs with the harissa and some salt and pepper.

2. Place the chicken in the egg wash, making sure it’s coated all over, then shake off any excess and press the chicken into the crumb coating, making sure it is completely covered. Set aside for 30 minutes.

3. Preheat your air fryer to 190C/375F. Place the chicken breasts on a piece of foil, spray with oil, then add them to the air fryer and cook for 8 minutes. Once cooked, rest for 2 minutes and then serve.

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Amanda loves raw cauliflower and could eat this every day. If you’re not feeling too confident using a mandoline or sharp knife, just use a box grater on the coarsest setting for the cauliflower, and you will still get fantastic results.

Nutrition notes:

Cauliflower is certainly a heart-healthy vegetable, thanks to a specific antioxidant compound that is found in plants called sulforaphane.

Sulforaphane is higher in raw cruciferous vegetables and is produced when cruciferous vegetables are damaged, so shaving raw cauliflower is an excellent technique to ensure high amounts of this chemical are ingested.

Emerging research suggests that because of its antioxidant effects, sulforaphane may benefit heart health by reducing inflammation. Inflammation contributes to raised blood pressure and narrowing arteries – both risk factors for heart disease.

Serves: 2

Ingredients:

1 small cauliflower, broken into florets

15g coriander leaves, chopped

15g mint leaves, chopped

For the vinaigrette:

100ml extra virgin olive oil

20ml sherry vinegar

1 small shallot, finely sliced

1 small red chilli, finely sliced

1 tsp ground toasted cumin seeds

1 tsp ground toasted coriander seeds

Juice of 1 lime

Flaked sea salt, to taste

Method:

1. Shave the florets of cauliflower wafer thin using the mandoline/knife, then place them into a bowl of iced water and leave for 30 minutes (this will help to crisp up the cauliflower). Drain in a colander and place in a large bowl with the chopped coriander and mint.

2. Whisk all the vinaigrette ingredients in a bowl, then pour over the cauliflower and toss just before serving.

Recipes from ‘Eat to Your Heart’s Content’ by Sat Bains (Kyle Books, £26)