Mary Berry explains the one food TV legend always avoids as she gets older

TV legend Dame has shared her secret to staying sprightly as she ages, revealing that she steers clear of processed foods. The beloved icon, who celebrated her 90th birthday earlier this year, is admired for her enduring presence in the culinary .

During a chat on the Lessons From Our Mothers podcast, the mother-of-three explained her preference for fresh produce over processed options, highlighting her enjoyment of selecting her own ingredients from butchers and . The esteemed former Bake Off judge Mary remarked: "I avoid processed foods. Absolutely definitely. I love to shop at a farm shop and I don't mind knobbly vegetables.

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"I go to my supermarket, I go to the butchers. If you go to a butchers you'll get advice as well as well as good meat."

Having graced our screens as a judge on Bake Off from its inception in 2010 until 2016, Mary has also penned upwards of 75 cookery books across an impressive career spanning over fifty years.

Despite her remarkable vitality, which sees her thriving into her tenth decade, Mary confesses there's one modern health craze she hasn't quite embraced, reports .

The star baker admits she's "not a huge lover of kale," despite the vegetable's reputation for offering numerous health benefits such as bolstering immunity, supporting bone and heart health, and potentially lowering cancer risk.

Mary shared with the podcast listeners: "I don't go with the trends. I'm not a huge lover of kale. I use to give that to my pony.

"I love cabbage. I'll promote that or watercress and all those sort of things." This follows after Mary made a poignant health confession while struggling at a public event.

The incident occurred at the Fortnum and Mason Food and Drink Awards, where the former Great British Bake Off judge was bestowed with a special award. However, she reportedly had difficulty with the noise from the animated crowd.

The respected chef, who took to the stage at The Royal Exchange in London, asked the audience to reduce their noise level, highlighting the importance of the occasion.

Dame Mary, who recently marked her 90th birthday and is presently working on a new project with the , stressed that it was vital to "must hear every single person" before revealing to the crowd that she was "deaf", as reported by the Mail.

According to the publication, she implored: "Please do keep it very, very quiet. It's such an important occasion, and you must hear every single person that comes up here.

"I'm deaf and there are maybe one or two others that also find it difficult to hear everything."

In past conversations about her health, the television chef reflected on how she was "lucky" to have contracted a mild form of polio at the age of 13, prior to the availability of a vaccine.