She only eats real food. She's really serious about exercise. She puts in real time on the yoga mat. And this passion for health runs in the family (just ask her daughter, Alexis) -- an undeniably good thing. 

Martha Stewart doesn't diet. She never has. When it comes to healthy living, her rule is simple: Eat real food. And by real, she doesn't mean something that passes for food. She means you grew the cucumbers yourself, plucked them from the vine, and put them on your plate. 

As an avid and passionate gardener, this approach comes naturally to her. But even when she's food shopping or eating out, the same rules apply. "I'm totally entranced with fresh and organic," she says. In her house, if you want something to eat, you make it yourself. "Convenience food is just not in my vocabulary." 

Growing up as one of six kids in Nutley, New Jersey, Martha was unaccustomed to anything but fresh food, mostly because there were no other options. "We had no money to buy anything extra like candy or canned stuff," she recalls. "We got our milk from the dairy and produce from the garden. My mother did a considerable amount of preserving and freezing." 

In addition to eating as healthy as she can, Martha also takes a small regimen of supplements customized by noted herbalist Donnie Yance, founder of the Centre for Natural Healing in Ashland, Oregon. "I take things I feel I need at the moment, and not everything I could take," she says. "But my test results have shown that I'm right on target for optimum health." 

Martha raised her daughter, Alexis, in much the same way: on real food. In fact, soda never so much as crossed the threshold. But it was less in the name of health, she notes, than it was about quality. "Health was never part of the discussion," says Alexis, who cohosts "Whatever, Martha!" on the Fine Living Network and "Whatever with Alexis and Jennifer" on Sirius/XM. "It was, 'Eat this, it tastes good.' " As a kid, Alexis admits to occasionally absconding to friends' homes, where she could do the unthinkable: sit on the sofa, watch television, and eat junk food. 

Sure enough, Alexis grew up to become a passionate chef and baker, and very tuned in to what she's eating -- just like Mom. She's also a committed vegetarian: What started as an aversion to boiled meat served at boarding school has since evolved into a conscious and values-driven decision in the name of not only health but the environment, too. And after a penny candy phase in her twenties, she now avoids sugar because she's hypoglycemic.