Celebrity chef Dame Alison Holst is retiring, after she was diagnosed with dementia.

The 77-year-old has decided to step out of the public eye and spend time with her family.

She had been writing a monthly column for her local newspaper in Orewa, Auckland, but has produced her last recipe for the paper, Hibiscus Matters.

An editoral says while she will always be interested in food, Alison's memory is declining, and the deadlines of developing recipes and writing is a stress that she no longer needs.

Dame Alison has been cooking on TV since 1965, and has published more than 100 books, selling more than 3 million copies.

In 2011 she was made a Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit.