Victoria Beckham’s favourite calorie-free diet trick (and it’s only £7!)
You don’t have to be a big fan of Victoria Beckham to be impressed by how the 4 4 - y e a r- o l d mother of four maintains her reed-slim figure.
She has revealed that she exercises for at least two hours every day and her 21.8 million Instagram followers regularly get to see how she eats a rather unappetising mixed-grain cereal with almond milk for breakfast.
But, interestingly, she says she also swears by a flavoured liquid sweetener which you can add to coffee, smoothies, milkshakes or yoghurt to transform any food into a low-calorie, guilt-free treat.
Could this be the secret of eternal slenderness for the rest of us?
In a recent Instagram post, the fashion designer shared a picture of a tiny bottle of chocolate and caramelflavoured liquid stevia drops and asked her legion of fans if anyone knew where she could buy them in her home city of London.
Well, Victoria, you’ll have to take to the internet to buy the Sweetleaf brand, but luckily there are a couple of very similar varieties available in British stores.
Holland & Barrett and Whole Foods sell different flavours for around £7 per mini bottle (flavours include almond, lemon, caramel, raspberry, spearmint, vanilla, coconut, strawberry or chocolate).
Artificial sweeteners have been the dieter’s friend for decades, so what makes these flavoured stevia drops particularly special?
The key, it seems, lies in their handbag-sized portability, the wealth of indulgent flavours and the fact that stevia is lauded by many as the most ‘natural’ form of sugar substitute available.
Many other types of sweetener, such as aspartame, saccharin, sorbitol and sucralose, are chemically derived and can leave a bitter aftertaste, but stevia jostles for position at the top of the pile because of its natural origins (it is extracted from the leaves of the stevia plant).
With little-to-no glycaemic index (meaning it shouldn’t affect blood sugar levels) and zero calories, it has become the sweetener of choice among the trendy ‘clean-eating’ brigade.
VICTorIABeckham’s nutritionist, Amelia Freer recommends it ‘for use now and then for a treat’, and trendy lifestyle and weightloss guru Louise Parker (whose clients include the Duchess of Cambridge) reveals it’s one of her cupboard essentials.
‘I’m a huge fan,’ she says. ‘It’s a great product to sweeten anything from creamy bowls of porridge to protein shakes, so you can “save” your sugars for the weekend, when you’re craving a glass of wine or pain au chocolat.
‘I use it in smoothies or mix into cocoa powder to make sugar-free hot chocolate. You can even beat it into egg whites with cinnamon to create a coating on both sweet and salty protein-rich snacks.’
Certainly, for anyone watching their weight, it is easy to see how a few drops of highly flavoured sweetness can make even the most draconian diet plan seem palatable.
Fiona Dawson, 48, from oxfordshire, is a Weight Watchers poster girl, having lost 4st and successfully stuck to a slender 10 st for over a year.
She is building an enthusiastic Instagram following with her clever low- calorie recipes and transformational ‘before’ and ‘after’ photos.
Fiona says that like many successful long-term dieters, ‘ skinny syrups’ form a useful part of her weightmaintenance armoury.
‘Being able to have a guilt-free sweet treat every so often means I never feel I’m depriving myself,’ she says.
‘I’ll put a few drops in my fat-free Greek yoghurt just to take the sharpness off, or stir a little into my coffee to make it seem more indulgent.’
‘I’ve found a delicious gingerbread flavour which transforms a sugar-free breakfast muffin, or a bowl of overnight oats.’
There’s plenty of hard scientific evidence to show that factoring sweet treats like this into any diet plan really does make it easier to stay slim long-term.
Dr Meg Arroll is a psychologist and co-author of a new book called The Shrinkology Solution (published by Quadrille), which explores the psychology behind successful dieting.
‘ The secret of any diet’s success is being able to stick at it and research shows that overly restrictive diets rarely work long-term,’ she says.
‘But by incorporating healthy “treat” alternatives into your diet, you’re much less likely to binge or go off message when your motivation dips. Most of us wouldn’t contemplate a future with no treats at all, and it is unrealistic to think that sweet cravings won’t crop up, so sometimes a treat could be the best way to avert dietary disaster.’
But before you fill your cupboards with skinny drops in every possible flavour, be warned — there may be a catch. Some studies show that artificial sweeteners can confuse the body and brain and, although they contain zero calories, may actually lead to weight gain.
This is because artificial sweeteners, say some experts, damage the delicate balance of bacteria in the gut.
This triggers hormonal activity, which can lead you to hold on to fat.
FurTHerMore,Amelia Freer warns that ‘ regular use of sweeteners will continue to encourage your taste buds to want more sugar’.
When the taste buds receive signals to expect sweet food, the body will prepare for an influx of glucose, triggering a range of hormonal and metabolic responses ready to manage a blood sugar increase.
But when no sugary foods arrive, it can become confused and stimulate appetite and food cravings.
The studies are inconclusive and the evidence is mixed, but many nutritionists (including Freer) advise using sweeteners sparingly with an aim to gradually reduce reliance on them and, over time, adjusting your sweet tooth.
But if you pride yourself on keeping a strict control over your calorie intake — like Victoria Beckham — a few drops of caramel sweetness in your coffee could be a summer body life-saver worth hanging on to.