How to be an Angel (or at least eat like one!)
Jan Moir heads to the new Viva Mayr clinic in London, gets a DIY diet and learns...
to burn fat better and prevents weight gain.
BREAKFAST: 7 TO 9AM
THE stomach is most active between 7am and 9am, so breakfast — if you get it right — is the most easily digested meal of the day.
Add to this the fact that hormones which govern weight gain/loss are increasing to their highest levels and you can see why complex carbohydrates should be eaten now.
Enjoy fruit (ideally berries which are low in sugar) with protein and healthy fats (like nuts and seeds) to feel full. Wash it down with coffee or green or black tea.
LUNCH: 11AM TO 1PM
THIS is the best time to digest raw vegetables (more on this later). Make time to prepare fresh salads (packed with vitamins, minerals and plant compounds) or to make soup with fish, seafood or meat. Add a little wholegrain carbohydrate (bread or brown rice) if you like, but avoid too many carbs as they can cause food cravings. Don’t be afraid of fats in the form of coldpressed oils, such as flaxseed oil, to dress salads. This improves the absorption of fatsoluble vitamins. If you love a pudding, it’s best to have it now.
TEA BREAK: 5PM
OUR biorhythms reach a natural low point in the afternoon and we often reach for chocolate to stimulate ourselves. This is a surefire way to lay down fat as it raises blood sugar levels quickly, which causes the body to release insulin in greater quantities, opening cells to sugar and fat. If cravings are really driving you crazy, a handful of nuts or seeds should help.
SUPPER: 7 TO 9PM
DO YOU find yourself waking every night between 1am and 3am? This could be your ‘toxic alarm’ going off — your body is struggling to process what you have consumed in the evening.
Our digestion is least effective at night. We also don’t produce the digestive enzyme cellulase while we sleep, so foods that are difficult to digest or that ferment easily (fruit, raw vegetables, bread, potatoes and puddings) can ferment in the gut, creating alcohols which the liver struggles to break down.
If you’ve also had wine, your sleep can be interrupted by your grumbling liver.
Eat your meal three to four hours before you go to bed, so that initial digestion happens while you are awake.
THE GOLDEN RULE
REMEMBER the following basic food rule: combining protein and fat prevents weight gain, whereas carbohydrates and fat is a poor combination which causes it.
HOW MANY CARBS?
AIM to eat six grams of carbohydrates per kilogram of body weight per day, avoiding sugar and fastacting processed carbohydrates in favour of ‘good’ carbs, such as vegetables and legumes (lentils, beans, and chickpeas), berries and whole grains. If calculating grams is too arduous, try the 40:30:15 rule. At breakfast, carbs should make up 40 per cent of your meal, at lunchtime 30 per cent and at dinner 15 per cent.
YOUR NIGHTLY FAST
THE hormone somatotropin is produced during the night, but only if we don’t eat for 12 hours. It is a kind of fountain of youth, protecting against arterial damage and promoting fat loss. Ensure a clear 12-hour window between dinner and breakfast to reap its benefits.
CHEW TACTICS
TAKING tiny mouthfuls, chewed properly 20 to 40 times, increases the surface area of the food so digestive enzymes in the saliva can break down the food particles more efficiently, ensuring thorough digestion.
KEEP IT ALKALINE
A PLANT-BASED diet has a good alkaline effect and studies show a healthy plate of food should have a 70:30 ratio of alkaline to acidforming foods.
Too many acid-forming foods, such as refined flour (cakes, biscuits, pies and pastries), sugary drinks, sweets, coffee, tea, and alcohol (and, in excess, meat, fish, eggs and dairy) can cause symptoms such as lethargy, poor concentration or muscle pains.
But boosting your intake of vegetables and salads can help your body flush out excess acid.
EMBRACE GOOD FATS
USE cold-pressed oils to drizzle on salads and in sauces, and to enhance cooked foods. Store sensitive omega 3-rich oils such as flaxseed in the fridge.
AVOID MILKY COFFEE
JUST three milky cups of coffee with a teaspoon of sugar each day adds up to an additional 525 calories per day — equivalent to an extra meal. You could therefore be consuming nearly 200,000 extra calories per year, which may amount to 55lb (25kg) of fat. Two glasses of wine each evening could be responsible for 22lb (10kg) of fat.
O ADAPTED by Louise Atkinson from Healthy Cuisine by Dr Anne Fleck and edited by Dr Christian Harisch.