The TV presenter, 51, reveals the principles
of her own tried and tested “detox diet”.
Carol says
“I start the day with a big glass of water
and I take glucosamine, fish oil and multi-vitamin supplements. I’ll then have
a cup of weak black English breakfast tea or mint tea with a dash of soya milk.
I’ll drink cow’s milk if it’s given to me, but generally I stick so soya. I’ll
make porridge with water and a drizzle of soya milk and also have some chopped
fruit such as melon and berries. I like to walk the three miles to work and
back when I’m on Loose Women. We’re working non-stop from 8.30am until 1.30pm
when we come off air, so there’s no time for snacking!
“Lunch varies, but usually it’s a salad or
homemade vegetable soup if I’m on my detox. I followed it for the whole of
January to compensate for excessive partying over Christmas. It always works
well for me. I cut out booze, wheat, sugar, meat and dairy for a whole month.
I’ll fill up on porridge, fruit and veggie soups packed with chilli and garlic.
It’s like a mini cleanse. Bread is hard to avoid in the café at the TV studios,
but I have to resist otherwise I slip into the habit of eating it every day and
I find it really slows me down and makes me feel heavy.
“For dinner, I like to have fish and
steamed or roasted vegetables; my favourite fish is sea bass. When I’m not
doing my detox. I’ll treat myself to proper fish and chips.
I allow myself one or two more carb-heavy
meals a week. When eating out I go for seafood like Japanese sashimi and squid
Carol takes Bioglan Super Fish Oil ($26 for
60 capsules) available from Boots and bioglan.co.uk and Sambucol Immuno Forte
Effervescent Tablets ($14 for 15) from Boots. Holland & Barrett and
sambucol.co.uk
Sea
bass
Sea
bass
This rich, buttery-flavoured fish is easy
to cook by steaming or roasting. It’s full of heart-healthy protein as it
contains omega-3. But it can have high levels of mercury so don’t eat it every
week.
Black
tea
Black
tea
A new study, by the University of Western
Australia, shows that drinking three cups of black tea every day reduces blood
pressure levels. It’s also full of polyphenols, antioxidants that have been
shown to stop cancer cells growing.
Melon
This refreshing fruit is a great source of
potassium and vitamin C and is part of the cucumber plant family. Canteloupe
melon has beta-carotene rich orange flesh and contains high levels of vitamin
A.
Melon
Dietician Fiona Hunter
“On the whole, Carol’s diet is pretty good.
The body is perfectly capable of detoxing itself, no matter how hard you’ve
been partying, which is why most experts agree that strict detox diets can do
more harm than good. If used for a short time and as a way of kick-starting a
healthy eating regime, they’re not so sad. Dairy is a major source of calcium
in the diet – so Carol needs to make sure she chooses a brand of soya milk
fortified with calcium and vitamin D, which facilitates the absorption of
calcium. Other calcium-rich foods are almonds, figs, sesame seeds, beans,
canned salmon and pilchards”
Carol’s guilty pleasure…
“My weakness – if you can call it that – is
socialising! I love red wine and when I drink alcohol I’ve been known to eat a
whole bag of salted peanuts!”
Carol’s salted peanut habit contains a
whopping
600 calories and 9g of saturated fat per
100g
Glennans Vegetables Crisps
59p for 27g (waitrose.com) contain 495
calories per 100g and just 4.1g of saturated fat
Glennans
Vegetables Crisps
