So Mariah Carey reveals this week that she ‘lost all her baby weight’ by going all out on purple foods, with the original but aptly named ‘purple diet‘.

Now I have nothing against purple foods, in fact they are great! I always pick out the blackcurrant wine gums and jelly babies from the bag! Blueberry cheesecake, yes please! Not forgetting a nice glass of red in the evening………….Oh they don’t mean all purple foods then? 😉

Now there is some sense in this ‘diet’. Purple FRUIT and VEGETABLES are rich in a type of flavonoid called anthocyanins. I wrote about flavonoids when i did my Chocolate fact of the day no.4. Here I explained how they have protective properties that mean they help fight the signs of aging, could reduce cancer risk and help protect the heart.  So anthocyanins are really healthy, but they won’t help you lose weight directly. The reason dear Mariah lost weight was most likely because she was eating fewer Calories by eating more (purple) fruit and veg. This is not rocket science.

Fruit and veg are low in fat, high in fibre and highly nutritious and we should be eating more of them – whether it’s 5 portions a day, 7 or more, the key message is ‘the more the merrier‘.

• Blackcurrants
• Blueberries
• Blackberries
• Raspberries
• Aubergines
• Purple cabbage & cauliflower
• Purple carrots
• Purple broccoli

So take your pick but I must add that limiting your diet to certain foods (or colours) is not a good idea as you could be missing out on other important nutrients.  So eat a rainbow of foods from the fruit and veg range and you’ll be healthier.  You probably didn’t want to look like Mariah anyway!

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