The Red Wine Diet

There’s a new diet craze sweeping Hollywood – and it doesn’t involve abstinence (hurrah!). In fact, the Red Wine Diet, devised by celebrity fitness consultant Brendan McCarthy, encourages you to have not one, but two glasses of wine a night! And the best bit? His revolutionary diet and exercise plan has helped celebs including Julia Roberts and Penelope Cruz lose up to six kilos – sign us up, now!

The science
Red wine contains antioxidants, reduces cholesterol and helps blast fat, so two glasses a night are allowed. Plus, the nightly vino treat won’t leave you feeling like you’re depriving yourself, even during the super-strict initial phase.

The diet plan
For an initial two-week ‘boot camp’ stage, there’s no starch or protein, which means loads of berries and greens – plus two glasses of red wine, of course! After two weeks, protein is reintroduced in the form of lean meat. The diet also encourages loads of
green smoothies – see box.

Typical daily diet

Breakfast: A bowl of berries.
Lunch: Spinach salad with celery, cucumber and green pepper.
Dinner: Mixed greens, chopped tomato, thinly sliced Vidalia onion, avocado, shredded carrot, shredded red cabbage.
After Dinner: Two glasses of red wine.

Brendan’s top five green smoothies

Spango Tango
Ingredients:
2 cups spinach
2 mangoes, peeled and chopped
1 banana

Peachy green
Ingredients:
2 cups spinach
2 peaches, stones removed
1 cup orange juice
½ cup water (optional)

Tropical green smoothie
Ingredients:
1 head romaine lettuce or any green leafy vegetable
2 cups water
1 banana
½ pineapple, skin and
core removed

Blue green hit the scene
Ingredients:
1 head romaine lettuce
¾ cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
1 apple, roughly chopped
¼ lemon or lime
2 cups water

Grape cooler smoothie
Ingredients:
Large handful of red seedless grapes, stems removed
Basket of fresh or frozen strawberries, stems removed
1 banana, peeled
½ head romaine lettuce
Put grapes at the bottom of blender to create enough liquid to blend the other ingredients.