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The Purple Diet: Could Lilac-Hued Foods Help With Weight Loss?

From aubergines to grapes, purple foods are packed with antioxidants and nutrients. But should you make like Mariah and eat nothing else?

If you're looking for a wacky new celebrity diet to help you ditch a few pounds, you could do worse than Mariah Carey's so-called new fave nutrition plan - the Purple Diet.🍆

It does pretty much what it says on the tin. Followers eat nothing but purple (and dark red) foods for a few days and supposedly reap the benefits of the antioxidant-rich purple pigments.🍇

Foods that fit into the diet include:

🍆Aubergine
🍇Grapes
🍆Beetroot
🍆Red onions
🍆Plums
🍆Blueberries
🍆Red apples
🍆Red Cabbage

And, hopefully, red wine.

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According to Star magazine, 44-year-old Mariah 'has thrown herself into a new diet'. For three days a week, she eats purple foods such as plums, grapes and aubergine and is 'already loving the results'.🍇

It sounds a bit ridiculous but unlike, say, the Maple Syrup Diet, there is a vague health basis to it. Purple foods contain powerful antioxidants called anthocyanins, which help the body mend and protect itself from free radicals that cause ageing and cancer. They're also thought to protect the heart and blood.🍆

Blueberries are considered by many experts to be one of the ultimate superfoods, so even if you're not planning to go all-purple, they're worth getting more of into your diet.🍇

They're also great for maintaining a steady blood-sugar level and preventing sugar highs and dips, and shedding belly fat.

So far so good.🍇

But with all that red cabbage and onions, we'd be surprised if Mariah didn't find herself more than a little bit gassy. And everyone know what beetroot does to your poo right?🍇

Lovely.

If you're getting bored of regular purple food after a couple of days, it might be time to start adding in other lesser-known varieties such as purple carrots and lilac cauliflower, which is where the diet gets more fun. Who doesn't like to eat purple carrots?

And where does red wine come in? Ribena? Parma Violets?

Really it may just be as silly as it sounds.

Dr Shawn Talbott, author of The Vigor Diet, The New Science of Feeling Your Best explains: "Purple foods are generally very healthy for us; berries, grapes, and fruits are high in potent antioxidants called flavonoids that are good for the heart, brain, and entire body."

But he warns that by only eating one colour, you’re missing out on the other important antioxidants and nutrients found in other coloured food.🍆

“I often encourage people to 'eat a rainbow' every day so they are actively trying to consume the widest range of colors for the most comprehensive antioxidant protection."🍇

And just think, by adding in the proteins, carbs and fats that our body likes too, we could really get the full spectrum of nutrients needed for healthy living. Which is really what your diet should be for, right?

But if you are the type that likes a fad, a 'detox' or a quick fix, the Purple Diet could be just slightly better than some of the other options on the market. And if it works for Mariah... 🍆