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Wheatgrass and spirulina
I keep hearing about a supplement called wheatgrass, which will work as an appetite suppressant. I am now looking for it in liquid form. Do you know where I can get it and how it works?
I would use wheatgrass as an energising superfood, but it would not be my first choice for weight loss. It is rich in chlorophyll - the molecular structure of which resembles that of haemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying protein in human red blood cells. The key difference between the two is that human red blood cells also contain iron, whereas chlorophyll from plants contains magnesium.
The superfood you should investigate as part of a weight management programme is spirulina - one of the microalgae that thrives in hot climates and produces twenty times more protein than soybeans growing on an equal-sized patch of land.
It is often used by people who embark on a naturopathic fasting detox diet, because it works to curb the appetite. In one small double-blind study of 16 obese patients, those that took 2.8g of spirulina three times a day for a month recorded small but statistically significant weight loss.
If you enjoy making smoothies you can buy and use spirulina in powder form. Just blend with yoghurt, bananas and maple syrup to taste. If you prefer tablets, Hawaiian Pacifica Spirulina from the NutriCentre (0800-587 2290) provides 500mg per tablet and costs £19.25 for 200 tablets. The powder is £15.70 for 90g.
Another herb that can help you to lose weight and keep it off is the rainforest herb, guarana, which the New Covent Garden Soup company has recently incorporated (working with me) into a new soup for the first time in the UK. It contains guaranine, which is almost identical to caffeine, but without the strong side-effects and two other compounds, theobromine and theophylline which are believed to curb appetite and promote weight loss.
*Do not take a therapeutic dose (1g a day) of guarana if you have a history of cardiovascular problems