Two revelations remind us that diets of the rich and famous are always intriguing, whether it’s Pippa Middleton’s preparations for her May wedding or Jackie Kennedy’s daily go-to menu. But what would nutritionists say about each of these diets, and how do they compare?
The newest dietary wonder is Middleton’s SirtFood Diet, which highlights 20 SirtFoods, including arugula, red wine, cocoa, coffee, kale strawberries and walnuts. The theory is that the right combination of these foods will kickstart your metabolism and burn fat fast.
Word is out that Pippa is combining devotion to the SirtFood Diet with trips to the exclusive fitness center and private club KX Gym in Chelsea, where an on-site restaurant features a SirtFood Diet-friendly menu. SirtFood starts dieters off with three days of 1,000 calories through consuming just three Sirtfood-rich green juices and “one full meal rich in Sirtfoods.” The next three days offer 1,500 calories with two green juices and two meals each day. Dieters then move into a second phase that returns to three main meals a day focused on SirtFoods.
Keep up with the Middletons, and you will be on-trend with the most current strategies to shed pounds. Remember when Kate, Carole and Pippa were getting ready for Kate’s 2011 wedding to Prince William, and all three were swearing by the Dukan Diet?
Our current fascination with the Middletons’ SirtFood and Dukan diets is reminiscent of the days when celeb watchers tracked eating habits Jackie Kennedy used to maintain her 120-pound frame. A memoir by the late first lady’s live-in assistant brings back those days. Kathy McKeon was 19 when she went to work for Jackie in 1964. Now 72 years old, the Irish immigrant, details her 13 years with Jackie in In a new book, Jackie’s Girl: My Life with the Kennedy Family.
Jackie had just moved to New York City after the assassination of her husband, and grief may have played a major role in her lack of appetite. But she stuck to a diet that can only be described as spartan: a boiled egg and tea in the morning, cottage cheese with fresh fruit for lunch, and a poached chicken breast or fish with a salad or steamed vegetables for dinner. Plain yogurt for a snack.
DailyMail.com estimates the diet totals about 600 calories a day, and adds that nutritionists say a moderately active woman such as Jackie would have been expected to need about 2,000 calories daily.
As for the SirtFood Diet, one registered dietician warns eating less than 1,200 calories a day is unhealthy and unsafe. While dieters lose weight, the weight loss won’t last, said Brigitte Zeitlin. “In addition to not giving yourself the proper energy and nutrients you need each day you’re on this fad diet, eventually you’re going to go off of it. You’re going to gain all of the weight you lost back, and more often than not, you’re going to gain even more weight back.”
Read more: “Don’t Follow Pippa Middleton’s ‘Extremely Restric30tive’ Wedding Diet”