1. 46 THE IRISH DAILY STAR, Friday July 24 2015
lifestyleSHOWBIZ
I Celina MURPHYMARILYN MONROE started the day
with two raw eggs mixed in warm
milk, while Gwyneth Paltrow raves
about kale juice.
Meanwhile, Sophia Loren swears by pasta,
insisting: “Everything you see, I owe to
spaghetti.”
Celebrity diets have captivated us since
the birth of Hollywood and millions of fans
have nibbled in the carb-counting footsteps
of the stars, which is why US novelist
Rebecca Harrington recently spent a year
testing celebrity diets from stars of the past
and present.
From Greta Garbo to Victoria Beckham,
and Jacqueline Kennedy to Beyoncé, she
bravely ate her way through some of their
often inedible diets to write her book.
“A lot of it was so disgusting I couldn’t
believe it,” says Harrington, who quickly
realised some celebrity diets require a
Beverly Hills income too.
“I ended up getting a very good insight
into the people, though — you realise that
the diet is a reflection of who they are.”
■ BEYONCÉ — Harrington lost 10
pounds in 10 days following the regime
superstar Beyoncé (33) used to get in shape
for 2006 movie Dreamgirls.
This started with a liquid-only diet: a cay-
enne pepper, lemon and maple syrup drink,
nine times daily for the first two days, fol-
lowed by several glasses of salt water.
Harrington also tried Beyoncé’s post-preg-
nancy diet: egg whites for breakfast, turkey
slices with capers for lunch, sushi for din-
ner. Her verdict? “The most effective diet I
have ever tried.”
■ MARILYN MONROE — “I
have been told my eating habits are
absolutely bizarre but I don’t think
so,” said Monroe, whose breakfast
was two raw eggs whipped in warm
milk. She skipped lunch and for
dinner would broil liver, steak or
lamb, accompanied by five car-
rots. “I must be part rabbit,”
mused Monroe, who would
wreck her diet with a hot
fudge sundae dessert.
■ MADONNA — Madge
(56) follows a strict macro-
biotic diet without wheat,
eggs, meat and dairy but
with plenty of “sea
vegetables”.
Day one: breakfast, miso
soup; lunch, soya meat
and rice pasta; dinner,
barley stew and sea-
weed. Day two: main
meal, steamed greens
and an apple.
Day three: tofu in
tartar sauce, “tremen-
dously disgusting”.
Day four: quinoa and
tofu salad.
“I feel like I am
starving,” says
Harrington. “Is it
fun? No.”
■ ELIZABETH TAYLOR — Day one:
breakfast, dry toast and fruit. Swordfish for
dinner. “Impractical,” says Harrington.
“After dinner I am starving.”
Day two: steak sandwich with peanut but-
ter. “Despite being so hungry I could eat my
hand, I cannot handle this concoction.”
Dinner: ratatouille or veal, fillet of sole or
tuna salad.
Late Taylor’s favourite snack: cottage
cheese and sour cream with fruit.
Verdict? “Absolutely repugnant.”
■ GWYNETH PALTROW — To
banish toxins Paltrow (42) sometimes goes
on a flax and dandelion detox diet.
Harrington sampled Paltrow’s gluten-free
maintenance diet, heavy on veg and juice
smoothies.
Banned: coffee, alcohol, red meat, dairy,
eggs, sugar, shellfish, potatoes, tomatoes,
aubergine, wheat and soy. What’s left? Fish,
kale and lots of exotic vegetables.
“I have never paid this much for a week of
groceries in my entire life,” says
Harrington. A typical day: Kale juice for
breakfast; beet-greens soup for lunch;
barbecue chicken for dinner.
■ JACKIE
KENNEDY— The First
Lady dieted daily on a
baked potato stuffed
with Beluga caviar and
sour cream, which
Harrington found
“delicious but
financially
impractical”.
After periods of
overindulgence,
Kennedy went on a
fruit-only diet.
Routine dining included
bay scallops with risotto,
chicken in tarragon
casserole with sour
cream and cottage
cheese followed by
mango sorbet.
“I feel thinner
and more
refined,” says
Harrington,
after follow-
ing this
regime.
■ GRETA GARBO — Garbo’s diet
gloried in vegetables, nuts, yogurt, brewer’s
yeast, wheatgerm and molasses. “Her celery
loaf tasted like vomit.
“She was the weirdest, drinking raw egg in
orange juice and saying: ‘This is breakfast
fit for a king!’”
For a time Garbo subsisted on chicken,
dried apricots, brown beans and milk. She
once ate only spinach for three weeks.
“No wonder she wanted to be alone,” says
Harrington.
■ KARL LAGERFELD — The stick-
thin German couturier dropped five stone
following his austere regimen: two weeks
on 900 calories a day; 1,200 daily for the
following week; then 1,600 for maintenance.
The diet starts with minuscule portions of
raw vegetables and sugar-free shakes,
graduating to grilled chicken, avocado on
toast and Greek yogurt.
Lagerfeld (81) curbed his appetite by guz-
zling 10 Diet Cokes a day, despite studies
showing fizzy diet drinks can lead to weight
gain.
■ VICTORIA BECKHAM — The
41-year-old designer and mum-of-four fol-
lows the Five Hands Diet — or five handfuls
of food daily, without sugar or salt.
Minute portions of smoked salmon,
prawns with chilli, tuna sushi, scrambled
eggs and green veg. Snacks: goji berries and
nuts. Harrington also endured Beckham’s
“alkaline diet” of fruit and veg, ruling out
acid-producing meat, pasta and dairy.
■ PIPPA MIDDLETON — To fit her
famed derriere into her bridesmaid’s dress
Pippa did the protein-heavy Dukan Diet,
with occasional vegetable treats. It begins
with a protein-only day: eggs for breakfast,
a sashimi lunch and fish fillets for dinner.
Day two allows unlimited proteins such as
grilled chicken breasts and vegetables.
Dinner is an oat bran galette.
■ SOPHIA LOREN —“She has these
delicious pasta recipes but the amount is so
small all you can think about all day is how
you want to eat more pasta,” says
Harrington. “Eat very, very, very little
things,” says Loren. “Almost starve.”
● I’ll Have What She’s Having: My
Adventures In Celebrity Dieting by Rebecca
Harrington (Little Brown, €14.20)
CELEB
DIET
DIVASAuthor tries food regimes followed by the stars
— but finds many of them hard to stomach
Author tries food regimes followed by the stars
— but finds many of them hard to stomach
HUNGRY
FOR MORE:
(from left)
Pippa,
Madonna
and Marilyn
JUST NUTS:
Liz Taylor
enjoyed steak
sandwiches
with peanut
butter
What does 2015 hold in store for you?