Inner health :: Body supplements

woman holding stomach in a feature about inner health

Weight Loss
Clearly ditching any unwanted pounds is a case of basic diet maths – burn off more than you take in. But while that’s true it also carries the danger of getting calorie obsessed which, it turns out, isn’t particularly useful. ‘Not all calories are equal,’ Ruben Tabares (@rubentabares) a wellness and nutrition expert who's worked with major sporting figures like David Haye. ‘So a sweet potato and topping that has 200 calories is still going to be better for you than a slice of pizza with 150 calories. The potato will help you lose weight, the pizza wont – because it’s all about giving your body the nutrients and minerals it needs. So ditch the processed diet food and switch to raw natural foods in their purest forms.’

Eat nutrient-lacking food and your body will be screaming out for more, searching for the minerals and nutrients it needs – meaning a crazy appetite and cravings abound. Eat nutrient-dense food and your body and brain will be satisfied.

So stock up on superfoods: ‘Whenever I finish training, the first food I go for is chocolate. I mean pure, raw chocolate – known as cacao nibs. It’s one of the best antioxidant foods there is. I’ll often find that if I’m hungry after a meal, I’ll have a handful of a superfood – either blueberries or goji berries or flaxseed – and I’m immediately full because my body has everything it needs.’

Another ally in your fight against the fat is, err, fat. ‘Your body needs good fats to break down the bad,’ says Ruben. ‘Taking raw hemp seed oil every day will give you the perfect balance of Omega -3-6-9.’

And Ruben’s best tip? ‘Water! Drink lots and lots of good, clean filtered water. I strongly disagree with the recent talk that we don’t need eight glasses of water a day – I think we need more. Most of us walk around dehydrated so our cells effectively close up and don’t dispel toxins. It depends on your size and your level of activity but I usually recommend at least three litres a day.’

Tone
Clearly, when it comes to muscle definition, exercise goes hand-in-hand with nutrition – you’re not going to get a sculpted Diaz-esque body by eating alone (although that would be amazing. Especially if it involved eating flapjack). ‘When it comes to exercise concentrate on interval training –short sharp runs that push you to your max heart rate followed by short rest periods – and strength training using free weights,’ says Ruben. ‘Also, you must stretch before and after exercise. Yoga is brilliant for creating that long, lean look women are after.

‘Feed your muscles by eating lots of amino acids found in vegetables and protein- rich foods like fish, chicken and red meat. ( Although keep your red meat in take down to once a fortnight.) Sulphur is also essential for healthy muscles as well as skin elasticity,’ adds Ruben. For a fantastic juice that’s really rich in sulphur, combine celery, cucumber, pineapple, peppers. Then add either some mint, basic or rocket to taste. You need a masticating juicer that retains as much as the vegetable’s goodness as possible.’ Check out the Samson 6-in-1 Gear Juicer, £169.

Flat tum
Bloating can be the curse of the bikini body taking you from perfectly taut tum to possibly pregnant in a waft of a kaftan. For some lucky bloaters it’s merely a temporary affliction. ‘The cabin pressure on flight can cause trapped wind and an uncomfortably rounded tum, ‘explains Jenny Gay, a homeopath and co-founder of Energetic Health and Natural Beauty . ‘I prescribe my clients the homeopathic remedy Carbo Veg 30c and they find it really helps. Another great, natural tummy deflater is peppermint oil. Just add a few drops to some warm water and sip.’ Try NOW Peppermint Oil, £16.95.

However, if the bloat attacks on a pretty much daily basis – and not just the days when you’ve plumped for the cheesy jacket potato with beans – then you might want to take a more careful look at your digestion. ‘Being constantly bloated may mean that your digestive system is struggling to break down your food,’ says Jennifer. ‘Taking a digestive enzyme, like of Solaray Vegan Enzymes, £6.12, before mealtime will help with this process. Taking the supplement actually encourages the body to produce more of its own enzymes, so it’s a good way to kick-start your digestion.’

Healthy digestion also relies on a healthy balance of bacteria in your colon. All of which sounds a bit grim, but then we are talking about your colon so what do you expect? ‘The digestive tract may need a boost of good bacteria. Try Bio Care’s Bio-Acidophilus, £20.30 for 60 capsules.’

Cellulite
Urgh. You know the score: A fruit-and-veg-packed diet; plenty of water; not so much alcohol and caffeine; a decent amount of exercise and a deep commitment to body brushing. Most of what we need to know about cellulite we already do – it’s just a case of putting knowledge into action. Which is the mildly boring bit. But there are ways to give your cellulite battle a boost: ‘Solgar Hyaluronic Acid , £29.95 for 30 tablets, is a fantastic supplement for strengthening skin by boosting its collagen and elasticity, helping improve the appearance of orange peel and dimples,’ says Jenny.

The hard, globular appearance of cellulite is down to pesky toxins that have been pushed away from your main organs into superficial fat cells where they won’t harm anything other than your self-esteem. ‘To encourage detoxification, I recommend acerola cherry powder. It’s packed with bioflavonoids and vitamin C which two of the most effective detoxers out there.’

‘If you want to slim your thighs as well as smooth them, Nature’s Plus Whole Food Total Body Cleanse with Acai Berry, £23.95, is a great supplement to start with,’ says Jenny. ‘A kickstart for your metabolism, take it for four weeks while you make mild dietary changes like cutting out red meat and carbs. People rave about how much lighter they feel and how much energy they have.’

Blemish free
Bacne – that’s acne or breakouts on your back – was ideally something that never happened at all. Or if it did, it’s now merely a bad teen memory. Unfortunately though, stress, hormonal changes or even a disagreeable sunscreen can cause a breakout that makes you bikini shy.

‘Up your intake of greens,’ says Jenny. ‘Pukka Clean Greens, £25.45, contains spirulina, kale, seaweed and parsley which are all fantastic at detoxing the body. A good zinc supplement, like, Solgar Chelated , £7.51 for 100 tablets, is a proven acne fighter, though always take it on a full stomach to prevent nausea. And I really like BioCare DermaGuard Complex, £19.85 for 60 Capsules. Containing red clover, sarsaparilla, burdock and dandelion it’s a fantastic liver cleanser, important because the liver is responsible for detoxifying the body so nasties are expelled that way, not via your skin. And zinc, vitamin A and vitamin B6 all support skin and cell renewal.

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