From her fancy nano-particle-free foundation to face cream made from her own blood, Victoria Beckham goes to great lengths to preserve her youthful glow.
Her latest tip to stem the ravages of time? Eating four avocados a day.
According to a recent interview to promote her new beauty range, Victoria, 45, began bingeing on bumper quantities of the green fruit after reading that the secret to glowing skin was consuming the right amount of the fats they contain.
Bizarre? Perhaps. But this isn’t the first time Posh Spice has served up nutritional wisdom — often on her Instagram page. From chomping sprouted grains to sipping moon water, ANTONIA HOYLE chews the (monounsaturated) fat on Victoria’s unusual dietary advice.
From her fancy nano-particle-free foundation to face cream made from her own blood, Victoria Beckham (pictured) goes to great lengths to preserve her youthful glow
An avalanche of avocados
An avalanche of avocados
That Posh is partial to an avocado will not surprise her 26 million Instagram followers, for whom she posted a picture of herself digging into one.
How partial didn’t become clear until the recent revelation that she eats ‘three or four’ a day. ‘It’s not about wanting to look younger,’ says Victoria, suggesting that the fats avocados contain can improve skin.
DOES IT WORK? Yes, in that eating enough fat ensures skin and hair stays healthy, and fats found in avocados are monounsaturated, so can lower cholesterol levels. But four a day?
‘A whole fruit has about 200-300k cal,’ says dietitian Anna Daniels, ‘so if you are trying to lose weight, watch out for the energy contribution.’
A morning sip of cider vinegar
A morning sip of cider vinegar
ADVICE to — literally — leave a funny taste in the mouth, but which Victoria espoused on Instagram in 2017, urging her followers to: ‘Be brave! Two tbsp first thing on an empty tummy!’
Her top morning tipple is Bragg Organic Apple Cider Vinegar — a raw, unfiltered, unpasteurised and gluten-free concoction (£10.99, Holland & Barrett).
The habit is reported to control blood sugar levels and aid weight loss. Film star Jennifer Aniston and singer Katy Perry are fellow devotees.
DOES IT WORK? Not necessarily in the way figure-conscious stars would hope. ‘Apple cider vinegar is a fermented food and may contain beneficial gut bacteria to help digestion,’ says Daniels, adding: ‘There is mixed evidence on its role in controlling blood sugar levels and no robust evidence on its role in weight loss. In excess, its high level of acetic acid can erode tooth enamel.’
Over the moon about water
Over the moon about water
At a £3,000-a-week German detox spa, Posh sipped ‘moon water’ that supposedly has ‘energetic properties’ on account of being bottled on the day of a full moon.
Victoria told her Instagram followers the £8-a-bottle drink is ‘a special water collected in Munich on … Where am I going to get this when I leave Germany?’
DOES IT WORK? Does it heck. ‘While it is important for healthy skin to drink plenty of fluids, moon water has no proven benefits or evidence behind it,’ says Daniels.
‘That said, it can’t do you any harm — after all, it is just water.’
Tequila tipple to drink… and eat
Tequila tipple to drink… and eat
If last month’s picture of Victoria leaving London’s Harry’s Bar restaurant with bleary eyes is anything to go by, she enjoys the odd drink, and claims she likes that tipple to be clear, sipping Tequila.
Further testament was revealed in her Instagram picture of a packet of ‘tequila and lime-cooked jumbo prawns’ from fashionable London health store Whole Foods Market.
DOES IT WORK? Tequila is lower in calories per serving than wine and is distilled from agave (a low-sugar plant), so is naturally sweet and gluten-free. ‘A small shot — if she sticks to that — is fine,’ says Daniels.
Raw fish to refuel
Raw fish to refuel
Victoria’s hemlines might have risen higher and lower than a Spice Girls chorus and her hair style changed with every passing year, but one aspect of Victoria’s life remains constant: her love of sushi.
‘I love Japanese food, lots of fish,’ she said back in 2006, while sushi was still reported to be a Beckham family favourite in a 2014 interview with Vogue magazine.
DOES IT WORK? Yes. ‘The Japanese have a healthy diet. Sashimi (raw fish) and sushi (raw fish or vegetables wrapped in rice) are low in fat and energy and contain healthy fats,’ says Daniels, who adds that another benefit is the absence of processed foods many Western diets contain.
However, unexpected sugar is sometimes added to sushi rice and, warns Daniels: ‘Be careful not to overdo it on the soy sauce if you’re watching your blood pressure, as it is very high in salt.’
Salmon for smooth skin
Salmon for smooth skin
Victoria claimed unorthodox advice from celebrity dermatologist Dr Harold Lancer stopped her getting adult acne. ‘I used to have really problematic skin and he said to me: “You have to eat salmon every single day,” ’ she recalls. It will add a little variety to her hefty avocado allowance, at least.
DOES IT WORK? ‘Eating salmon daily would be a fine dietary addition. As an oily fish it contains many properties which are good for the heart and omega 3, which is good for skin health,’ says Daniels.
‘However other fish such as mackerel and kippers are also oily and I’d encourage eating a wider variety for sustainability. As Victoria is very influential, I recommend she switches it up.’
Pecking on a seedy snack
Pecking on a seedy snack
Victoria revealed in 2017 she feeds her children sunflower seeds and pine nuts, coated in liquid amino acids, for an after-school snack.
Posting a picture of Bragg Liquid Aminos (£7.99, Holland & Barrett) she wrote: ‘Seeds doused in organic Aminos! Grilled until crispy! After school snack! Good for mummy too!’
She also snacks on kale crisps: ‘By roasting it, it completely changes and goes all crispy and crunchy.’
DOES IT WORK? Says Daniels: ‘The protein content of sunflower seeds has all the essential amino acids, which serve functions such as helping build muscle. If you snack on kale you’re consuming more nutrients, but they contain fat and salt from the cooking process.’
Sugar-free sweet treats
Sugar-free sweet treats
Victoria mimics the joy of a sugar rush with a liquid sweetener she professed to being ‘totally into’ on Instagram last year, posting a picture of two calorie-free chocolate and caramel flavour Sweet Drops stevia sweeteners next to a coffee cup and asking: ‘Anyone know where I can get them in London?’ They’re £5.99 on Amazon.
Similarly effusive about frozen grapes, Posh said they have the taste and texture of ice cream.
DOES IT WORK? ‘A good alternative to sugar,’ says Daniels, who advises, that no long-term studies have been conducted into side-effects of sweeteners. Frozen grapes, she adds, are ‘a great snack. Grapes contain sugar but it is within the fibrous plant cell wall so is released slower into your bloodstream.’
The monster smoothie that’s simply groaning with greens
The monster smoothie that’s simply groaning with greens
Not content with knocking back vinegar first thing, Victoria complements her morning routine with a breakfast smoothie made from a liquidised mix of apples, kiwi, lemon, spinach, broccoli and chia seeds.
‘The green monster for the Beckhams!’ was the 2017 Instagram caption of her Nutribullet blender in action.
The same year she also uploaded a picture of a £7.35 box of Ezekiel 4:9 Original sprouted grain crunchy cereal, containing wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet and spelt, which Victoria says is ‘perfect with organic unsweetened almond milk’.
DOES IT WORK? ‘A green smoothie is a tasty way to get a few portions of fruits and vegetables into your daily diet,’ says Daniels, who explains that sprouted grains are essentially whole grains that haven’t been stripped of their nutrients unlike many processed cereals: ‘There is some evidence the sprouting process increases the nutrient content.’
Bee pollen buzzing with 62 supplements
Victoria is a big believer in swallowing vitamin supplements, to the tune of a staggering 62 different types a day. In an interview with Vogue in 2014, she revealed that the bee pollen (yes really) she consumes contains 22 amino acids, 12 vitamins and 28 minerals, quipping: ‘We can’t have wrinkles!’
DOES IT WORK? Debatable. Evidence is still being ‘determined,’ as to any anti-ageing benefits of supplements, says Daniels, who adds that ‘what we eat and drink is far more beneficial. Victoria can get all of the nutrients she needs from a nutrient dense diet’. Plus, she warns: ‘There are many quack products that won’t do anything except cost you a small fortune and many “studies” done to promote them have been funded by the companies that sell the products.’
Celebrating with a truly fruity cake
Celebrating with a truly fruity cake
It APPEARS there’s no sponge for Victoria, alas. She celebrated her 38th birthday not with a cake but a fruit platter at fancy Los Angeles restaurant Nobu Matsuhisa and, last March, posted a picture of herself cutting a slice of a whopping candle-topped watermelon confection to mark her 44th.
She later clarified that the watermelon was only her ‘breakfast cake’ and that her sons had also decorated her a conventional version.
DOES IT WORK? If you don’t mind your celebratory diet served with an unending slice of self-deprivation. ‘Yes, fruit is certainly a healthier option than a sugar-laden cake,’ says Daniels. ‘But once a year a slice of cake is fine. All in moderation. It’s your birthday, enjoy some cake, Victoria!’