The Greek diet: Shed years off your look by eating fresh fruit, olives and feta
WITH her dewy complexion, smooth skin and glossy hair Tonia Buxton looks a decade younger than her 47 years.
By HANNAH BRITT
Tonia Buxton has made Greek food since she was a child
However the chef doesn’t attribute her youthful appearance to expensive creams or A-list treatments but to common ingredients you can find on any supermarket grocery aisle: feta, olives and lots of fresh fruit and vegetables.
From reducing high blood pressure to aiding weight loss the health benefits of a Greek-inspired Mediterranean diet are well known.
Now Tonia is suggesting it could have anti-ageing properties too. According to the nutritionist and author, following her Greek diet for just seven days can have a visible effect on your skin.
“Nutrition is the best place to start when you want to look more youthful,” says Tonia.
“What you put into your body really matters.”
Tonia, who lives in Finchley, North London with her architect husband Paul and their four children, says her interest in Greek eating stems from her childhood. Born in Britain to a Greek mother and Cypriot father, Tonia was raised on a diet of healthy fresh food.
“We would spend three months each year in Greece and while we were there we ate seasonal vegetables, fruit, pulses and lashings of olive oil.
“Each time I went I noticed how great I felt and how much my skin glowed. So with my mum’s help I began to cook my own Greek-inspired meals.”
Nutrition is the best place to start when you want to look more youthfulTonia Braxton
Tonia believes the nutritious ingredients used in Greek cooking are what make it especially beneficial to the skin.
“There is nothing processed and there are no toxins or hydrogenated fat. The main ingredients are packed with antioxidants.”
Antioxidants are essential for the skin as they help neutralise the effects of free radicals, one of the biggest causes of ageing. “A Greek diet is based on tomatoes, dark green, leafy vegetables and olive oil, all which contain skin-protecting antioxidants,” says Tonia. Unlike other Western diets, which often contain a lot of red meat, Greek meals contain mainly fish and some chicken.
“Swapping meat for fish, which contains omega 3 and fatty acids, helps to boosts skin elasticity, hydration and luminosity,” explains Tonia.
Adopting a Greek diet, she insists, shouldn’t be a fad but a way of life and can be tailored to individual taste.
“I don’t preach deprivation or cutting out any food groups. What I do say is that cooking should all be done from scratch, including marinating.
“That way you can hand-pick each and every ingredient for its goodness and know exactly what you’re putting into your body.”
The best part, she says, is that a glass of red wine to wash it all down won’t do you any harm at all.
To order a copy of Eat Greek For A Week by Tonia Buxton (£16.99, Blink Publishing) call the Express Bookshop on 01872 562 310 or visit expressbookshop.com