The top diet trends of 2015

8 January 2015

Image may contain Vase Plant Pottery Potted Plant Jar Herbs Planter Drink Juice Beverage Mint Smoothie and Beer

2014 gave us 'clean' eating, alkaline foods, all-new grains (oh hai, millet and spelt) and coconut oil, not to mention a little whizzy gadget that goes by the name of Nutribullet.

So what diet and healthy-eating trends can we expect to hear about over the next 12 months?

Let us let you into the future of dieting as we know it - expect to be shocked and delighted in equal measure…

Thank you to nutritionist Kim Pearson for providing our expert quotes.

iStock
Multicoloured is the new green
By the end of the year we predict your Instagram feed will be a much more colourful place. Why? Because superfood powders, usually added to celeb and health gurus’ green smoothies are undergoing a rainbow makeover. Green favourites spirulina and clorella are out and new colourful blends are in, promising much wider dietary benefits. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley’s go-to trainer James Duigan has a red Berry Burn powder full of antioxidant-packed berries (www.bodyism.com), yellow Baobab superfruit powder is high in fibre and vitamins (www.planetorganic.com), and Soulmatefood is launching a line of rainbow supplements in March, including anti-ageing yellow (including turmeric, bee pollen, vitamin C and beta carotene) and brain-boosting purple (say hello to acai berry, resveratrol, beetroot and Ginkgo biloba). “Eating a wide variety of different coloured fruits and vegetables is definitely advisable as the different colours are representative of different beneficial nutrients - all of which are important for different functions in the body,” says nutritionist Kim Pearson. “So you still need to embrace your greens, and eat a variety of different veg, fruit, herbs and spices every day.”
Give your gut the limelight
Loving your gut is going to be big in 2015, but we’re talking about your digestive tract, not your spare tyre (if you have one). It contains millions of nerve cells, 70% of our immune system and 95% of the body’s serotonin – and Brenda Watson, author of the new Skinny Gut Diet (www.skinnygutdiet.com) , believes its bacterial balance is the key to losing weight. Her book encourages the eating of living foods (that contain probiotics) to feed your natural gut bacteria, which in turn shifts excess weight, reduces cravings, remedies digestive illness and boost immunity.
(www.amazon.co.uk)
iStock
Cleanse with… charcoal
Better known for stoking up the BBQ than helping blast the body of toxins, it turns out that’s exactly what charcoal does, and everyone’s starting to cotton on. Lots of juice cleanse companies like Raw & Juicy (www.rawandjuicydetox.co.uk) now include activated charcoal powder in their boxes to help flush out the system and promote healthy living, because the charcoal helps to cling to poisons and toxins as it passes through the body before taking this bad stuff with it as it, you know, makes its exit. “It’s true that activated charcoal was first used to treat cases of poisoning more than 150 years ago and can help to eliminate toxic waste products slowing your weight loss progress,” says Kim.
iStock
Have you got a lovely bunch of coconuts?
Well, if we’re being completely honest, 2015 is going to be less about the coconut and more about the palm. Coconut sugar is an all-natural sweetener harvested from the flower blossoms of the palm with a low GI. Without the refined nature of sugar and the dodgy aftertaste of Stevia, this caramel-like sweetener is set to become everyone sugar hater’s favourite ingredient. We love Coconom’s hand-crushed granules for baking and desserts (www.coconom.com).

A month of going the Whole hog
You may have already heard whisperings of this diet program but with a new book out in April, Whole30 (www.whole30.com) is going to be one of this year’s biggies. The concept is pretty simple but seriously hardcore, aiming to completely ‘reset’ your body. For 30 days you cut out sugar, grains, legumes, dairy and alcohol (sob) and instead plan meals consisting of meat, seafood, eggs, loads of fruit and veg and good fats. “It’s a fantastic way to kick start a new, healthier lifestyle because the guidelines make sense - essentially encouraging only the consumption of natural and whole foods,” says Kim. The real stickler is that the founders are dead against re-creating ‘treats’ with Whole30-approved ingredients because this doesn’t help to break cravings – so no banana pancakes or cauliflower pizza crust allowed.
iStock
Food ain’t good if it isn’t fermented
We’ve already told you that gut health is tipped to be the secret to the diet to end all diets and that leads us nicely into another new health food trend – fermentation. Much like wine getting better with age, fermenting vegetables (pickling them in brine) not only makes them last longer but transforms their natural sugars and carbs into probiotic goodness, boosting the bacteria in your digestive tract for a slimmer tum, quicker weight loss and better skin. “Fermented foods have long been popular in Japanese cuisine and the traditional Japanese diet is one of the healthiest in the world. They have a beneficial effect on the digestive system because of their ability to attach to the gut wall and compete with any pathogenic (bad) bacteria,” adds Kim. You can buy kimchi (www.souschef.co.uk) and Kombucha (www.lovekombucha.co.uk) online, or try it yourself (www.paleoleap.com).
Go nutty for mylk
Sufferers of dairy intolerances have long sought alternative milks such as soy and rice milk to pour over their muesli and into their coffee, but the popularity of nut-based milks (often dubbed mylk) is on the rise. They’re essentially a happy coupling of ground nuts and filtered water, which makes the milk-like result a natural powerhouse of vitamins, calcium, fibre and its low in calories and saturated fat too. You can pick up almond, hazelnut and cashew milks from supermarkets or juice companies like Plenish (www.plenishcleanse.com) but to get the best milk, we recommend a DIY job with the help of the new Hopps&Woolf Milk Maker. (www.hoppsandwoolf.com)
iStock
Butter with your coffee?
This is the wild card in our trend list. After starting to take yak butter in his coffee during a Nepal trek, Silicon Valley entrepreneur Dave Asprey was inspired to create his own butter coffee blend to aid weight loss. After losing over five stone, he launched Bulletproof Coffee (www.upgradedself.com), which mixes coffee, butter and oil into a 460 calorie drink that boosts energy and is so filling that you won’t fancy eating as much as usual. Although fitness fans and paleo enthusiasts are all over this oily coffee, the experts aren’t convinced. “This is simply coffee with added grass-fed butter, which can be a source of healthy fat but remember we’re not designed to consume a lot of dairy, so swapping for coconut butter is a good idea if you're keen on the trend. Some suggest drinking BPC instead of breakfast but I would certainly not advise swapping a nourishing breakfast for coffee, bullet proof or otherwise!”

iStock
Activate your diet!
Find us an expert that doesn’t rate nuts and seeds as one of the best snacks for weight loss. You can’t? Of course you can’t – nuts are packed with nutrients, unsaturated fat, minerals and vitamins as well as protein and fibre to satisfy hunger and stop cravings. And we’re falling in love with them all over again as ‘activated’ and ‘sprouted’ nuts and seeds become a thing. The activation process is as simple as soaking in water then dehydrating, but the two-step method begins germination to make the nuts and seeds loads easier to break down and absorb, making you feel fuller even quicker. Plus they’re loads tastier too! We’ve already filled our cupboards with Planet Organic’s sprouted chia and almond butter (www.planetorganic.com) and 2die4 activated nut mix (www.planetorganic.com).
iStock
Get thin with a little help from your friends
Do you usually keep your dieting secret, choosing to share your burger blow-outs at trendy restaurants on social media instead? Well, now is the time to grab at least one friend and start out on your weight-loss journey together, using the soon-to-be-released The Girlfriends Diet. The woman behind it believe that your girlfriends are the secret to successful weight loss and have devised a four-week nutrition and exercise plan that’s designed to be used alongside a friend.
(www.amazon.co.uk)