Nutritionist speaks about how you can turn back the clock by changing your approach to eating

Gabriela Peacock has a lot on. When we meet in a central London hotel, she has just come on the radio to talk about her second book, 2 Weeks to a Younger You.

The next day, she throws a birthday party for her six-year-old twins Iris and Caspar (her eldest daughter Maia is 12). “I have to invite both classes, so that’s 50 kids,” she grins.

Afterwards, the adults conclude with a pub lunch, which will include the twins’ godparents, including Piers Morgan and Princess Beatrice.

The birth of Beatrice’s daughter Sienna two years ago sparked what Peacock, 43, describes as “a beautiful, newer dimension to our friendship.” However, her dog isn’t too keen on the connection.

The last time Peacock (and her husband, hedge fund manager David) visited the princess and her husband Edoardo Mapelli Mozzi at Royal Lodge in Windsor, the dog was terrorized by two of the late Queen’s corgis. “So now he’s afraid of all dogs and needs help.”

It’s clear she lives in a glitzy world, moving with David between their homes in West London’s Notting Hill, the Cotswolds, and the South of France, hanging out not only with royals, but Dame Joan Collins as well.

Peacock is often more than a friend to these people. An in-demand nutritionist, she is also key to keeping them looking their best.

Clients include Katherine Jenkins, James Blunt, Jodie Kidd, Yasmin Le Bon and Billie Piper, and rumor has it she was the woman who made Prince Harry and Princess Eugenie look their best at their respective weddings (she was too much at both). guest).

Did she play a role in getting the royals into shape for the coronation? “Maybe I helped a few,” she laughs. “Actually, Princess Bea has been very nice—she gave me a quote for the book.”

When you meet Peacock, you can see why all these people love her, both personally and professionally.

In a black dress, with skyscraper legs and cheekbones with windshield wipers, it’s clear she’s a former model. She’s also funny, self-deprecating, passionate about her craft, and clear on why her approach is so popular.

“I eat way too much chocolate, I drink wine, I love chips, so it’s hard for me to tell others not to,” she says. “It’s all about balance.” Think kimchi and kale with a serving of cookies.

Born in a small town in the Czech Republic, Peacock became fascinated with nutrition after winning a modeling contract at age 15 and moving to Paris.

There, her officers encouraged her to eat nothing but fish and green beans to avoid being sent back home (she estimates that more than 80 percent of her friends had eating disorders). ‘It intrigued me. I wanted to learn more about how the body worked,” she says.

Moving to London in her twenties, Peacock was shocked by the ageism in her industry, with model friends unable to find work once they were over 30. Peacock realized she needed a second career and studied two degrees in nutrition during nine years.

After graduating, she worked for the Queen’s family doctor, Sir Tim Evans, at his private clinic, where she quickly became the go-to diet consultant for the A-list.

“I think it’s because there weren’t a lot of people practicing who had my ethos of not being super restrictive,” she says of her success. “There are a lot of scary nutritionists out there who give us a bad name — they’re all “gluten-free, dairy-free, limit your sugar.”

“But if you live such a limited life, how can you be happy? If a plan doesn’t fit your lifestyle, it won’t be sustainable. You follow it for two weeks and then hate me and never come back.”

Peacock shares a close friendship with Princess Beatrice and said the royal family was ‘very nice’ and gave her a quote for the new book

Peacock’s approach certainly seems a lot less hardcore than many diets out there, as seen in her first book, 2 Weeks to Feeling Great. While many demand that you swear off brownies and takeaway curries forever, she prefers a pattern of restricting your calories for a few days a week, but then allowing yourself to “what the hell you like” for a day to eat.

Now Peacock is focusing on how a similar approach to eating could turn back the clock. The secret is to choose foods and an eating pattern that can help fight inflammation, which scientists agree is a key factor in chronic disease and shortening lives.

“I don’t like the term anti-aging — it’s offensive,” she says. “It makes age sound so negative and of course because of modeling that’s my sensitive subject. I don’t mind people knowing my age, but I would like them to say I look good. I also want to feel good.

“People are living longer, but if we don’t watch our lifestyle, we can be sick for a large part of that. So it’s about preventing that.’

In the book, Peacock impressively does what makes hardcore science accessible. “There’s all this incredible research, mostly from the US, about how our diet and lifestyle can actually affect our genes and the way we age, and that’s so exciting,” she says. “Besides, it’s never too late to start.”

Her plan to jump-start the aging process involves what she calls time-restricted eating (“I don’t like the word fasting, it’s so negative”)—in other words, restricting calories along with cutting the daily period in which you eat until between four and eight hours.

The idea is that by giving yourself a break from digestion, you stimulate a process called autophagy that makes your body more resilient. “It’s basically a self-cleaning of the cells, removing the proteins they no longer need so they don’t waste energy there and potentially cause cell death.”

After that, “the cells will work more efficiently and you’ll have a lot more energy — which you’d never think would be a by-product of fasting.” So it’s something we should be doing whether we want to lose weight or not.”

Peacock outlines three programs to help lose excess weight (which shortens our lifespan) and kickstart cell turnover.

There’s supercharged (where you eat 700 calories a day for three consecutive days), reset (where you eat 700 calories for two days) and lifelong (where you eat ‘mindfully’), according to her recipes, to be consumed within an eight-hour window. You can choose one to follow – short term or long term – depending on your goals and lifestyle.

Personally, and she emphasizes that this works for her, but won’t suit everyone, she needs a “kick” after “a wonderful weekend.” That’s how often she doesn’t want to eat after dinner on Sunday evening 6 to 8 pm. “I drink a lot of tea and take a lot of soluble fiber, because they are healthy and make you feel full.”

Monday at 4 p.m. she has something light, like vegetable soup. “You have to let your body digest slowly. But then I start eating and eat all night, although it will be relatively healthy – not a burger and chips.’

On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, she’ll skip breakfast again (if you can’t handle that, she recommends eating as early as possible) “then eat really well — then my avocado and kale chips will come out!”

By Thursday, she relaxes. Then I have what I want by Friday and at the weekend: carbs, breakfast with the kids. On vacation I tend to let go. It works for me because there is always light at the end of the tunnel.’

How does David feel about the starving – sorry, limited food? ‘He is good! He likes to torture himself.’ Her boyfriend Piers Morgan, she says, “likes to punish himself too. Piers is tough, he doesn’t like to listen, but he did a good job.’

She’s not super strict with her kids, though she encourages them to eat lots of fruit, drink lots of water, and pair a sweet treat with some protein. ‘But I think I’m the only mum in Notting Hill who lets their kids eat sugar,’ she laughs.

It’s time for Peacock to get moving and prepare for the next day’s festivities.

“Birthday party for two six-year-olds,” she laughs. “I definitely need wine.” Then, come Monday, it’s thin soup again.