Can coffee, red wine and dark chocolate help you lose weight? What you should know about the Sirtfood diet

Virgin olive oil, garlic and green tea are other ‘sirtfoods’ that two nutritionists claim can boost metabolism and increase fat-burning in the body

Other health experts refute the findings however, saying there is no such thing as food that activates ‘skinny genes’

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On the controversial Sirtfood diet you can eat cocoa and drink red wine. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 8:00pm, 5 Feb 2020Updated: 6:17pm, 15 Jun 2020

Losing 7lb (3.2kg) in seven days, being encouraged to eat cocoa and drink red wine and coffee – the Sirtfood diet seems like it could be too good to be true, and there are some who caution that it is.

Created by nutritionists Aidan Goggins and Glen Matten, who co-authored a book of the same name, the way of eating activates a family of proteins called sirtuins, or “skinny genes”. This, in turn, supposedly mimics the effects of exercise and fasting.

Goggins and Matten do recommend performing “moderate activity” for half an hour five times per week, in line with World Health Organisation recommendations.

The diet’s critics cite a lack of evidence that the programme can accomplish what it promises.

Nutritionists Aidan Goggins (left) and Glen Matten are the brains behind the Sirtfood diet.

Doctor and nutrition specialist Dr Melina Jampolis, based in California, the US, shuts down the notion of “skinny genes”.

Can coffee, red wine and dark chocolate help you lose weight? What you should know about the Sirtfood diet

Virgin olive oil, garlic and green tea are other ‘sirtfoods’ that two nutritionists claim can boost metabolism and increase fat-burning in the body Other health experts refute the findings however, saying there is no such thing as food that activates ‘skinny genes’

Virgin olive oil, garlic and green tea are other ‘sirtfoods’ that two nutritionists claim can boost metabolism and increase fat-burning in the body

Other health experts refute the findings however, saying there is no such thing as food that activates ‘skinny genes’