Grilled salmon, twice a day for three days, is the savvy New Yorker's latest weapon in the fight against wrinkles. Dermatologist Nicholas Perricone launched his "facelift on a plate" this time last year and ever since, shops all over the US regularly sell out of salmon following his TV appearances. His new book, The Perricone Prescription (HarperCollins, £14.99), went straight to No 1 on the New York Times bestseller list.
You might like salmon when you start out but, 72 hours and 30oz later, you never want to see another slab of the flabby pink stuff again. Why so much of it? Salmon is one of the richest sources of omega-3 essential fats (also found in other oily fish and flaxseed oil), and healthy fats make cell membranes that are less prone to inflammation. Perricone believes salmon is the ultimate anti-ageing food because of its anti-inflammatory properties - but its absolute claim to being a facelift food is that it contains very high levels of the skin-tightening chemical dimethylaminoethanol (DMAE). "It's your magic bullet for great skin tone," Perricone says.
His "spa in a diet" also includes nuts (high in omega-6), oats, citrus fruits, berries, green vegetables, olive oil (for omega-9), garlic and ginger - but coffee, bread, alcohol and sugary foods are out. Banned carbohydrates are those with a high glycaemic index (GI), which means they quickly convert to glucose in your body, making your blood sugar levels shoot up. Perricone believes high levels start a reaction that ends in the linking of your skin's collagen and elastin, and their hardening into set grooves - wrinkles, basically. So all sugary foods are out, all pasta, bread, potatoes, rice (even rice cakes) and, surprisingly, lots of fruit and veg, especially bananas, mangos and oranges. Alcohol has a high GI, too. But are three days worth the sacrifice?
"Some people who might not drink enough water, or don't eat enough protein or fat, could see huge benefits to their skin and health," says naturopath and nutritionist Vicki Edgson. "However, I wouldn't recommend cutting some of the high GI foods - carrots, for example, have benefits for your immune system. And if you eat the healthier high GI foods, including wholegrains, fruit and veg, with low GI foods, such as protein, the GI of the whole meal drops."
Dietician Catherine Collins is more sceptical. "This appears to be a healthy diet dressed up as an anti-wrinkle promise," she says. "Non-dietary factors, such as sun exposure and smoking, are much more important to the skin's appearance."
Perricone does tackle those issues, too, in a further programme, a 28-day lifestyle plan designed to be incorporated into your routine once the four weeks are up. And if 28 days sounds like a life sentence, not a lifestyle choice, think of the results. "If you follow the plan faithfully, you should appear 10 years younger," he says.
But can you knock off a couple of years by just doing some of it? "It's worth adding a few portions of oily fish a week to your diet, increasing your fruit and veg intake, and drinking plenty of water," Edgson says.
I tried the three-day diet and my skin definitely glowed; I think my under-eye shadows might have been lighter and my waistband looser, too. But maybe any three-day detox of fresh food, no carbs, no coffee and no booze would have had the same effect.
