How to banish bloating: More exclusive secrets from the Viva Mayr clinic - where the rich and famous go to lose weight

Tight waistband? Feeling puffy and uncomfortable in your own skin? Every woman knows that losing 'bloat' can be just as important as dropping a few pounds when it comes to feeling good about yourself, and looking your best on the beach.

The Viva Mayr Diet has been devised specifically to get your digestion ticking over like clockwork, so the awful bloated feeling so many of us suffer from is one of the first things to go on this programme.

Yesterday, in the first of our series, we looked at the main principles of the Viva Mayr.

Today, Dr Harald Stossier - who has developed the programme from a highly effective 80-year-old Austrian spa 'cure' for poor digestion - explains how a few simple tweaks to what and how you eat can help you to lose those unwanted inches, give you more energy, clearer skin, and help you sleep better.

It's a programme that encourages you to eat for optimal digestive health. The theory is that when your digestive system is running smoothly and you're feeling slimmer and healthier, it's easy to control your appetite.

So on the Viva Mayr Diet, when you eat and how you eat are just as important as the food you choose.

THE VIVA MAYR RULES

Start every day with a cup of cleansing and hydrating warm water.

Try to drink at least 2 litres of filtered water a day - but only between meals (ideally, leave a minimum gap of 15 minutes before a meal and one hour after a meal to have a drink).

Drinking with meals dilutes the enzymes that the body excretes to digest the food you eat. If you must drink with a meal, have tiny sips of herbal tea.

Coffee, tea and fizzy drinks are off the menu because of their caffeine content - soya milk/milk, fruit and vegetable juices and herbal teas are all allowed.

Eat in tune with your body clock. Breakfast and lunch can be relatively large meals, as they are eaten when your digestive system is at its peak. To avoid bloat and weight gain, dinner should be a small meal - preferably eaten before 6pm, as your digestion slows towards the end of the day.

Chew every mouthful of food 30-40 times before swallowing. This will help you to digest more efficiently, will allow you to register that you are full much earlier than when you bolt your food and ensure you release as many nutrients as possible from the food you eat.

Raw foods, such as uncooked fruit and vegetables, should only be eaten before 4pm, as they are tough to digest.

Cut down on carbohydrates - especially refined carbs - as they can have a negative influence on blood sugar levels if eaten in large quantities. Carbohydrates turn to sugar as they are being digested - triggering the release of insulin in the body, which works to store excess sugars as fat. Eat wholegrain carbohydrates in controlled quantities.

Use cold-pressed seed and nut oils - which are rich in healthy fatty acids - as dressings or sprinkled over foods.

Eat proteins such as fish and cheese every other day, as they can be hard to digest. Choose white meats such as fish for preference, and cream cheese rather than hard cheeses. Vegetable proteins such as seeds, nuts and pulses can be eaten every day.

Choose brightly coloured fruit and vegetables for their high levels of protective antioxidants.

Renowned: The Viva Mayr Clinic's diet purges your body of toxins

BEATING THE BLOAT
For optimal gut health - and to beat bloating - another goal of the Viva Mayr Diet is to help you balance the acid and alkaline foods in your diet.

Too many acidic foods can irritate the stomach lining leading, over time, to inflammation, pain and poor digestion, Dr Stossier claims.

As well as weight gain and bloating, a diet high in acidic foods has been linked to poor immunity, low energy, slow digestion and poor elimination.

Acidic foods include: meat and fish; dairy products; cheese; grains; pulses (beans, peas, etc); citrus fruit; refined and processed foods; animal fats; refined oils; alcohol; coffee and tea.

Alkaline foods include: vegetables; potatoes; cold-pressed vegetable oil; ripe fruit; milk and cream; herbs and spices; nuts and seeds.

The diet recommends we try to eat alkaline and acid foods in a ratio of 2:1. For ideas on how to do this, take a look at the recipes we are printing - most of which are acid/alkali balanced.

STRESS-FREE EATING

Another essential element of the diet is to make a real effort to eat in a stress-free environment.

When you're stressed, your body releases the 'fight or flight' hormone adrenaline, which helps to direct all your body's energies towards your brain and muscles.

Processes that are perceived to be 'non-emergency' at stressful times - such as digestion - do not get as much oxygen and glucose, and so work far less efficiently.

This means that, especially if you have a fairly sedentary lifestyle, eating when you are stressed can lead to extra fat being laid down - particularly around the midriff.

Try to make time to eat all your meals in calm and peace. Think about the fact that you are about to nourish your body.

'Show some respect to the ritual of eating,' says Dr Stossier. 'Show respect to nature that has provided us with the food, to the people who have produced the food, and some respect to ourselves by eating it in the best way possible.'

That is all well and good, I hear you protest, but if you're trying to get children ready for school, make their packed lunches, remember the gym kit, get dressed yourself - or rush off to work - that doesn't really leave much time for a tranquil breakfast, does it?

This is unfortunate, as breakfast - which is eaten when your digestive system is at its optimum - should be the day's most important meal.

What does Dr Stossier suggest? 'Of course I understand that it is difficult, but it is a question of deciding what your priorities are,' he says.

'Getting up half an hour earlier so you can start the day as you mean to go on, in terms of nourishing your body and ensuring your long-term health, isn't much of a sacrifice, is it?'

I suppose he has a point. But what happens if there really is no other option? If it's a question of wolfing something down or not eating at all?

'Don't eat at all,' says Dr Stossier. 'We all eat far too much anyway.

'Eating in a hurry means we don't chew well, we don't produce enough saliva, and fermentation and putrification occur in our guts. Wait until you have some time to sit and relax.' Eating whilst stressed or in a hurry contributes to boating.