Perched on a hotel sofa barely inches from Glynis Barber, I am trying, as covertly as possible, to scrutinise her rather lovely face. All peachy skin and thick, glossy locks, she also looks trim and toned in skinny jeans. It’s difficult to believe that in the next few months, the actress – remembered by many as the glacially beautiful half of ITV’s 1980s detective duo Dempsey And Makepeace – will be collecting her bus pass. From where I’m sitting, she looks barely a day over 40. It is impossible, frankly, not to wonder whether Mother Nature has been given a, shall we say, little helping hand. There is no ‘pillow face’ here or unnaturally shaped eyebrows (a telltale sign). So has she and would she? Scroll down for video . Then and now: Tearing up the rulebook: Glynis Barber, pictured left in 1984, and right, the actress today . Glynis Barber, pictured at The Olivier Awards at The Royal Opera House in London last week . It’s a question that Glynis answers diplomatically. ‘I am a bit surgery-phobic – I am a total coward,’ she insists. ‘I don’t judge anyone for doing it – people have to do what’s right for them. But for me a healthy lifestyle is the key.’ It’s hard to argue with that sentiment. And this, indeed, is why we are meeting. For the past two years, under the tutelage of nutritional therapist Fleur Borrelli, Glynis has changed what and how she eats – and in the process, she says, transformed her health and her figure. She tore up her rulebook too: out went breakfast – instead she has just two large meals a day. Out, too, went wholegrains and she even stopped sipping water in the day, something she once swore by to stay hydrated and stave off hunger. So convinced is she that what Fleur taught her is the key to long-lasting health and wellbeing that she has co-written a book with her, The In-Sync Diet, in which she shares their discoveries, backed up, she says, by credible new research. ‘I had no idea that when I met Fleur I would drop a stone in weight and a dress size, gain lean muscle, and have vastly improved energy levels, all while turning upside down the things I previously believed in,’ Glynis says. ‘But that’s what has happened and it’s why I wanted to share it with a wider audience.’ The actress (pictured with co-star Michael Brandon) is remembered by many as the glacially beautiful half of ITV’s 1980s detective duo Dempsey And Makepeace . Ironically, Glynis once thought herself the last person to need a lifestyle reboot. Always fit, she went organic in her late 20s at a time when it was barely heard of. ‘This was the 1980s so everyone thought I was mad, although it made complete sense to me,’ she recalls. ‘My view was it was silly to put chemicals in your body that don’t need to be there, but that was forward-thinking at the time. It was me, Prince Charles and some hippies. But I stuck to it.’ Glynis, married to her Dempsey And Makepeace co-star Michael Brandon, has enjoyed a busy career in theatre and TV, but two years ago started to develop unexplained joint pain and was advised by her osteopath to see Fleur. ‘I was actually pretty resistant at first as I thought the one thing I know is how to eat properly,’ she explains. But Fleur thought differently. ‘One by one she busted a lot of the myths that were a cornerstone of my diet.’ First to face scrutiny was Glynis’s fondness for wholegrains. ‘I was surprised as I knew about processed grains but I thought wholewheat was fine, until Fleur explained that it creates inflammation in the gut. She told me to cut them out.’ Aging well: Glynis, pictured left in her 30s, will be celebrate turning 60 soon, but she looks barely a day over 40 . It meant a gluten-free diet – not easy for a self-confessed ‘breadaholic’. Pasta was also jettisoned, replaced by protein and vegetables. ‘At first I thought, “I can’t do this,” ’ she explains. ‘But now I don’t miss them at all. I eat salmon, eggs, nuts, organic turkey and salads.’ And it was not just what she ate but when that Fleur also changed. Glynis ate little and often in the belief it kept her blood sugar levels regulated. But Fleur told her that cutting out breakfast altogether and eating two large meals a day was a better way of regulating her metabolism. This is backed up by new research into intermittent fasting, which shows that better weight control can be achieved with long periods without eating – popularised by the 5:2 diets, in which you consume very few calories for two days of the week and eat a normal, balanced diet the rest of the time. Some studies have found the same benefits – which also include lower cholesterol and blood pressure – might be gained by daily ‘fasts’ achieved by eating dinner then nothing else until lunch the next day. Then came what Glynis drank. ‘I was one of those people who walked around clutching a water bottle and sipping at it throughout the day,’ she says. ‘But new research shows that drinking little and often actually doesn’t help the cells replenish properly. It’s far better to drink a large glass of water when you’re thirsty.’ Glynis tore up her rulebook too: out went breakfast and she even stopped sipping water in the day, something she once swore by to stay hydrated and stave off hunger . Initially cynical, Glynis says she was amazed by how easy it was to adapt. ‘What I was trying to overturn were the habits of a lifetime and I thought it would be incredibly hard, but it honestly took a matter of weeks. It’s not set in stone either. If I want the odd blowout, or I really fancy breakfast, then I have it.’ Aided by her regular cardio and hot yoga sessions, she believes she is in better shape than she was 20 years ago. ‘I have always been fit but I used to get incredibly tired. Now I am bursting with energy.’ And, Glynis insists, she is less likely to scrutinise herself. ‘I actually feel less vain now than I did in my youth. I’m very comfortable in my skin and I’m really not hung up on age at all. You can’t do anything about your chronological age, but how you age is up to you.’ The In-Sync Diet, by Glynis Barber and Fleur Borrelli, is published by Autharium on Friday. The actress follows a gluten-free diet, with food like pasta jettisoned, replaced by protein and vegetables . Why hydration is key . By Barney Calman, Health Editor . We should all drink at least two litres of water a day – about eight glasses. If we do, we’ll be slimmer, have better skin, fewer health problems and the like. Right? Well, no, actually. The whole two-litres-a-day idea is based on no real scientific evidence. In fact, one of the only studies to suggest its benefits was sponsored by, you’ve guessed it, a mineral water firm. Dehydration can be fatal, and in the case of the elderly, sick children or those with other health problems, a watchful eye should be kept on water intake. But in normal, healthy adults, the body is well adapted to make sure this doesn’t happen. If you drink too little, you get thirsty, and go to the loo less. If you drink a lot, you generally pee it all out. And in fact, the best way to make sure is to check the colour of your urine. Ideally, it should be a shade of pale straw and no darker.
Glynis Barber is known as beautiful half of ITV’s 1980s detective duo . The actress turns 60 in a few months but looks barely a day over 40 . Under the tutelage of a nutritional therapist, Glynis has changed what and how she eats and transformed her health and figure . Now, she has just two large meals a day, no wholegrains and she has stopped sipping water in the day .