Slimline Shane's secret? Goji-berry

The secret to Shane Warne's radical make-over is a weight-loss drink, it emerged today.

The Australian cricket legend is said to have become addicted to organic goji-berry diet shakes that he has shipped over from Down Under.

The TaiSlim drink is said to swell in the stomach, making users feel fuller.

The once-chubby bowler, 41, who boasts he has shed 25lb in four months, has had the shake sent to him by Aussie Rules football players on his home team of St Kilda in Melbourne. Player Steven Baker, who introduced him to the drink, said: "I signed him up about three or four months ago. He loves the stuff, he's addicted."

The St Kilda star said he even shipped the supplement to India for Warne's final Indian Premier League season, where fans first noticed he was beginning to shed the pounds. The drink, coming in chocolate or strawberry flavours, replaces meals. It contains mainly goji-juice, said to reduce stress hormones that can cause unattractive belly fat. Other ingredients act on digestive tract enzymes to help reduce the amount of calories absorbed from starchy or fatty foods.

Nutritionist Catherine Matthews said: "This berry has been hailed as a superfood due to the level of health-boosting antioxidants it contains. "Although shakes, supplements and drinks can work in the short term because they are replacing food, they are not a long-term solution."

Warne credits his new image to his strict exercise regime. On Twitter he wrote: "I have always taken pride in my appearance I'm proud of how I look and worked my butt off for four months."