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The Whole 30 diet: fact or fad?

Another day, another diet trend clogging up our newsfeeds — or so it seems. You hear about it at the coffee shop, see books on it on shelves at the bookstore and you can’t scroll through Instagram without seeing it — hashtagged and with a thousand followers.

#Whole30 is the latest one to catch my ear, so as a registered dietitian, I knew I had to chime in. The diet, which promotes eating real whole food,has been around since 2009 and it claims to have helped more than 100,000 people increase energy, lose weight, diminish digestive issues and balance your hormones.

Sounds too good to be true? Let’s take a closer look.

I’m going to admit this right off the bat — It’s true, change your relationship with food and your life changes. And while the Whole 30 program focuses on your relationship with food, it leaves me with a lot of questions. After a review of just the “Program Rules” I was in complete shock at what they are asking people to go through for thirty days (or beyond).

My first question after reading the “rules” (and I’m sure for many others too) was “What the heck can I eat?” And I cannot understand why the word “whole” has you cutting out foods like whole grains, sprouted grains, and legumes to name a few – which are natural, whole foods here people!

While I’ve not read the entire book, as a nutritional professional, I do know quite a bit backed by scientific practice, so let’s dissect shall we?

Eat unprocessed foods for thirty days, which include: meat, seafood, eggs, tons of vegetables, some fruit, and plenty of good fats from oils, nuts and seeds.

Question: Where am I supposed to get my energy from? Carbohydrates are our primary source of energy. And this program is designed to support exercise as well? Guess what will happen – you’ll lose weight for sure! But it’s mainly water weight, from the lack of carbohydrate (one carbohydrate molecules binds to six water molecules), and once that’s gone, you’ll start losing muscle mass. Last I read, muscle mass was good for our metabolism and a main reason we’re working out in the first place.

Avoid added sugars of any kind, real or artificial .

Alright, so artificial is just that – not real. And in general it is best to steer clear of these as more research is now pointing to the long term drawbacks from their over-consumption. But really, a little honey in your tea or oatmeal (wait, you can’t have oats either…) isn’t going to make or break you.

Yes, we are living in a society where overconsumption (and lack of movement) seems to be the main culprit behind chronic conditions and disease, but learning how to flavour your food with natural sweetness, appreciating the natural flavours of foods, while using honey or maple syrup in moderation will add a bit more pleasure to your palate and happiness to your mood.

Avoid Alcohol (even in cooking)!

We all know binge drinking on the weekend only makes for a miserable Monday at work and we should all avoid it. But having a glass of wine in celebration, or on a Friday or Saturday night shouldn’t be a restriction. This rule should also come with the tag: “avoid a social life for the next 30 days.”

Avoid grains

The diet doesn’t require you to cut out all grains but advises you to stay away from “corn, wheat, rye, barley, oats, rice, millet, bulgur, sorghum, amaranth, buckwheat, sprouted grains, and all gluten-free pseudo-grains like quinoa.”

In other words - goodbye vitamins, minerals and soluble fibre, hello constipation.

Avoid legumes (including peanut butter)

What do you have against peanut butter? Yes, some (fine, most) peanut butters out there have a load of added sugars, but the natural ones, or ones you make yourself are “whole” no?

Avoid dairy.

I’ll be the first to say that I do sit on the fence when it comes to milk but natural yogurt, cheese and kefir with healthy probiotics are good for us. They provide us with protein, zinc, calcium, potassium and other good-for-you stuff. It’s when you add sugars to flavour dairy products, that’s when you should be careful.

At the end of the day, if you’re not feeling great, it may be time to reassess your diet (along with stress, sleep and physical activity) and make some changes. But cutting out whole food groups and going cold turkey in an attempt to “reset” your metabolism, get rid of cravings, detox, etcetera is not a practical approach whether it’s for 30 days or 300 days.

Instead, be honest with yourself first instead of jumping into something that looks good from the outside but deep down doesn’t offer you much “#whole-some” nourishment.

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