Is this the secret to vitality?

A diet based on elimination: is this the secret to vitality? Or just another fad that will disappear as quickly as it emerged?

Imagine if you could push a reset button and transform your health in a flash. It would be pretty amazing, right? The new Whole30 diet aims to do just that, reshaping your wellbeing for the better in just one month. Created by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig, a husband and wife duo with backgrounds in fitness and nutrition, the 30-day programme has been carefully designed to supercharge your metabolism and revolutionise your relationship with food for ever.

Unlike fad diets, this eating plan takes a 360-degree look at health. At its core, the Whole30 is essentially an elimination diet that focuses on banning suspect foods like sugar, grains, dairy, alcohol and pulses. Why? These are known to cause a range of unpleasant symptoms from gut problems to inflammation and hormone imbalances. The eating plan instead is based around simple, clean foods that purify your body from toxins and nourish it with a whole host of nutrients needed to keep health in tip top shape. After a full 30 days following the eating plan, you then carefully and systematically reintroduce the suspect foods one at a time, paying attention to how they impact your physical and mental wellbeing, along with your quality of life.

How does it work?

The Whole30 diet is formed around carefully structured rules (grounded in science and habit research) that allow you to identify specific foods that may be making you ill, and to create new, positive habits while simultaneously banishing unhealthy food patterns. ‘You’ll achieve what so many participants call ‘food freedom’: a diet that you can effortlessly sustain long-term, feeling totally in control of the food that you eat,’ explains Melissa.

The results are astounding. ‘Nearly everyone reports having more energy, sleeping better, fewer (or no!) sugar cravings, improved digestion, less gas or bloating, improved athletic performance and recovery, and more self-confidence,’ says Melissa. If you suffer medical conditions, this eating plan could dramatically help your health get back on track. ‘Those with medical conditions report the improvement or elimination of their pain, fatigue, skin issues, or other symptoms. We’ve seen people taken off their diabetes and high blood pressure medications; eradicate migraines, eczema or psoriasis, or asthma; even improve or eliminate symptoms for complicated conditions like ADHD, multiple sclerosis, or lyme disease,’ adds Melissa.

Unlike many diets, which focus only on weight loss without any real structured support, the Whole30 is a lifestyle plan that focuses on health, not weight-loss. There’s no calorie counting but instead it’s designed to create new healthy habits to help you change your relationship with food by understanding what’s happening not just in you body, but also in your brain every step of the way. At the end of the 30 days, you’ll be fully equipped to create your own perfect diet based on what you’ve learned from the eating plan.

The diet

Here’s an example Whole30 menu. You’ll notice that all meals are hearty, satisfying meals, and best of all there’s no weighing, measuring or counting calories.

Breakfast:
A slice of spinach and tomato frittata, a cup of fresh berries and half an avocado.

Lunch:
A generous scoop of chicken salad (with grapes, celery, onion and slivered almonds) over a bed of baby spinach, drizzled with a homemade ranch dressing, with an apple on the side.

Dinner:
Minced meat with Italian seasoning and homemade marinara sauce, served over roasted spaghetti squash.

For more info…

The Whole30: The Official 30-day Guide to Total Health and Food Freedom is available from Amazon for £18.99.