Whole30, Should You Try It?
If you're frustrated with how you feel on a day to day basis such as having frequent belly aches, headaches, heartburn, gas and bloating, diarrhea, or nausea and you think it may be related to food, Whole30 is a great way to find out.
Whole30 is an intense elimination diet that eliminates most of everyone's favorite comfort foods and snacks. Added sugar(real or artificial), Dairy, processed foods, alcohol, grains, legumes, nightshades are to be nixed from your daily food intake and only eat whole foods for 30 days, hence the name, Whole30.
This diet is not about for weight loss, which is a great result that comes from it, but is a nutritional "program" that is designed to help you as an individual better understand what foods your body may struggle to digest, or even be allergic to. The claim is that if you restrict your body from these allergens/intolerances that may cause you intestinal disruptions, inflammation, or hormone imbalances, the more in tune you are to your body to figure what those triggers are.
Sounds easy enough, but this diet is no joke. It's super strict and has plenty of rules, one of them being absolutely NO cheating on your diet, and if you do, you have to start all over again. Some positive rules of this diet are no calorie tracking and you are not to weigh yourself aside from day 1 and day 30. You are to focus on the nutritional aspect of your food, that means eating high quality foods such as:
- Fresh fruits and vegetables.
- Eggs and lean proteins. Fish, poultry, beef and pork are all fair game.
- Fats such as olive oil, avocado, coconut oil or ghee.
- Nuts and nut butters. Satisfy those snack urges with cashews, macadamia nuts, almonds and almond butter.
Though the diet is called Whole30, it initially takes more than 30 days to complete this diet and depending on how you are feeling, it can take up to an extra 30 days to complete. This is because as you slowly introduce foods back into your diet one at a time, you have to record how your body reacts and you need to give your body time to settle down any reaction that may occur when you do reintroduce a food group, roughly 2-3 days.
The results people get from this diet can be wonderful and beneficial. It is a wonderful way to get to know your own body and have a better relationship with food and feel better all together with better sleep and more energy!
The key factor is to take what you have learned from this diet and keep it in mind. If you do this program and go right back to eating what you have before, then there isn't much benefit to have done it at all.
If this diet sounds like its possible and beneficial to you, it is important to know that you should always talk to your doctor or nutritionist before you change your diet.
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