Whole30

The Whole30 is a 30-day fad diet that emphasizes whole foods and during which participants eliminate sugar, alcohol, grains, legumes, soy, and dairy from their diets. The Whole30 is similar to but more restrictive than the paleo diet, as adherents may not eat natural sweeteners like honey or maple syrup. Foods allowed during the program include meat, nuts, seeds, seafood, eggs, vegetables, and fruits. During the Whole30, participants are advised not to count calories or to weigh themselves. After the program is complete, participants are counseled to strategically reintroduce non-Whole30 compliant foods, document the impact of these foods, and decide if eating such foods is "worth it". The program's founders believe that sugar, grains, dairy, alcohol, and legumes affect weight, energy, and stress levels.

The program was created by sports nutritionists Dallas Hartwig and Melissa Hartwig in 2009. In July 2016, a New York Times article on use of Instagram by dieters noted that participants in the Whole30 program had shared over one million Instagram posts using the #Whole30 hashtag, and noted that those sharing the tag were "one of seemingly endless like-minded communities," comparing it with the over 3.5 million posts under the #WeightWatchers hashtag.

No studies that specifically look into the health impacts of the Whole30 have been conducted. While dietitians generally agree with the program's emphasis on proteins, vegetables and unprocessed foods and the avoidance of added sugars and alcohol, they also view the diet as too extreme. The diet ranked last among 38 popular diets evaluated by U.S. News & World Report in its 2016 Best Diets Rankings; one of the raters, dietician Meridan Zerner said: “We want behavioral changes and dietary changes that are slow and progressive and meaningful."David L. Katz said of the diet: “The grouping [of banned foods] is both random, and rather bizarre from a nutrition perspective. If the idea is good nutrition, cutting out whole grains and legumes is at odds with a boatload of evidence.” It was selected as one of the worst health trends for 2013 by Health Magazine.

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