How To Lose Weight: The 80/10/10 Diet In 4 Simple Steps

You always hear that a diet full of fruits and vegetables is important to your health, but what about a diet of ONLY fruits and vegetables? The 80/10/10 diet is one of the latest trends and dictates that 80 percent of calories come from carbs, 10 percent from protein and 10 percent from fats. This low-fat, raw food diet was created by Dr. Douglas Graham, retired chiropractor and former athlete, writes Authority Nutrition.

What Is It?

The nutrition website says that the main premise is that people are really frugivores, meaning our bodies naturally prefer to eat fruit and leafy greens. The foods should be eaten raw as this diet adheres to the beliefs that cooking damages nutrients in food and releases toxic compounds that can cause diseases.

What Do You Eat?

According to Authority Nutrition, the plan allows you to eat a wide variety of non-sweet fruits like tomatoes, cucumbers and eggplant, and sweet fruits such as apples, berries, mangoes, and soft greens including lettuce and spinach. Other vegetables like broccoli and cauliflower can be eaten, but not in large quantities as they are harder to digest. Fatty fruits like nuts and avocados are also to be limited. Anything else like meat, eggs, alcohol, coffee, tea, processed fats, dairy, spices, sugars or sweeteners are not allowed on the diet.

Why This Diet?

Followers claim that it can help with acne, weight loss, energy and overall well-being. And since it’s low in fat, it’s thought to lower your risk of heart disease too.

Does It Work?

Elizabeth Boham, R.D., M.D., M.S., told Women’s Health that we need more protein to feel satisfied, and that eating so much fruit makes your blood sugar increase, which in turn makes you feel hungry. Boham advises against this diet for weight loss. In terms of heart health, science has shown that eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables is linked to lower rates of heart disease. However, health professionals point out that you’ll miss out on many key nutrients by eating a diet of only produce.

"Fruit is a wonderful food, but it's not going to be able to give you all the nutrients you need," Boham told the magazine.