Is The Whole30 Diet Safe? Clean Eating Plan Disliked By Experts

Browse the internet on any given day and netizens can find a proliferation of trendy diets: paleo-based plans, clean eating regimens-- and the latest, the Whole30 diet. The Whole30 plan follows the basic fundamentals of many other clean eating diets, but includes additional restrictions and a laundry list of rules.

The overall premise of the diet is that eliminating certain foods will cure illnesses and increase overall health. It requires cutting out “psychologically unhealthy, hormone unbalancing, gut-disrupting, inflammatory food groups” for a full 30 days, hence the name. Curiously, the diet emphasizes the importance of not focusing on weight loss. Instead, it concentrates on resetting the metabolism.

The first rule of the Whole30 plan is eating only real food. That means staples like meat, seafood, eggs, vegetables, fruits and nuts. Good fats like the ones in oil are allowed, but foods must be either in their natural form or unprocessed. The diet requires avoiding added sugar, alcohol, legumes, soy, carrageenan, MSG and sulfites for the 30 day period. And the final rule: Don’t step on a scale during that time.

Though the diet allows for some exceptions, such as clarified butter and vinegar, the rules are strict.

The U.S. News and World Report released its 2016 survey of the best diets and experts had anything but rave reviews for the plan. The diet ranked 38th out of 38 diets with an overall score of 2.0 out of 5 based on multiple factors.

“Experts didn’t buy that Whole30 has and can treat or even cure diabetes, giving it one of the lowest rankings on the list,” one anonymous expert review read. “While the weight loss reported on Whole30 can reduce followers’ risk of diabetes, most diabetes experts recommend a diet that includes whole grains, legumes and dairy products.”

The complete elimination of grains, legumes and dairy was a common complaint among reviews from nutritional experts. Others were concerned that the diet hadn’t been independently peer-reviewed in any scientific journals to verify its claims.

“This is the antithesis of a long-term healthy dietary pattern,” one review said.