The Gene Smart Diet: The Revolutionary Eating Plan That Will Rewrite Your Genetic Destiny–And Melt Away the Pounds is a book written by Dr. Floyd Chilton, former director of Wake Forest University.
While we all know that our gene’s determine the color of our eyes, hair, and influence how tall we grow, or how good we are at athletics and sports, Dr. Chilton states that to lose weight we need to understand our genes as well. In fact, Dr. Chilton believes that modern diet plans are simply not
made to fit our genes, something that contributes to obesity and a host of other conditions.
In fact, Dr. Chilton claims that by following the Gene Smart Diet you’ll be able to slow down the aging process, lose weight faster, and even ward off certain modern illnesses.
How does the Gene Smart Diet Work
The Gene Smart Diet has 4 stages:
- A one day soup fast which “gets you ready for the diet”. Celery soup is the recommended dish for a total calorie consumption of 575 calories in total. Dr. Chilton also advises fasting once a week (similarly to how the Eat Stop Eat program does) but this is not a must-do part of the diet.
- Three weeks “adaptive phase” in which you consume 1,600 calories each day. It is on this stage that most of the weight is lost.
- Two week preconditioning phase in which you consume 1,800 calories a day.
- Maintenance phase in which you can eat 2,000 calories each day.
The 5 Principles of the Gene Smart Diet
The diet book lists 5 main principles that you need to adhere to in order for the diet to work:
- Eat more polyphenols which are found in dark-skinned whole fruits, vegetables, green tea, legumes, nuts, and seeds. In the maintenance phase you can also eat some dark chocolate and drink red wine, both of which are also rich in polyphenols.
- Eat more fiber – Eating a good dose of fiber each day helps to ward off hunger and to accelerate weight loss.
- Get more omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids in your diet. These can be found in fish and various supplements.
- Reduce calories to lose weight and/or to maintain it. This is actually done for you if you follow the caloric recommendations of each phase of the diet.
- Exercise 5 times a week for 30 minutes at least each time. This helps to reduce inflammation in the body, keeps you healthy, and helps you lose weight faster.
Pros and Cons
Pros:
- This is a diet plan which helps you maintain a good nutrient base on which to eat.
- Includes meal plans and recipe ideas.
- Encourages exercise and balanced eating.
- Promotes good health habits as well as weight los information.
Cons:
- The book markets supplements from the author’s website.
- The actual role of your genes is not as clear as the title would suggest.
In Conclusion
The Gene Smart Diet is a solid and seemingly healthy weight loss plan that helps you improve your nutrition, get a balanced and nutrient rich diet, and can work for you if you want to lose weight and be healthy. However, whether your genes have anything to do with it or not is still an unclear issue.
