The Galveston Diet, created in 2018 by Dr. Mary Claire Haver, a board-certified OB-GYN, is an eating regimen designed to address fat gain associated with perimenopause and menopause. Dr. Haver, based in Galveston, Texas, developed the diet after realizing that the standard advice of "eat less and exercise more" was ineffective for women experiencing midlife weight gain. This article delves into the Galveston Diet, its principles, potential benefits and drawbacks, and what cookbook reviews reveal about its practicality.
What is the Galveston Diet?
The Galveston Diet combines aspects of the ketogenic diet with intermittent fasting, emphasizing lower carbohydrate intake, higher fat and protein intake, and anti-inflammatory foods.
Key Components
Intermittent Fasting: The diet recommends the 16:8 approach, where all calories are consumed within an eight-hour window each day. This strict eating routine has been shown to improve hormone balancing in menopausal women, improve their ability to manage their weight, and it also touts better cardiovascular health, blood sugar regulation and reduced inflammation.
Elimination of Inflammatory Foods: The Galveston Diet encourages limiting or avoiding foods associated with inflammation, including white flour, white rice, refined sugar and foods with high fructose corn syrup.
Fuel Refocus: Adjusting food intake to enhance the body’s burning of fat for energy is the last pillar of the Galveston diet. The online Galveston diet program and "The Galveston Diet" book both provide specific ratios of fat, protein and carbohydrates to consume for optimal fat burning for energy.
Read also: Peri/Menopause Salad Recipe
Food Recommendations
The Galveston Diet emphasizes whole, unprocessed foods that are naturally low in sugar and high in fiber and other nutrients. These include:
- Lots of high-fiber and nutrient-dense leafy greens, such as spinach, kale and Swiss chard.
- Nuts and seeds.
How the Galveston Diet Works
The diet aims to combat midlife health issues by addressing inflammation and promoting fat burning. This is achieved through the following principles:
Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting involves sticking to a specific schedule of eating and fasting. The Galveston Diet recommends incorporating the 16:8 intermittent fasting method. You'll fast for 16 hours straight and eat for the remaining eight hours. This is the easiest schedule to maintain for two reasons. One, it closely resembles most people's regular eating schedules, so you won’t feel a dramatic change. If the 16:8 pattern feels too restrictive, you can always experiment with the 14:10 method or other variations until you find your sweet spot. It's also important to ease into intermittent fasting, especially if you've never done it before. Instead of diving right into it and skipping breakfast entirely, try dipping your toes in first by gradually pushing back your eating time by half an hour. For instance, if you usually have breakfast at 8, start eating at 8:30. Slowly extend this until you reach your target start time.
Anti-Inflammatory Foods
Chronic inflammation is linked to a drop in estrogen levels for women in their midlife. Such hormonal fluctuations can also lead to weight gain, which further worsens inflammation. The Galveston Diet aims to tackle this very issue. The plan is pretty simple: avoid high-inflammatory foods and incorporate more anti-inflammatory options into your daily meals. Some of the most obvious foods to steer clear of are processed snacks, fast food, vegetable oils, and fried food. These all contain omega-6 fats that trigger inflammation and raise bad cholesterol. Anything with added sugar and artificial preservatives is also a no-go. Added sugar refers to sweeteners that are added to foods, such as table sugar, sucrose, and corn syrup. It's also a good idea to remove foods with saturated fats from your shopping list. This includes fatty beef, cheese, and butter.
The diet encourages the consumption of healthy fats, protein, and complex carbohydrates. Healthy fats can be found in avocados, walnuts, olives, coconut flour, and sesame oil. Protein sources include anchovies, wild-caught salmon, chicken, eggs, lean cuts of beef, legumes, tofu, almond milk, edamame, and cottage cheese. Good carbohydrates are found in leafy green veggies and various fruits like apples and bananas. You might also want to add supplements for fiber, vitamin D, and omega-3 to your list.
Read also: Galveston Diet: A comprehensive review
Macronutrient Ratio
Instead of tracking calories, the Galveston Diet focuses on macronutrient counting. The goal is to shift the body's energy usage from glucose to fat. The diet recommends a macronutrient ratio of 70% healthy fats, 20% protein, and 10% carbohydrates. Naturally, your body will take time to adjust to this shift. Don't expect to see massive changes within days, as most people take three to four weeks to adapt to this new macronutrient ratio. You might also experience side effects like nausea, fatigue, and headaches in the early stages. These are symptoms of carbohydrate withdrawal, and they're normal for people who have been carb-dependent for a long time. Drinking plenty of water and consuming electrolyte-rich foods like avocados, nuts, and green vegetables will help mitigate some of the side effects.
Sample Weekly Meal Plan
When switching to the Galveston Diet, it can be helpful to plan your week's list of meals so that you aren't left scrambling when you're hungry or too tired to shop. It's also worth noting that because the Galveston Diet advocates a 16:8 fasting schedule, most followers won't be eating until about noon. So, the concept of breakfast may look a little more like lunch than you're used to. To be clear, you can eat "breakfast" foods any time of day, but the emphasis here tends to be on more savory foods for the first meal of the day. The diet also recommends that followers eat two meals and two snacks per day.
- Snack: Grilled chicken breast over mixed greens with fresh mushrooms, feta cheese and half an avocado.
- Second meal: Salmon and asparagus with olive oil and lemon drizzle.
- Snack: Half a sliced cucumber with a dollop of full-fat creamy dressing.
- Second meal: Salmon burger with tomato, avocado and lettuce.
- Snack: Cucumber with vinegar, dill, thyme and lemon.
- Second meal: Leafy green salad with chicken, walnuts and shallots.
- First meal: Shrimp and broccoli with parmesan, pistachios and garlic.
- Second meal: Two portobello mushroom caps topped with red onion, grape tomatoes, mozzarella and basil.
- First meal: Tuna steak with wilted greens, olive oil and lemon drizzle.
- Second meal: Salmon with roasted red pepper quinoa salad.
Does the Galveston Diet Work?
Depending on your goals, the Galveston Diet can work, provided you follow the rules as directed. Comparatively, the Galveston Diet is likely slightly harder to adopt and less sustainable than other diets due to the nature of food restriction and the strict feeding window. But this diet is likely more beneficial when it comes to weight loss than other 'safe' diets, such as the Mediterranean Diet, for instance, whose primary goal is longevity rather than weight loss. Because the diet relies on intermittent fasting as a core aspect - and intermittent fasting has been shown in some studies to assist with weight loss and blood sugar regulation - you can probably expect some improvements in those areas. However, because the diet is restrictive, some people may not find it sustainable for long. Once you go off the diet, you're likely to experience weight regain and a reversion to your previous metabolic state. For this reason, Haver recommends adopting the Galveston diet as a lifestyle you'll follow for the rest of your life rather than looking at it as a short-term solution or a quick-fix option. It's also worth underscoring that all findings related to the Galveston diet so far have been anecdotal in nature. There has not been a large, long-term clinical study of this eating pattern to measure how effective it might be for alleviating symptoms related to menopause and perimenopause.
Potential Benefits
Weight Loss and Management: By limiting the intake of added sugars, fried food and processed foods and adhering to intermittent fasting, the eating regimen “seems to help people lose stubborn pounds gained in their perimenopausal years".
Reduced Inflammation: The Galveston diet eating regimen is designed to fight inflammation in the body.
Read also: Galveston Diet Approved Lunch Options
Improved Hormone Balancing: The strict eating routine has been shown to improve hormone balancing in menopausal women.
Potential Drawbacks
Restrictive Nature: The restrictive nature of the diet may cause overeating Intermittent fasting may help some people lose weight, but it could trigger overeating after periods of restriction.
Sustainability: The Galveston diet may be difficult to sustain The fat-loss phase of the Galveston diet is a low-carbohydrate eating regimen, and some people find low-carb diets restrictive.
Fiber Intake: It may be a challenge to get enough fiber during the fat-loss phase Cutting back on carbs can reduce your fiber intake.
Lack of Scientific Research: To date, there are no peer-reviewed studies evaluating the effectiveness of the Galveston diet.
Galveston Diet Costs
The diet has two main levels. The Program level costs $59, a one-time fee that doesn’t require an ongoing subscription. At this level, you get access to all of the diet’s course material, which includes a step-by-step plan to start the Galveston diet as well as meal plans and educational videos. The other subscription level, Platinum Coaching, bills itself as “the ultimate Galveston diet experience.” Costs start at $24.99 for the first month, then costs $49.99 per month. You can cancel anytime. This subscription tier includes everything in the basic program plus ongoing coach support, live coaching sessions, a downloadable workbook, progress tracking, weekly bonus content and more. In terms of food costs, Richter says the Galveston diet is comparable to other generally accepted healthy ways of eating, like the Mediterranean diet.
Galveston Diet Success Story - A Reviewer's Experience
Sometime in late 2021, Diana Johnson was having a bad time. She was experiencing hot flashes and knee and hip pain from carrying more weight than usual in her midsection. Johnson’s primary care physician told her she was experiencing symptoms of menopause. Johnson tried dieting and exercising to lose weight, to no avail. Her doctor then told her about some of Haver’s educational videos she’d seen on social media. Intrigued, Johnson watched the videos and read some of Haver's blog posts. She called Haver’s office, met her, became a patient and adopted the Galveston diet. Online, she worked with a Galveston diet coach who helped her through the program. About a month into the regimen, Johnson began seeing results. She has dropped 25 pounds and hopes to lose another 40 or so.
Galveston Diet Cookbook Reviews
Several cookbooks offer recipes and meal plans aligned with the Galveston Diet principles. These cookbooks aim to provide practical guidance and make the diet more accessible. Here's an overview of what these cookbooks offer:
The Super Easy Galveston Diet Cookbook for Beginners: 1500 Days of Wholesome and Satisfying Recipes with a 28-Day Meal Plan for Menopausal Wellness to Boost Your Health｜Full Color Edition
This cookbook offers a wide array of recipes designed for midlife and beyond, focusing on reducing inflammation, balancing hormones, and enhancing metabolism naturally. It includes energizing breakfasts, nutrient-packed lunches, satisfying dinners, and even desserts. The cookbook provides easy-to-follow instructions and practical meal planning tips.
What to Expect from Galveston Diet Cookbooks
- Recipes: Cookbooks provide a variety of recipes tailored to the Galveston Diet's macronutrient ratios and anti-inflammatory guidelines.
- Meal Plans: Many cookbooks offer structured meal plans to help individuals implement the diet seamlessly.
- Guidance: Cookbooks often include detailed explanations of the diet's principles and tips for success.
Implementing the Galveston Diet
Dr. Haver has designed a six-week meal plan that integrates all three components of the Galveston Diet. Essentially, it involves to two main meals and two snacks per day, all of which should be consumed during your eight-hour eating window. When combined, the daily meals come close to the recommended 70/20/10 macro ratio. Most of the ingredients used in the plan are also carefully selected for their anti-inflammatory properties and are rich in nutrients that help regulate your hormones.
Sample Recipes
Mary Claire's Smoothie: Combine full-fat Greek yogurt, sliced strawberries, blueberries, chopped walnuts, ground flaxseed, chia seeds, hemp hearts, unsweetened coconut flakes, ice cubes, and water in a blender.
Hard-Boiled Egg with Avocado: Pair a hard-boiled egg with half an avocado.
Chicken and BLT Wrap: Wrap shredded rotisserie-cooked chicken breast, sliced avocado, chopped tomato, and turkey bacon in romaine lettuce leaves with homemade ranch dressing and cheddar cheese.
Long-Term Maintenance: Galveston Diet for Life
After the initial six-week meal plan, you’ll transition into the maintenance program called the Galveston Diet for Life, designed to keep you thriving long after the six weeks are up. It's made up of essentially the same three components but with some small changes. First off, you have to commit to intermittent fasting like it's your full-time job. It shouldn't be a temporary fix but a complete lifestyle change. You need this to avoid gaining weight again and keep inflammation at bay. Secondly, anti-inflammatory foods need to remain the focus of your meals. Finally, you still need to pay attention to macros but are allowed to shake things up a bit. Change your ratio to 60 percent fat, 20 percent protein, and 20 percent carbs for about a week or so, then gradually transition to 50/20/30 for a few more weeks, and finally settle at a sweet spot at 40/20/40.
It's important to make conscious changes in other aspects of your health, too. For instance, prioritize sleep and get six to eight hours every night. Staying active is also beneficial for your health. Finally, don't forget to start journaling.