The Galveston Diet: Unlock Weight Loss and Menopause Relief with This Proven Plan!

The Galveston Diet has emerged as a popular eating plan, particularly among women experiencing perimenopause and menopause. Created in 2018 by board-certified OB-GYN Dr. Mary Claire Haver, based in Galveston, Texas, this diet aims to address weight gain and other symptoms associated with hormonal changes during midlife. Dr. Haver developed the diet after realizing that the standard advice of "eat less and exercise more" wasn't effective for her menopausal patients or herself. The Galveston Diet combines principles of the ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting with a focus on anti-inflammatory foods. Let's delve into the details of this diet, examining its principles, potential benefits, drawbacks, and how it compares to other popular eating plans.

What is the Galveston Diet?

The Galveston Diet marries some of the principal concepts of the ketogenic diet with intermittent fasting. It encourages lower carbohydrate intake, higher fat and protein intake, and emphasizes anti-inflammatory foods. The diet advocates consuming whole foods, healthy fats, and lots of vegetables. It also recommends a daily version of intermittent fasting.

Key Components of the Galveston Diet

The Galveston Diet consists of three main components:

Intermittent Fasting: This involves restricting your eating window to a specific period each day. The Galveston Diet recommends the 16:8 approach, where you consume all your calories within an eight-hour window and fast for the remaining 16 hours. 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.
Anti-Inflammatory Nutrition: This focuses on limiting or avoiding foods associated with inflammation, such as white flour, white rice, refined sugar, and foods with high fructose corn syrup. The diet encourages the intake of foods like vegetables and fruits, which are rich in plant compounds that help fight inflammation. The Galveston diet eating regimen is designed to fight inflammation in the body. Research suggests that social, environmental and lifestyle factors can lead to systemic chronic inflammation, which in turn can lead to an array of health problems.
Fuel Refocus: This involves adjusting your food intake to enhance your body’s burning of fat for energy. 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. During Fuel Refocus the diet composition is set up to be 70% healthy fats, 20% lean proteins, and 10% carbohydrates.

Foods to Eat and Avoid

The Galveston Diet encourages the consumption of:

Healthy Fats: Olive oil, coconut oil, MCT oil, butter, ghee, avocado oil, and sesame oil. Lots of high-fiber and nutrient-dense leafy greens, such as spinach, kale and Swiss chard. Nuts and seeds.
Lean Proteins: Lean ground beef, chicken, turkey, eggs, lean pork, salmon, trout, tuna, and shellfish
Low-Glycemic Fruits: Avocado, strawberries, blueberries, and raspberries
Leafy Greens: Spinach, kale, lettuce, dill, and mustard greens
Other Vegetables: Cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, tomato, bell pepper, cucumber, onion, and carrots
Nuts and Seeds: Cashews, pistachios, almonds, and peanuts, pumpkin, sesame, sunflower, flax, and chia seeds
Dairy: Greek yogurt is the sole recommended dairy product because it has twice as many amino acids as other yogurts. Heavy cream, cheese, sour cream, plain greek yogurt, and nut milk
Tea: Black, green, oolong, and chamomile teas
Fresh Herbs: Ginger, garlic, parsley, thyme, and basil

The diet recommends limiting or avoiding:

Read also: Peri/Menopause Salad Recipe

Added Sugars and Artificial Sweeteners
Artificial Additives: Flavors, colors, and preservatives
Alcohol: Beer, wine, and spirits
Processed Foods: Refined grains, fried foods, and processed meats
Vegetable Oils High in Omega-6 Fats: Soybean, sunflower, safflower, and corn oil
Sugar-Sweetened Beverages: Sweet tea, colas, soft drinks, and juices

The Galveston Diet vs. Other Diets

The Galveston Diet shares similarities with other popular diets, but also has distinct differences:

Mediterranean Diet: Both focus on reducing added sugars, processed foods, and refined grains. However, the Galveston Diet emphasizes lean protein, while the Mediterranean diet emphasizes legumes, whole grains, and nuts and seeds as healthy fats. The Galveston Diet is slightly more restrictive, allowing only low-glycemic fruits like berries, while the Mediterranean diet includes most fruits. The Galveston Diet is also gluten-free, unlike the Mediterranean diet, which allows whole grains.
Keto Diet: Both the Galveston diet and keto diet are high fat and low carb. However, the Galveston Diet incorporates intermittent fasting and emphasizes anti-inflammatory foods, distinguishing it from a standard keto diet.

Potential Benefits of the Galveston Diet

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. Intermittent fasting has been shown in some studies to assist with weight loss and blood sugar regulation. A 2014 study showed that individuals who follow an intermittent fasting plan for three to 24 weeks can expect to see a three to eight percent reduction in weight and a four to seven percent decrease in waist circumference.
Reduced Inflammation: The Galveston Diet is a potentially anti-inflammatory diet because the foods on the main food list are foods that aim to lower inflammation, from healthy fats like avocado to fruits like blueberries. It also limits foods and ingredients that can contribute to inflammation, such as foods high in saturated fats, sugar, and artificial ingredients.
Improved Blood Sugar Management: Intermittent fasting and low carb diets have been shown to protect against various lifestyle illnesses, such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, and insulin resistance.
Potential for Hormone Balancing in Menopausal Women: 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.

Potential Drawbacks of the Galveston Diet

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, Ellis says. 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.
Difficulty Sustaining Long-Term: The fat-loss phase of the Galveston diet is a low-carbohydrate eating regimen, and some people find low-carb diets restrictive.
Potential for Low Fiber Intake: Cutting back on carbs can reduce your fiber intake. Including lower-carb, fiber-rich foods like non-starchy vegetables, avocados and berries is important when following a low-carb eating regimen like the Galveston diet. Fiber supplementation may be necessary to achieve the recommended 25 to 35 grams of fiber per day for women and 38 grams a day for men, Haver says.
Lack of Scientific Research: To date, there are no peer-reviewed studies evaluating the effectiveness of the Galveston diet. There is still a lot we are learning about the Galveston diet’s benefits and also of its pitfalls.

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.

A Real-Life Success Story

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. 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. Johnson notes that inflammation is also associated with weight gain, and she believes her weight loss is another sign that her inflammation has been going down since she started the diet. Before adopting the diet, Johnson hit the scale regularly. Although she’s no longer obsessed with weighing herself, Johnson has dropped 25 pounds and hopes to lose another 40 or so. “In general, I just feel so much better,” she says.

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. The diet also recommends that followers eat two meals and two snacks per day.

Here is a sample meal plan:

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.

Is the Galveston Diet Right for You?

The Galveston Diet may be a helpful tool for women experiencing weight gain and other symptoms associated with perimenopause and menopause. However, it's essential to consider the potential drawbacks, such as its restrictive nature and the lack of long-term scientific studies.

Before starting the Galveston Diet, consult with a healthcare professional, especially if you have any underlying health conditions or a history of eating disorders. They can help you determine if this diet is a safe and appropriate choice for your individual needs.

tags: #galveston #diet #review