The Thrive Diet is a plant-based dietary regimen designed to boost energy, reduce stress, and improve overall health. Developed by Ironman athlete and Vega product developer, Brendan Brazier, it focuses on increasing energy and reducing stress through healthy, whole foods, rather than primarily promoting weight loss. The plan features informational videos, recipes, and meal plans designed to help users take control of their health, covering topics from clean eating to stress reduction.
What is the Thrive Diet?
The Thrive Diet centers on raw, vegan foods, encouraging the consumption of several small meals throughout the day to maintain stable blood sugar and energy levels. This approach contrasts with fad diets that offer short-term results, emphasizing nutritious foods and raw ingredients over processed, fatty options.
Core Principles of the Thrive Diet
The foundation of the Thrive Diet is to focus on eating raw ingredients instead of processed foods. While the diet is centered around raw, vegan foods, there are different spins on it:
- Raw vegan diet: Fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and beans make up the diet, excluding all animal products, including eggs and dairy.
- Raw vegetarian diet: Meat and seafood are excluded, but eggs and dairy products are allowed. The bulk of the diet is fresh fruit and vegetables, whole grains, and beans. Processed foods of any kind are discouraged.
- Raw omnivorous diet: Meat and dairy may be incorporated into the diet, but the emphasis remains on foods that are raw and unprocessed.
Benefits of the Thrive Diet
Raw plants provide vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and phytochemicals often lost during cooking. Eating a raw diet fills the body with these nutrients. Allicin, found in onions and garlic, has natural antibiotic properties, while raw cacao is rich in antioxidants.
The Thrive Diet prioritizes foods that are filling and nutrient-dense but low in calories. This can aid in weight loss, as it's harder to overeat when feeling full faster. Fruits and vegetables are high in fiber, promoting healthy digestion.
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Foods to Eat and Avoid
If you choose to follow the Thrive Diet, you’ll need to eliminate all animal products, including:
- Meats (beef, pork, lamb, bison, etc.)
- Fish (white fish, salmon, tuna, etc.)
- Seafood and shellfish (shrimp, oysters, calamari, scallops, crab, etc.)
- Eggs, poultry (chicken, turkey, etc.)
- Dairy products (cheese, yogurt, milk, cream, kefir, etc.)
In addition, you’ll avoid refined carbohydrates and foods high in starch and sugar. You’ll also need to limit the foods that are cooked at low temperatures. While they’re allowed in small amounts on the Thrive Diet, frequent consumption is discouraged.
Finally, you’ll be encouraged to cut out or reduce processed foods as much as possible since many contain additives and are high in sugar, salts, and fats.
On this plan, you’ll stick to nutrient-rich foods like:
- Beans
- Seeds
- Leafy greens
- Vegetables
- Fruits
- Hemp
- Cold-pressed oils
- Apple cider vinegar
- Sea vegetables
- Brown rice
Each meal should contain high protein, plenty of fiber, and healthy fats without any animal products.
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Potential Drawbacks and Considerations
Switching to a raw diet may be a slow process as you cut out processed foods and add in more raw foods. Your body may need to adjust as you switch to a new way of eating and thinking. Listen to your body and eat what feels best to you. You may do great with mainly raw foods, or you may do better with a split between raw and cooked foods. The Thrive Diet doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Do your best to stick to raw foods, but don’t feel bad if you cheat for a meal here and there.
Some medical professionals say that while a raw diet is a great way to clean up your diet, it isn’t sustainable long-term. You should talk to your doctor before starting a raw diet.
Personal Experiences and Reviews
One individual shared their experience with a similar three-step weight-loss program, involving supplements, shakes, and patches. While uncertain about the supplements and patches, they noted the shake's positive effects on digestion and energy levels. This highlights the importance of individual experiences and the varying impact of different components within a dietary program.
Many people reported positive experiences working with Stephanie from Thrive Health and Wellness. Clients praised her positive approach, the sustainable nature of the program, and the personalized support provided. They reported significant weight loss, improved energy levels, and a healthier relationship with food.
The 12-Week Meal Plan
The 12-week meal plan encourages people to eat more healthy, unprocessed, and whole foods. Fibrous vegetables-including asparagus, carrots, and zucchini-serve as the foundation of the diet. They're complemented by fruits (such as berries and bananas), nuts, legumes, and seeds, as well as some starches and grains (such as brown rice and potatoes). You start the regimen by adding raw healthy vegetables to your meals and snacks. You then enter a recalibration period where you begin to eliminate harmful foods and stimulants such as processed foods and caffeine.
Read also: Do Thrive Pills Really Work?
Potential Health Benefits
People who eat plant-based diets are typically able to maintain healthier weights and have lower blood pressure and cholesterol than those who don’t. Vegan diets have been shown in some studies to reduce the incidence of type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity, and death by cardiovascular disease, though larger trials need to be conducted to study the potential long-term health benefits in more depth.
A recent, small trial showed the vegan lifestyle to be effective at regulating blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes, but more research is needed in that specific area.
Those who adopt plant-based diets may also reap the added benefits of reducing the number of prescription medications they have to take, alleviating chronic health conditions, and lowering their risk of cancer.
Eliminating processed foods from your diet can reduce your intake of salt, sugar, and unhealthy fats plus strip away the artificial, processed ingredients that aren’t present in naturally occurring whole foods.
Potential Nutrient Deficiencies
People who switch to a vegan diet may find themselves at risk for nutrient deficiencies. This is particularly true for nutrients found in animal products, like iron, vitamin D, calcium, DHA, and vitamin B-12.
Although the thrive diet discourages supplementation, you may find that you need to supplement some of these nutrients in order to meet the recommended daily requirements.
Gradual Integration
As with any dietary change, integrate the thrive diet gradually into your lifestyle rather than make an extreme change all at once.