Health is wealth, and the pursuit of well-being often leads individuals down various paths, from embracing fitness routines to experimenting with dietary changes. The world of dieting is vast and ever-evolving, with trends coming and going, often fueled by celebrity endorsements and promises of quick results. This article explores the Vogue wine diet review by examining the phenomenon of wine-inclusive diets, drawing upon historical examples like the "Champagne Diet" and the "Wine and Egg Diet," while also considering modern health perspectives and expert opinions.
Celebrity Endorsements and the Allure of Wine
One of the most popular New Year’s resolutions is, unsurprisingly, beginning a diet. After a long marathon of holiday eating and drinking, many of us feel the need to kick-start the year with a healthier outlook on food, fitness, and more. The influence of celebrities on diet trends cannot be overstated. Recently, DJ Khaled, a music mogul, has taken to Instagram to share his weight loss journey, documenting his progress through the Weight Watchers program. Interestingly, Khaled isn't willing to give up a fine red wine. In a video, Khaled shared his latest wine obsession: Domaine Dujac’s Chambertin Grand Cru, a Burgundy wine that happens to be one of the best ones around. “I gotta be honest, Jay-Z put me up on this,” Khaled said in the Instagram video. “I fell in love with it.” He goes on to calculate that one glass is four points on the Weight Watchers program, and that he needs to save eight points at the end of the night, “in case I drink two,” he says.
Domaine Dujac’s wines have quite the reputation. Established in 1967, the label was founded by Jacques Seysses and his father, Louis. They have been producing wines at their vineyard in France’s Burgundy region for over 50 years, and their collections range from Vosne-Romanée wines to Morey-Saint-Denis wines. For further clout: The wines also happen to be a favorite of the Roc Nation crew, where Jay-Z was recently spotted sipping some Dujac as well. Call it the hip-hop scene’s most beloved vino.
If you’re looking to sample the wine, though, get ready to splurge. The bottles retail for $1,000 and up (and way, way up, depending on the vintage year). Call it an investment for your taste buds. But before you go on indulging too much, just remember Khaled’s words: “The key is to enjoy life, and live responsibly.”
This anecdote highlights the common desire to balance indulgence with health goals. It also brings to light the potential dangers of restrictive diets and the importance of moderation.
Read also: Drinking Wine on Carnivore
The "Champagne Diet" in Vogue: A Historical Perspective
The concept of incorporating alcohol into a diet isn't new. "The Champagne Diet" was originally published in the October 1963 issue of Vogue. This diet, a calorie-cutting régime, offers a little joie de diet. In Vogue's new Champagne Diet, you diet for seven days, but with every meal during those seven days, breakfast included, goes a glass of champagne.
The "Champagne Diet" involved consuming a glass of champagne with every meal for seven days straight. The meals were carefully planned and portion-controlled, emphasizing lean meats, salads, and limited carbohydrates. The article claimed that a young mother of three lost three pounds in the first week and an additional four pounds in the following week.
Here then, meal by meal, day by day, is the Champagne Diet. Please note all servings are half-cupfuls unless indicated. Salads are without dressing but a dash of lemon juice or vinegar has been okayed. Servings of meat should be lean. Bread or toast, butterless. As for champagne: a champagne-glassful is the amount.
Here's a glimpse into the daily menu:
- Monday:
- Breakfast: scant half-cup orange juice, One egg, scrambled in a double boiler, One slice whole wheat toast, One glass of champagne.
- Lunch: mixed green salad, Slice of cold salmon, Bran muffin, Half cantaloupe, Champagne.
- Dinner: fillet of beef-four-ounce serving, broiled, Cooked carrots, Celery sticks, Two-thirds cupful fresh strawberries, Champagne.
- Tuesday:
- Breakfast: half grapefruit, One egg, poached, One small cinnamon bun, One glass of champagne.
- Lunch: one-third cupful fruit cocktail, Three-quarters cupful crabmeat on a lettuce leaf, Small French roll, Glass of champagne.
- Dinner: half pear with cottage cheese, Two medium slices roast tenderloin of beef, Cooked asparagus, Carrot sticks, Champagne.
- Wednesday:
- Breakfast: one half cupful of apple juice, One soft-boiled egg, One slice whole wheat toast, One glass of champagne.
- Lunch: sliced tomato and cucumber salad, One slice of breast of turkey, Whole wheat muffin, Small bunch of grapes, Glass of champagne.
- Dinner: one slice baked ham, Mixed green salad, Baking powder biscuit, One slice of pineapple (no juice if tinned), One glass of champagne.
- Thursday:
- Breakfast: scant half cupful of orange juice, Three slices lean bacon, One poached egg, One slice whole wheat toast, Glass of champagne.
- Lunch: ground beef pattie, Asparagus tips on lettuce, One slice whole wheat bread, One fresh peach, Champagne.
- Dinner: two rib lamb chops, Lime gelatine salad, Green peas, Bran muffin, Three apricot halves, Champagne.
- Friday:
- Breakfast: half-cupful tomato juice, One egg sautéed in half teaspoonful butter, One slice whole wheat toast, Champagne.
- Lunch: cup of consomme, Small salmon steak, Cole slaw, Half small squash, boiled, One small slice French bread, Champagne.
- Dinner: half of broiled chicken, Carrot and celery sticks; radishes, String beans, Two whole wheat crackers, Pear half, Champagne.
- Saturday:
- Breakfast: grapefruit slices, One poached egg on whole wheat toast, One glass of champagne.
- Lunch: two-thirds cupful cooked mushroom- served on one cupful of steamed rice, One sliced tomato on lettuce leaf, Blueberries, Glass of champagne.
- Dinner: four small slices of roast leg of lamb, Mixed green salad, Spinach, Orange sherbet, Champagne.
- Sunday:
- Breakfast: half cupful orange juice, One egg scrambled in double boiler, One slice whole wheat toast, One glass champagne.
- Lunch: breast of chicken, two small slices, Two tablespoonsful cottage cheese with chopped celery, Brussels sprouts, One slice whole wheat toast, Fresh blackberries, Champagne.
- Dinner: broiled lobster, one cupful, Two tablespoonsful cottage cheese served with sliced beets on a lettuce leaf, One small slice French bread, Raspberries.
The diet's appeal likely stemmed from its promise of weight loss without complete deprivation, allowing individuals to enjoy a touch of luxury while restricting calories. However, it's important to note that this diet was published in a different era, with potentially different understandings of nutrition and health.
Read also: Best Wine for Keto
The Wine and Egg Diet: A More Restrictive Approach
Getting your summer body is tough, getting your summer body ready and giving up your glass of wine is tougher. Apparently, there was a solution in the '70s - eggs, dry Chablis, and coffee. The 1970s were a time of bold experimentation, from fashion to music, and even in the world of diet and nutrition. This was a diet that was as outrageous as it was oddly appealing: three glasses of wine a day, a few hard-boiled eggs, and some steak. That’s it. The Wine and Egg Diet first gained notoriety in 1977 when it was published in Helen Gurley Brown's book Sex and the Single Girl. The Wine and Egg Diet was as simple as it was strange. This diet was meant to be followed for three days, promising 5.5lbs of rapid weight loss.
In contrast to the "Champagne Diet," the "Wine and Egg Diet" was far more restrictive. It typically involved consuming a limited number of hard-boiled eggs, a few glasses of dry Chablis wine, and sometimes a serving of steak per day. This diet was touted as a quick weight loss solution, promising a significant drop in pounds within a few days.
While these historical diets may seem intriguing, it's crucial to approach them with caution and consider the potential health implications.
Modern Health Concerns and Expert Opinions
Any diet that cuts calories for a while is a good diet. Any diet you don't have to fight to stay on is a good diet-plus. What we're all for, therefore, is a calorie-cutting régime that offers a little joie de diet as well.
Today, health and nutrition experts emphasize the importance of balanced diets, sustainable lifestyle changes, and personalized approaches to weight management. Restrictive diets like the "Wine and Egg Diet" are generally discouraged due to their potential for nutrient deficiencies, muscle loss, and rebound weight gain.
Read also: Wine on a Keto Diet
Wines today are filled with additives like added sugar, dyes, and fake oak essence. All these will add pounds and pounding headaches. As the saying goes - abs are made in the kitchen.
Moreover, the quality of wine matters. Wines today are often filled with additives like added sugar, dyes, and fake oak essence, which can contribute to unwanted calories and potential health issues.
The Boiled-Egg Diet: A Modern Variation and its Implications
The boiled-egg diet is a modern variation of restrictive diets that focuses on eggs as a primary source of protein. While not directly related to wine consumption, it shares similarities in its emphasis on a limited food selection.
If you have a history of disordered eating, restrictive diets of any kind (including the boiled-egg diet) aren’t for you. Those living with chronic health conditions, especially any that require taking medication, would be wise to check with their healthcare team before making any dramatic changes to their diet - and the boiled-egg diet would count as dramatic.
On the other hand, people who don’t have a history of eating disorders or a current health condition are unlikely to face health issues if they do the boiled-egg diet in the short term. “I consider this a red-carpet diet. It’s only something to try when you want to see results quickly and you’re okay with feeling restricted for a short period of time,” says Shapiro. She notes that this diet takes its cues from the 1960s, a time when “it was considered ladylike and demure to restrict yourself,” she says. But that’s not a healthy headspace to be in.
The boiled-egg diet typically involves consuming only eggs, along with small amounts of non-starchy vegetables and lean protein, for a short period. While it may lead to rapid weight loss due to calorie restriction, it also raises concerns about nutritional adequacy and long-term sustainability.
Plus, there is continuing confusion about whether eggs are good for you, as they contain dietary cholesterol. Each boiled egg has 186 milligrams (mg) of cholesterol. One study concluded that each additional 300 mg of dietary cholesterol consumed per day was associated with a 17 and 18 percent increased risk, respectively, of cardiovascular disease and death from any cause.
The 2020-2025 Dietary Guidelines for Americans advise that dietary cholesterol consumption should be “as low as possible without compromising the nutritional adequacy in the diet.” The guidelines note that cholesterol naturally appears in small amounts in some animal foods.
Eggs are also flagged for their saturated fat content. Each large egg contains 1.6 g of saturated fat. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend capping daily intake of saturated fat at less than 10 percent of calories per day for optimal heart health. For a 2,000-calorie diet, that’s the equivalent of 22 g of saturated fat or less per day.
The debate surrounding eggs and cholesterol is ongoing. While eggs do contain dietary cholesterol, current research suggests that saturated fat intake has a greater impact on blood cholesterol levels.
So are eggs good or bad for you? Taking into account the research as a whole, Shapiro notes that it’s saturated fat in food that raises cholesterol, not necessarily dietary cholesterol. What’s more, “it’s the simple carbohydrates and sugars in foods that increase cholesterol and triglycerides. I wouldn’t worry about eating hard-boiled eggs daily,” she says.
However, while eggs are not especially high in saturated fat, if that’s the majority of what you’re eating, the saturated fat could add up. A diet high in saturated fat can lead to high LDL, or “bad,” cholesterol, levels, raising your risk of heart disease, notes the AHA. Individuals with high LDL cholesterol levels should consider reducing sources of both saturated fat and dietary cholesterol.
It's essential to consider individual health conditions and consult with a healthcare professional before making drastic dietary changes.
The Vogue Body and Beauty Book: Insights from the Past
“All women have bones, flesh, fat, skin, and hair,” begins The Vogue Body and Beauty Book.“All these present problems in varying degrees.” While to go so far as to call the body problematic seems a little drastic, the 1977 book by health and beauty writer Bronwen Meredith deals with the various issues of self-maintenance in 350 in-depth pages. Full of images, recipes, and tips, Meredith’s self-possessed prose lends massive entertainment, if not unwarranted leniency in its endearingly old-fashioned tone. Stern-yet-supportive, rigorous-yet-glamorous, some suggestions are wonderfully amusing. In the forward, Meredith reminds us that “the pursuit of beauty is not narcissistic, it is an essential way to build up confidence without which there is little achievement in anything.” In which case, jump on down to the highlights below (with some internal reading monologue from me).
Looking back at past beauty and health guides can provide valuable insights into societal attitudes and practices. The Vogue Body and Beauty Book, published in 1977, offers a glimpse into the self-maintenance advice of that era.
“The average woman has 206 bones in her body, but not always. She, like Adam, sometimes has an extra pair of ribs.” Does she, like Adam, receive this information from God? Or does her OB/GYN present them at birth? How will she ever know?!
The book covers a range of topics, from posture and exercise to skincare and makeup. While some suggestions may seem outdated or amusing by today's standards, they reflect the prevailing beauty ideals and health beliefs of the time.
“The habit of good posture can mean a young-looking figure for life; it creates an impression of vitality, confidence, and attractiveness.” True, cheap, easy.
Some of the advice, such as the importance of good posture and exercise, remains relevant today. However, other recommendations, like those promoting extreme calorie restriction or questionable beauty treatments, should be viewed with skepticism.
Black coffee or lemon tea allowed as you like, no sugar though. Presumably, the wine and steak diet is very rich. I mean this in fat, protein, and antioxidant content. But also, only for the very rich. I doubt Meredith would endorse a Two Buck Chuck or discount skirt steak. I imagine her saying purchase only the freshest, most organic meat and authentic ( meaning French ) wine. If you wish to eat out-and inevitably, you will-order the most expensive options because you value yourself highly.
The book also touches upon the connection between beauty, confidence, and self-esteem, highlighting the importance of a positive self-image.
Drinker’s Diet, what beautiful alliteration. Although, you must probably forfeit employment to follow it-or take very, very late lunches. And while I conceptually grasp the slimming benefits of alcohol (mainly, dehydration), what if alcohol confers that severe affliction, the drunchies? In that case, the loss of 5 pounds seems unlikely.
Concepts of the slimming benefits of alcohol are discussed, although the risk of overeating while drinking is also mentioned.
“Exercise is vital to overall health…the reason we do not devote more time to it is because of laziness and boredom.” But, exercise remedies laziness and boredom! Even thinking about exercise makes me lazy and bored!
The book also mentions exercise and gives tips on how to exercise in bed.
“If you have trouble getting up in the morning, these exercises are for you. Prime requisite is a firm mattress. I’ve always tried to be a morning-exercise person and failed. Only because getting out of bed in the morning is soooo hard! What an excellent alternative. There’s the “Air Walking” exercise, where your upper body remains on the bed while you kick your legs (like in swimming). Or the “Almost Up,” where you engage your abdomen and hold your legs and arms off of the floor. And “Bed Scissors!” Which is absolutely not as sexual as it sounds.
The importance of orgasms and their effect on looks and health is also discussed in the book.
“Orgasm…is a powerful tonic to looks and health. If you make love you will glow and look more beautiful.” We’ve reviewed the products that simulate that post-coital glow, but we should consider reviewing the tonic that actually gives you that postcoital glow!
The book also mentions natural ways to help counteract odor.
“These help counteract odor but cannot control wetness…Rub underarms with leaves of parsley, watercress, outer dark lettuce leaves, tops of beets, or radish.” Reduce, reuse, recycle.
The book also touches upon when women are "finished."
“Finished” is an ambiguously strong word. Does Meredith mean women were literally “finished”? That they had “expired”? Or does she mean socially “finished”? Or sexually? Making “finished” a synonym for “ruined”? Be specific!
Ultimately, The Vogue Body and Beauty Book serves as a reminder of how beauty standards and health advice have evolved over time.
As they say, you can’t put a price on beauty, but you can indulge your hedonic side for $2.04 on Amazon. For a mild, amusing sedative to the world, I highly suggest purchasing The Vogue Body and Beauty Book.