As women get older, their bodies experience hormonal changes. This causes the metabolism to slow down, making it more difficult to maintain fitness levels. For many women, even cutting back on calories and increasing exercise won’t work.
The Galveston Diet is a weight-loss program designed by Dr. Mary Claire Haver, a board-certified OB-GYN, and doctor of perimenopausal women. It is specially designed to help hormones work to aid in weight maintenance. It focuses on using anti-inflammatory foods and intermittent fasting rather than restricting calories.
Read on to find out what’s involved.
How to Follow the Galveston Diet
The Galveston Diet is an online program you can follow for as long as you like. You can choose from one of three programs as follows:
Signature: The Signature Program costs about $59 a month and includes educational sessions, videos, 5 weeks of meal planning and recipes, lifetime access to all online materials, and a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Gold: The Gold package costs about $124 a month and includes a guide, a Move Mini-Course, a recipe collection, and a daily recharge journal.
Platinum: The Platinum package offers all the features of the Signature and Gold package, as well as 4 weeks of private diet coaching via Facebook.
While the diet is targeted at middle-aged women, there is also a Galveston Prime program suited to young adults.
What Can You Eat on the Galveston Diet?
The Galveston Diet focuses on anti-inflammatory foods while limiting those that are processed and contain artificial ingredients and added sugars. The foods you can eat include:
- Fruit
- Vegetables
- Lean meat protein (chicken, turkey, and fish)
- Legumes
- Whole grains
- Healthy fats (olive oil, salmon, seeds, and nuts)
- Full fat dairy
Foods that are not recommended include:
- Processed and fried foods
- Foods with artificial ingredients, colors, and flavors
- Foods with added sugar
- High fructose corn syrup
- Processed meats that contain nitrates and/or nitrites
- Refined grains and flours
- Canola and vegetable oils
- Alcohol
Intermittent Fasting is Key
Intermittent fasting is a cornerstone of the Galveston Diet. It incorporates 16/8 intermittent fasting, meaning you eat all your calories within an 8-hour window and fast for the other 16 hours of the day.
You may not consume any calories during your fasting window. Unsweetened tea, coffee, water, and zero-calorie beverages are acceptable.
Intermittent fasting restricts calories to promote weight loss. It also produces other benefits like reduced inflammation, improved insulin resistance, and a decreased risk of heart disease.
Other Diet Focuses
Here are some tenants of the Galveston Diet:
Anti-Inflammatory Nutrition
The Galveston Diet focuses on anti-inflammatory nutrition by encouraging the consumption of fruits and vegetables that are rich in plant compounds that fight inflammation. They lower chronic inflammation that’s associated with conditions like obesity, heart disease, cancer, and arthritis.
Fuel Refocus
The Galveston Diet resembles the Keto diet in that it encourages followers to get most of their calories from fat instead of carbs. It focuses on a split that involves getting 70% of calories from fat, 20% from protein, and 10% from carbs. This allows for a Fuel Refocus as you are getting more fuel from fats as opposed to carbs, which is recommended for promoting weight loss. However, it differs from a keto diet due to its intermittent fasting and its anti-inflammatory focus.
Is the Galveston Diet Effective?
Although the Galveston Diet has not been specifically studied to determine its effectiveness, its two main components – intermittent fasting and low carb dieting – have been researched for their weight loss effects with promising results.
One 3-month study of 40 people showed that 16/8 intermittent fasting successfully reduced belly fat and decreased waist size by an average of 2.1 inches. This is highly beneficial as abdominal obesity is a prime symptom in menopausal women and is directly linked with heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.
Another study involving overweight women showed that following a low carb 5:2 intermittent fasting diet led to success rates that were 18-25% higher than those who followed restricted calorie diets.
A 4-month study of 20 obese individuals shows that following a low calorie, low carb diet resulted in an average weight loss of 44%, 81% of which was fat loss. It was also effective in maintaining muscle mass and metabolic rate.
Galveston Diet Pros and Cons
So is the Galveston Diet worth pursuing? Here are some pros and cons to consider.
Pros
Reduces Inflammation: The Galveston Diet encourages the eating of anti-inflammatory and low-carb foods helping to protect the body against heart disease, neurological disorders, diabetes, liver disease, MS, and Parkinson’s.
Promotes Blood Sugar Management: Intermittent fasting and a low-carb diet can improve blood sugar management which can help prevent or delay the development of serious heart disease, vision loss, and kidney disease.
Encourages Meal Planning: The diet comes with meal planning and recipes so you can take the helm in coming up with dishes that work for you.
Teaches You How to Balance Hormones for Weight Loss: The educational sessions teach you healthy foods to eat and how to balance hormones to optimize weight loss.
Cons
May Be Low in Fiber: Low-carb diets tend to be low in fiber. This can result in inflammation; constipation, and it can negatively affect heart and gut health. It can also increase the risk of breast cancer.
Restrictive: People that find it difficult to follow a low-carb diet may not have an easy time sticking to the Galveston meal plan. They may also have a tough time dealing with intermittent fasting.
Can Cause a Rise in Cholesterol: Some people who follow high-fat diets may experience a rise in cholesterol levels.
Diet Has Not Been Scientifically Proven: While a low-carb diet and intermittent fasting have been shown to aid with weight loss, the diet itself has not been tested for its effectiveness.
The Galveston Diet offers its share of health benefits and may be effective for weight loss. But its restrictive nature means it may not be the right diet for everyone. Will you be trying it out to decide if it works for you?
A Better, Cheaper Option
After reading and researching the Galveston diet, we realized how similar it is to Prime Women’s Plate, a dieting app that’s specifically designed for women 50+. It offers the same benefits but is more cost-effective, starting at just $39 a month. Read more about the reasons to consider Plate to help reach your goals for healthier living.
Find out more about PLATE and how to become a member on Apple or Android.
Talk to a health professional before starting the diet if you are pregnant, breastfeeding, or experiencing any medical conditions.
Read Next:
Your Guide to the Hormone Reset Diet Plan
Is Eating Carbs Bad for Your Diet? Stop the “Carbage”
Detox Your Body and Get a Flatter Stomach with the Mayr Diet
