The Fat Flush diet plan was devised by nutritionist Ann Louise Gittleman, who believes that the keys to being overweight are liver toxicity, water-saturated tissues, fear of eating fat, excess insulin, and stress. Despite Gittleman stating that her plan is “as easy as 1-2-3,” one reader described the Fat Flush diet plan as “incredibly complex in its explanations and expectations of her followers.”
The Fat Flush diet plan instructs followers to avoid white flour, white sugar, margarine, shortening, artificial sweeteners, and caffeine, and emphasizes 8 ounces or more of protein, including two eggs a day, fat healthy as Omega 3 and 6, vegetables, spices, water and 8 glasses a day of diuretic drinks.
Like the South Beach diet and similar diet programs, the Fat Flush diet plan is divided into three phases, with the first being extremely restrictive. In phase one of the Fat Flush diet plan, you are told to consume 1,100 to 1,200 calories per day, which for many people will be much less than what your body requires. You also eliminate grains, bread, cereals, starchy vegetables, dairy products, alcohol, and oils/fats (except flaxseed oil).
After two weeks on the Fat Flush diet plan, or four weeks if you have more than 25 pounds to lose, gradually increase your calorie intake and add healthy carbohydrates and dairy products while avoiding the bad foods mentioned and following certain rules, such as have a protein-rich food with each meal, do not eat vegetables and fruits together, do not eat milk and meat together, and do not drink water with meals.
The Fat Flush diet plan claims to “melt fat from your hips, waist, and thighs in two weeks” and to reshape and detoxify the body. However, there are no clinical studies to support the effectiveness of the Fat Flush diet plan for weight loss and maintenance. Detox diets generally have very little evidence to back up their wild claims and most experts don’t buy into the whole concept of “fat dumping.”
Therese Franzese, MS, RD, director of nutrition at Chelsea Piers Sports Complex in New York City, says you can’t detoxify your liver or speed up your metabolism with specific foods. She also says that any weight loss that results from the Fat Flush diet plan is solely due to a calorie deficit.
In terms of physical activity and exercise, the Fat Flush diet plan recommends walking and jumping on a mini-trampoline in the initial phases, and weight training in phase three. While I agree with the weight training recommendation, I wonder how walking and a mini-trampoline, as the Fat Flush diet plan suggests, can be effective for a world where at least 400 million are obese?
Another factor to keep in mind is that the Fat Flush diet plan would be very challenging if you are a vegetarian or vegan, as animal proteins play an important role in this diet. Also, the Fat Flush diet plan can be expensive, since you have to spend a lot of money on supplements, powders, and oils, plus more fish and meat than you may be used to buying.
In short, the Fat Flush diet plan teaches some very important lessons, such as the importance of drinking water, eating healthy fats, cutting out junk carbs and caffeine, and limiting alcohol. However, like many diets, the Fat Flush diet plan makes the mistake of recommending an initial low-carb, low-calorie phase that for many people can have long-lasting health consequences.
