Have you heard about Adeles weight loss diet? Pictures were seen all over the web with some impressive weight loss results. Heres one example of Adele before her diet, and after her diet. From the reports that Ive read, apparently, she lost over 40 pounds:
Now, I dont really care much to read about celebrity weight loss trends (Im so out of touch with pop culture), and Im not really a fan of Adeles music to begin with. After all, she doesnt sound anything like Modern Talking. Plus, her songs are so whiney. But shes got a great voice, most people say. I agree. But why does she use that voice to sing such whiney songs? Anyways, I digress
Anyways when I heard about her diet, I wanted to take a look, since Ive never heard of that diet prior.
What Was Adeles Weight Loss Diet?
Like many celebrities, Adele dropped her calories super low 1000 calories per day, at first, eventually going up to 1500 calories per day.
Nothing really ground-breaking drop calories, lose weight.
What the diet really emphasized was foods high in a protein called sirtuin. These include red wine, dark chocolate, coffee (I see why this diet is gaining popularity), walnuts, kale, berries and others.
These foods are claimed to increase lifespan, and theyre part of a diet called the Sirtfood Diet. Which brings us to the question of
What is the Sirtfood Diet?
The Sirtfood Diet is a diet that supposedly helps you live longer. As mentioned in the previous section, the first few days of the Sirtfood diet, youre eating 1000 calories per day. But those calories are coming from red wine and dark chocolate, so thats cool.
The next few days, youre eating 1500 calories per day. More red wine and dark chocolate. Awesome (says the guy who doesnt drink. Anything. Such a bad Russian).
The next week is followed by what they call a maintenance phase, where the calories arent specified, but you start adding in green juices.
The magic of this diet is said to be all about the sirtuin proteins, which are found in the aforementioned foods.
There are 5 groups of people in different parts of the world, where people have unusual longevity (they live over 100), in good health: Okinawa (Japan), Sardinia (Italy), Ikaria (Greece), Nicoya (Costa Rica), and Loma Linda (USA). These are called the Blue Zones. Its been observed that these places have a high consumption of foods containing sirtuins.
So, it was theorized that its because of the sirtuins that people in these places live this long. Classic example of confusing correlation with causation.
Sure, people in these places have a higher consumption of sirtuins compared to the rest of the world. But, there are plenty of places that have a relatively high sirtuin consumption, but their lifespans are no longer than average.
Plus, people in Blue Zones have many more commonalities besides their sirtuin intake.
Classic example of taking a tiny, obscure aspect of physiology, and blowing it up, to make it bigger than it is.
Its also claimed that sirtuins help you lose weight. Of course, they help you lose weight. Youre only eating 1000-1500 calories per day. I think that has more to do with the weight loss than sirtuins. A nutrition professor lost 27 pounds in 10 weeks by eating twinkies but limited them to 1800 calories per day. Theres no magic here. Lower your calories, lose weight.
But because the Sirtfood diet now has Adele as a spokesperson, itll probably catch on with other celebrities, and will increase in popularity (though probably not to the extent of the keto diet). I also think that chocolate, red wine and coffee help it with its popularity.
Benefits of the Sirtfood Diet
Rarely is a diet good or bad. Theres one presentation that I do for corporations called Healthy Foods That Poison: Why Youre Getting Sicker and Fatter Despite Eating Healthier. The main message is that the person doing the diet matters as much to the success of the diet as the diet itself. Take two people, and put them on the same diet. One will thrive, the other will crash and burn. The diet hasnt changed the people did.
Same with the Sirtfood diet. Here are the benefits as I see them:
- They emphasize overall healthy foods kale, berries, walnuts, etc.
And well thats it.
Drawbacks of the Sirtfood Diet
The Sirtfood diet has many of the same drawbacks as most diets:
- The calories are way too low. The average adult needs 2400 calories per day. The first 3 days are 1000 calories, and the next 4 are 1500 calories. Fantastic way to set yourself up for weight regain.
- Protein is too low. The emphasized foods are chocolate, red wine, walnuts, berries, kale, etc. Wheres the meat and fish??? Low-protein diets are responsible for lots of issues frailty, hunger, osteoporosis, etc. And most notably, as it comes to weight loss rebound weight gain. Protein is very filling, so if youre not eating enough of it, youre hungry all the time.
- It doesnt address the underlying root cause of weight gain emotional eating, stress eating, cravings, lack of planning, etc. We dont need another diet. There are plenty of diets, and more than 1 way to lose weight. The problem isnt the what to eat. Its in addressing the underlying issues behind weight gain. Its in building healthy habits, and not another fad diet.
Although I wish Adele all the best, my prediction is that shell end up like Oprah in an endless cycle of weight loss, and weight gain.
Dont be like Adele. Eat a normal diet. And listen to Modern Talking.
