What is the Premise of the Mayo Clinic Diet

Versions of the Mayo Clinic Diet have been circulating the internet for decades. This diet circulates around the world in different forms, although it almost always specifies eating low-carbohydrates, eating a grapefruit with every meal, and eating all the protein and/or fat you desire.

This diet advocates consuming foods high in fat to eliminate hunger and it also advocates eating until you feel full and satisfied. They feel this method helps you stick with the diet.

However many versions there are of this diet, none of them are associated with or have been endorsed by the famous Mayo Clinic Health Center and Hospital in Rochester, New York. The Mayo Clinic endorses healthy eating and dietary guidelines, in accordance with official government advice, and the clinic also recommends that we follow the nutritional guidelines set forth in the food guide pyramid when dieting.

Foods You Can Eat

On the Mayo Clinic Diet plan, you can eat unlimited amounts of fruits and vegetables, lean protein, beans, fish, low-fat dairy, only whole-grain carbohydrates and unsaturated fats, particularly nuts, olive oil and canola oil. For your veggies, you may have red onions, radishes, bell peppers, broccoli, cucumbers, green onions, leaf spinach, cabbage, tomatoes, green beans, lettuce, and all green vegetables. You can eat chilli (no beans) mayonnaise, any cheese, hot dogs, cole slaw, regular salad dressing, 1 tsp nuts, dill or bread and butter pickles. This diet also emphasizes the consumption of grapefruit to help begin and accelerate the fat-burning process.

A typical daily menu on this diet would be as follows:

Breakfast diet: ½ grapefruit or 8 oz unsweetened juice, 2 eggs any style, 2 slices of bacon, black coffee or tea, no sugar

Lunch diet: ½ grapefruit or 8 oz unsweetened juice, salad and/or raw veggies (any dressing that is not low-fat or fat-free), meat (cooked the way you desire it)

Dinner diet: ½ grapefruit or 8 oz unsweetened juice, meat (cooked any way), vegetables (any green or red, may be cooked in butter or seasoning or a salad as above), black coffee or tea, no sugar.

Bedtime: If desired, 8oz tomato juice or skim milk

Foods You Can’t Eat

If you choose to follow the Mayo Clinic Diet, not many foods are considered to be off limit. However, this diet emphasizes not eating desserts, white vegetables, sweet potatoes, white onions, potatoes, celery, peas, cereal, carrots, corn, starchy veggies, bread, noodles, rice, potato chips, pretzels, fruit or diet dressing, and cutting back on coffee and eating between meals. This diet may eliminate sugars and starches; however, you can have all the fried foods you want and use butter generously on vegetables.

Success Rate

The author claims if you eat the combination of foods suggested, you will be satisfied and not be hungry. The author also suggests that you stay on the diet for 12 days and go off for 2 days.

Whatever version of the Mayo Clinic diet you encounter, they all have one similarity: they all state you will lose lots of weight rapidly, as much as 52 lbs in two months.