The SIRT diet is one of the trendiest ways to lose weight. It has recently gained a lot of publicity after singer Adele claimed to have lost over 40 kilos on it. What is the secret of this diet plan? What are the principles of the SIRT diet?
What is the SIRT diet?
The SIRT diet was developed by Aidan Goggins and Glen Matten - scientists from the University of Surrey in England. In 2016, they described this diet in the book "The SirtFood Diet". The SIRT diet combines calorie restriction with the consumption of special green smoothies that are rich in sirtuin activators.
The most important thing in the SIRT diet are the products that should be included in the daily menu, not those that need to be eliminated. At the first stage, we should exclude only processed and unhealthy products (e.g. fast food, instant) and those made of white flour.
Compared to other diets, these are not large restrictions, and at the beginning of the SIRT diet you can lose even three kilograms a week! In the first two stages, the diet involves significant calorie restriction, but this only lasts for a few days.
SIRT diet - stages
Goggins and Matten, the authors of the SIRT diet, divide its introduction into four stages.
Phase I
- - Duration: Day 1 - 3
- - Calories: 1000 kcal
- - What we consume: 3 sirtuin shakes + 1 sirtuin meal
Phase II
- - Duration: Day 4-7
- - Calories: 1500 kcal
- - What we consume: 2 sirtuin shakes + 2 sirtuin meals
Phase III
- - Duration: Day 8-14
- - Calorie restriction: no specific calorie restriction
- - What to eat: ideally 3 main meals, 1-2 snacks + 1 sirtuin shake
Phase IV
- - Duration: from day 15
- - Calories: no specific caloric restriction
What to eat: no strict recommendations, it is important to eat sirtuin products and drink green shakes.
As you can see, the first three days are the most challenging, when caloric intake is limited to 1000 kcal and the all-day menu consists of three servings of sirtuin green smoothie and one solid meal.
From the 4th to the 7th day, the energy value of meals should be increased to 1500 kcal, and during the day you should drink two shakes and eat two solid meals prepared with sirtuin products.
On days 8 to 14, there are no specific caloric restrictions, but you must include in your menu at least one shake and three meals prepared on the basis of sirtuin products.
From day 15, make sure to include as much sirtfoods as possible in your diet - try to eat three sirtuin meals and one or two snacks.
The sirt diet - as seen by a nutritionist
And how do we, dietitians, evaluate this diet? Due to the number of meals a day and their low calorie count (especially in the first stage of the diet) such weight loss as promised by the creators of the SIRT diet is possible.
However, the energy reduction of 30-50% of CPM (total metabolism) is quite drastic, so this diet cannot be used by everyone. Such a low energy supply forces the body to use accumulated reserves, which, according to the SIRT theory, can activate the slimness and youth gene (but there are not enough human studies to confirm the effect of sirtuins on body weight and draw reliable conclusions).
Dietary sirt - how sirtuins work
To date, it has been established that individual sirtuins:
- - slow down the aging process (at the cellular level)
- - deactivate free radicals, which are the main cause of many diseases: cancer, cardiovascular diseases and skin diseases
- - take part in repairing damaged genetic material
- - have a positive effect on metabolism
- - accelerate fat burning
- - regulate the level of glucose and insulin in the body
- - have a positive effect on the activity of thyroid hormones
The SIRT diet is not only a slimming diet, but first and foremost a way of nutrition which is worth following throughout your entire life.
