This Nutritionist's Manifesto Against the Whole30 Will Shake Your View of Healthy Eating

'In many ways, Whole30 is worse than a self-titled diet because it pretends it’s not a diet at all.'

By Rebecca Scritchfield, Contributor

An Anti-Whole30 Manifesto

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Sure, Whole30 encourages consumption of healthy, unprocessed foods, but it's a distraction from true mental and physical health, some professionals say. 

PEOPLE EVERYWHERE ARE trying Whole30, a program that requires followers to completely eliminate all sugar and sweeteners, grains, legumes, dairy and alcohol for 30 days. Cutting out these food groups, followers hope, will allow them to identify – and then eliminate forever – those foods that are causing digestive issues, allergies, chronic pain, hormonal imbalances, skin problems and pretty much any other problem they're trying to solve. Weight loss is just an "added benefit," they say.

Given Whole30's widespread popularity and highly appealing promises, you might wonder, "Should I try it too?" In short: Hell, no! In long, read on.

The Whole30 Trap

Yes, Whole30 encourages consumption of healthy, unprocessed foods, including plenty of fruits and vegetables. Yes, Whole30 doesn't involve calorie counting or monitoring your weight. Yes, Whole30 is "only" 30 days.

But – but – Whole30 is a distraction from true mental and physical health. Why? Because it's an incredibly restrictive diet that espouses the idea that your worthiness is tied up in your weight, appearance and ability to resist temptation. In many ways, the Whole30 "program" is even worse than a self-titled "diet" because it pretends it's not a diet at all.

"Our premise is simple," co-founder Melissa Hartwig writes on the program's website. "Change your health (tastes, blood sugar regulation, hormonal balance, digestion, immune system), habits (how you reward, self-soothe, comfort, and show love to yourself), and emotional relationship with food (losing cravings, attachments to, and dysfunctional thoughts around food), and a healthy body composition has to follow. It HAS to."

But here's the problem: Your body doesn't have to change because we are not all meant to be one size, shape, height or weight, thanks to genetics. Plus, we humans (thankfully) are built to survive restriction and increase our drive to eat the very things we've been avoiding.

What's worse, for me, is the psychological damage this message could cause. If you buy into the idea that losing your dysfunctional thoughts around food will result in body composition changes, you'll blame yourself for the body you have.

This fantasy that you have absolute control over your appearance and that your emotions are problematic is ripped from the diet rule books – keep people coming back, make them hope to do better next time, encourage them to repent for all their "sins." This looks more like the cycle of addiction than any sort of helpful plan.

Plus, to truly tackle emotionally driven behaviors around food, you have to remove biological forces, like restriction, that trigger emotional urges in the first place. This important work should not be done in a chat room; it should be explored in collaboration with health professionals who value mental health and well-being over body changes.