It has racked up almost 1.2 million hashtag posts and generated over 50 other auxiliary hashtags (think #whole30approved and #whole30challenge), but what exactly is the #whole30 diet currently sweeping Instagram?
Created in 2009 by certified sports nutritionists Melissa Hartwig and Dallas Hartwig, the Whole30 diet is based on cutting out "psychologically unhealthy, hormone-unbalancing, gut-disrupting, inflammatory food groups" for 30 days.
The Whole30 diet focuses on eating real food including meat, seafood, eggs, vegetables, fruit, and good fats such as those found in oils, nuts and seeds. On the banned list is real and artificial sugar, all forms of alcohol, grains, legumes, dairy, carrageenan, MSG and sulfites.
"There is no caloric restriction, no counting, weighing, measuring, and no pills, powders, or shakes. In fact, you're not even allowed to step on the scale for 30 days, to encourage you to pay attention to all of the other amazing changes that are happening to your energy, sleep, digestion, mood, chronic pain or fatigue, athletic performance, and cravings," Hartwig tells attn:.
But while Whole30 is not about weight loss but rather resetting your health, "improving your blood sugar regulation and metabolism, healing your gut, and changing your relationship with food does promote safe, sustainable weight loss," reveals Hartwig.
