Health & Lifestyle

The Engine 2 Diet: How it Will Take Vegans to Another Level

Rip Esselstyn, an athlete and firefighter with a strong background on health, wrote The Engine 2 Diet: The Texas Firefighter’s 28-Day Save-Your Life Plan That Lowers Cholesterol and Burns Away the Pounds, a bestselling book that covers all information you need to know about how vegan diet can help you prevent heart disease while nourishing yourself.

Caldwell Esselstyn, Rip’s father, served at Cleveland Clinic, which George Crile founded. He is Rip’s great-grandfather. Caldwell served as chief of surgery, which allowed him to conduct extensive research on the impacts of plant-strong diets on heart health.

With the Engine 2 Diet, the dieters are not allowed to use vegetable oils, which is the new twist of the diet. This is far from other types of diet that limit fat consumption. With Engine 2, however, dieters are advised to consume natural and whole vegetable fats.

You’ll likely increase the risk of developing and acquiring heart disease, cancer and autoimmune diseases when you consume omega-6 fatty acids in excess. These are found in vegetable oils. You’ll also suffer from negative impacts when you consume animal food fats. Esselstyn expressed his belief that these fats promote plaque formation, which usually clogs arteries.

What is Plant Power?

The Engine 2 Diet is a plan that also offers suggestions for fitness improvement. This is because Esselstyn is a go-for-it type of guy and a former professional athlete. Before you start the diet, he recommends that you take cholesterol test and determine your weight so you’ll have a basis when tracking your progress.

You have two choices in implementing the diet. One is the gradual approach, which is labeled as “fire cadet” method. The other is complete overhaul in your lifestyle. To some, the cadet method, which is a 28-day challenge, is more appealing. This is particularly true id one follows mainstream lifestyle.

However, vegetarians, vegans and others are more determined and, thus, choose the harder approach because they want to see the results immediately. If you agree with the, you should start emptying your pantry, freezer and refrigerator of processed foods, animal products and any item that has more than 2.5 grams of fat for every 100 calories.

The Engine 2 Diet calls you to ditch all of the processed foods while cutting out vegetable oils and animal products. Replace the unhealthy foods with nuts, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and beans.

On the other hand, the 28-day challenge gives dieters the option to wade on a weekly basis. During your preparation, you have to redefine which foods are good for you and which ones are not. If an item doesn’t fit the guidelines of Engine 2 Diet, give it away.

The 28-day challenge is divided into four parts:

1. First Week – Remove dairy products and processed foods.
2. Second Week – Don’t consume meat, fish, eggs and other animal products.
3. Third Week – Eliminate added oils from your meals.
4. Fourth Week – Stick and settle with the diet program.

On the Esselstyn website, there are videos, information and support that can guide through each part of the diet.

The Engine 2 Diet book, which Esselstyn wrote, offers a lot of menus and recipes. He’ll include more in the follow-up book entitled My Beef with Meat: The Healthiest Argument for Eating a Plant-Strong Diet. So, you may modify or incorporate your favorite meals and foods if you find it easy in the kitchen.

Esselstyn emphasizes that you need to eliminate oils and processed foods to lose weight and keep your heart health. Thus, you can drop cholesterol levels and lose weight through consumption of any plant food that you want.

What are the Benefits?

The Flexitarian Diet is like the Engine 2 Diet. However, it allows for the inclusion of some animal protein, which dieters can consume one or two times a week while maintaining focus on the consumption of plant foods. This, even while Esselstyn has good company in terms of his enthusiasm and optimism for plant-strong diets.

Today, exploration about plant-based diets’ potential benefits in decreasing cholesterol is still being conducted. For example, Stanford did a comparison of two different diets that attempts to lower the levels of lipids. It was conducted for 4 weeks.

The diets are low-fat diet that includes nutrient-dense plant foods such as vegetables and fruits in greater quantities and the other is a standard low-fat diet. Surprisingly, there was a more dramatic decrease in cholesterol levels in the group that included plant foods.

In a 2012 report, the National Institutes of Health stated that dieters have lower total cholesterol levels, lower blood pressure, and healthier measurements of triglyceride, which is likely because of the intake of high fiber due to a plant-based diet.

There are surveys that confirmed that people who eat meat usually shells out more money on medical related expenses and they run heavier compared to vegetarians. Also, they have higher rates of developing chronic illnesses.

However, vegans need to look for substitutes that will supplement them with Vitamin B-12 found in animal products. The red blood cells enlarge when the body is short of Vitamin B-12. This results to neurological disorders such as dementia and several body malfunctions such as muscle weakness.

Luckily, there is a wide range of options for healthy foods in Western countries. This doesn’t make it difficult to have access to minerals such as iron and zinc, sufficient protein, essential fatty acids, and necessary vitamins.

Around two-thirds of the world’s population primarily rely on plant foods while the remaining one-third relies on nay meat-based diet. There is less land resources and water requirement for plant-based diets. So, if you shift from a meat-based diet to a plant-based one, you’re helping in the improvement of the ecosystem.

Today, about 5% of Americans are considering themselves as true vegetarians. However, there is a strong continues growth in the shift to plant-based diets.

Apparently, a huge number of people have already got an interest in the Engine 2 Diet. If you’re willing to eliminate oils, you can be like Esselstyn who enjoy plant-based foods without limitations, which are packed with less body fat and protects tickers from animal fats that clog arterial walls.

Dukan Diet: What is it and What is the Power of Protein?

Dukan Diet was coined after Pierre Dukan, a French physician who developed a diet plan that will help you lose weight faster than other plans. It will also help you stabilize your weight through the redesigning of your eating habits.The initial phase of the diet involves a menu with protein-only meals. This is an extreme take on the power of protein for faster weight loss.

Attack phase is the introductory stage when you are only allowed to eat poultry, fish, meat, vegetable protein like tofu and seitan, pork, eggs, game meats, and non-fat dairy. You’re also allowed to consume oat bran, and only non-caloric drinks such as diet soda and water for beverages. This phase will take about 5 days if you need to lose 20 to 40 pounds, but will vary depending the amount of weight you need to lose.

The National Institutes of Health, in its report, stated that you can be protected from Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and other neurological disorders if you follow a ketogenic diet. With Dukan Diet, you undergo ketosis, a process that utilizes stored fats in your body to supply you fuel because there are no carbohydrates.

Cruise phase is the next step when you are allowed to consume protein but with the addition of vegetables on specified dates. You can expect 2 to 4 pounds drop in your weight weekly. You’ll be successful in losing weight if you strictly follow the diet guidelines and stringent rules.

Be Decisive to Take Control

In 2010, 1,500 respondents who follow the diet were surveyed, and results showed that for the first 2 phase there’s an average loss of around 16 pounds.

The kind of diet plans and how strict to stick to it, your age, and the amount of weight you want to drop are the considerations when calculating the time you need for each phase. Before you start the diet, you should have an initial plan already according to Dr. Dukan.

Dukan Diet will work for you if you follow the rules strictly.

For how long you’ll stay in the Attack phase depends on these loose guidelines: more than 20 pounds requires around 10 days; 20 pounds requires 3 to 5 days; and, 10 pounds requires 1 to 2 days.

What are the four phases of the Dukan Diet?

1. Attack Phase

Food allowed are protein only. Your body is subjected to ketosis, when you need to drink 6 to 8 glasses of water every day to flush ketones out of the body through urine. You need to have some carbs, so take around 20 grams of oat bran every day. For exercise, walking is recommended. When your body starts to burn fat, water starts to flush out.

2. Cruise Phase

Add to the protein foods some non-starchy vegetables. Do it every two days or you may customize alternation pattern based on your weight goals and lifestyle. In this phase, expect to drop 1 pound every 3 days. Increase consumption of oat bran to 30 grams. To achieve the maximum weight loss, walk daily for 30 minutes.

3. Consolidation Phase

You need to allot five days for every pound you dropped during the Attack and Cruise phases. This is to prevent weight gain. Divide this phase in two parts equally. For the first part, indulge in a celebratory meal that has an entrée, appetizer, dessert, and glass of wine, and consume one serving once a week. Eat 42 grams of hard cheese, 2 slices whole grain bread, 1 piece fruit every day. For the second part, maintain the 30-gram oat bran consumption. Then, make celebratory meal, starchy vegetable and fruit to two servings each.

4. Stabilization Phase

This phase doesn’t restrict the kind of foods you can eat. Based on the new eating habit you’ve acquired, you now have the power to regulate what you eat. Then, follow these 3 requirements: eat protein only 1 day weekly; whenever you can, walk up and down the stairs; and, consume 30 grams of oat bran every day.

What are the Risks?

The plan is a protein-only foods diet that include oat bran as a source of fiber. However, it is very far from the consumption of abundant vegetables and fruits, which is being consistently advised today. Thus, the diet will keep your fiber intake at low for a longer period especially if you have more weight to lose. It has been shown in several studies that you’ll be protected from the development of cardiovascular disease when you consume more fiber.

In a statement, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine said that you can prevent and manage cancer, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity and other chronic health conditions when you eat plenty of vegetables and fruits.

In a 14-year study that the National Institutes of Health conducted, of the 50,000 Japanese men and women were subjected to different diets. Those that consumed more fiber decreased the risk of developing any cardiovascular disorder.

A decrease in carbohydrates intake doesn’t only decrease the risk of developing chronic diseases as a result of weight loss, it also decreases blood triglycerides and cholesterol levels.

Dieters who consumed 20% of calories from soy products as main source of protein have experienced a drop in cholesterol levels. Thus, the United States Department of Agriculture keeps advising people to limit consumption of animal foods such as meat and other sources of saturate fats, as this is the best measure to control the levels of cholesterol.

A protein-only diet also improves response to insulin. The Attack phase, which almost doesn’t include carbs is essential in keeping the levels of blood glucose stable.

The USDA recommends plant-based diets because these reduce blood pressure, drop cholesterol levels, and promote weight loss. However, one ends up gaining weight again after losing weight fast. So, the key is to follow Dukan Diet’s four phases that takes off weight instantly, and then gradually and steadily to keep your new weight.

Summary

The Dukan Diet is a worthy consideration if you’re looking for a quick way to lose weight even if you’ll have limited options for nutrients.