The Sirt Food Diet: Activate Your ‘Skinny Gene’ with Chocolate, Kale, and Coffee!
Alas, another dietary trend has a seat at the table: the sirt food diet. Before you roll your eyes and move along, take a moment to internalize the fact that Adele, who looks better than ever, is one of its biggest supporters! Now do I have your attention? In “The Sirt Food Diet,” authors Aidan Goggins and Glen Matten promise a 7-pound weight loss in 7 days. Seems hard to believe a feat like that can be achieved in a healthy way, but sirt food enthusiasts claim it does.
The sirt food diet’s premise is simple: consume a diet high in sirtuin activators to look and feel better. A sirtuin is a type of protein that protects cells in the body from becoming inflamed and dying off. Its role is to regulate the activity of many key genes responsible for cell defense and reproduction, among others. Sirtuins are also linked to an increased metabolism, fat loss, and longevity.
But it’s not as simple as eating a diet full of sirt foods and calling it a day; in the beginning, and for best results, the diet requires a planned period of calorie restriction. Luckily, it only lasts one week.
It is in this period of calorie restriction that the body’s “skinny gene” is purportedly activated. Yes, we all have the skinny gene. Essentially, when energy is in short supply, which occurs during calorie restriction, more stress is placed on cells. Sirtuins sense this stress and are then switched on, causing cells to behave in radical ways. Sirtuins rev up the metabolism and increase the efficiency of muscles. They activate fat burning, reduce inflammation, and repair cell damage. The result is a fitter, leaner, and healthier you!
In a 2012 study, a sirtuin called Sirt6 exhibited the ability to extend the lifespan of male mice by nearly 16 percent. Another study showed that a sirtuin called Sirt1 correlated with a healthier metabolism in mice fed a high-fat diet.
Sure, sirtuin-activating foods help you cut the kilos, but the real appeal is in their apparent ability to support a longer and happier life.
The Sirt Food Diet Protocol
The first phase of the sirt food diet lasts one week and requires calorie restriction as well as a combination of sirt food juices and meals.
The first two to three days of the week limit consumption to between 800 and 1,000 calories per day. These calories come from a combination of 3 sirt food green juices and 1 meal rich in sirt foods. The remainder of the week sees an increase of calories per day to 1,500, which come from 2 sirt food green juices and 2 meals rich in sirt foods.
The second phase lasts 14 days, during which time steady weight loss occurs. For long-term maintenance, the authors recommend consuming 1 sirt food green juice and 3 meals rich in sirt foods per day.
Top 15 Sirt Foods
So what are considered sirt foods? Luckily, they’re all delicious and easy to incorporate into your diet.
What they all have in common are natural plant chemicals called polyphenols, which are responsible for switching on sirtuin genes. The polyphenols in plants allow them to adapt to the challenges of their environment, and when we eat plants with polyphenols, our stress-response pathways are activated and are able to simulate the effects of fasting and exercise without doing just that: fasting and exercising.
While all plants have an inbuilt system to respond to environmental stressors, only a select few are able to produce significant amounts of sirtuin-activated polyphenols. These are the sirt foods.
The following 15 sirt foods are the ones you should focus on when preparing home meals so that you get better results quicker (and maintain a level of sanity throughout the process).
- Black currants
- Green tea
- Dark chocolate
- Kale
- Olives
- Capers
- Parsley
- Turmeric
- Omega-3 fish oil
- Onions
- Coffee
- Walnuts
- Strawberries
- Celery (including leaves)
- Buckwheat
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