Hi, this is Monica Reinagal, and you're listening to the Nutrition Diva

podcast. Welcome. Today we're going to talk about the pros and cons of the popular Whole30 nutrition challenge,

along with some other ways that you might go about upgrading your nutrition.

I've gotten a lot of questions and emails about the Whole 30 Diet, including one from Jasmine, who wrote, I've recently been researching the Whole 30 diet promoted by Melissa Hartwig.

I've been reading her book and I was getting really excited

until I saw that the diet was ranked 38th out of 38

in US News and World Reports annual diet ranking.

I have found your balanced real world science-based approach to nutrition to be a breath of fresh air in the

often murky waters of fad diets and I trust your opinion.

So what do you think?

Is the Whole30 healthy or harmful?

Well first Jasmine I want to thank you for those kind words.

Your trust really means a lot to me.

And I think the Whole30 is a little bit of a mixed bag.

Now for those who may not be familiar with it,

the Whole30 is a popular 30 day nutrition

challenge that was created by Doug and Melissa Hartwig and they promoted on their

website which is Whole30.com and through several best-selling books. The Whole30 is described as a

Whole Foods approach, but the challenge is not just to eliminate processed and

packaged foods from your life for 30 days.

You're also instructed to avoid beans and legumes, dairy products, sugar, including natural

sweeteners like honey, apple syrup, alcohol, all grains, and

...