Forget calories, count ingredients if you want to reset your health.
That’s the core principle of a new diet devised by a doctor tipped for a role in the Trump administration.
‘If an item comes out of a packet and it contains five or more ingredients then it is not allowed,’ said creator Dr Aseem Malhotra.
‘There is nothing natural or healthy about items like that.’
A short ingredient list indicates food has been through very little processing. Though science hasn’t concluded exactly why, studies suggest the more processed your diet is, the higher the risk of conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure.
Those health problems – which affect a combined nearly 140million Americans and Britons – are who Dr Malhotra had in mind when he devised the diet.
The cardiologist claims his patients have reversed their prediabetes and lowered their blood pressure within 28 days on the diet, which isn’t meant to be followed forever.
Dr Malhotra – who DailyMail.com understands could be given a key role in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under Trump – acknowledges how strict it is.
While there is no calorie counting on the diet because ‘we don’t want people to feel hungry’, all sugary foods that lack fiber are banned, such as white bread, pasta and rice.
Dr Aseem Malhotra, a British cardiologist who is close to Robert F Kennedy Jr, told DailyMail.com that his Metabolic Reset diet will launch on February 10
He told DailyMail.com: ‘It’s for sugar addicts, like I used to be, who need to snap out of their addiction to junk food and reset their metabolic health.’
He only recommends following it for a month or so. After that, people can slowly reintroduce carbs on the weekends.
Dr Malhotra told DailyMail.com: ‘I know this stuff works, I’ve been doing it for years and recommending it to my own patients too.’
One man who took part in a pilot program for Dr Malhotra’s diet plan revealed he lost 11lbs and put his type 2 diabetes into remission after just four weeks.
Another dieter, aged 51, claimed that all of their joint pain disappeared when they cut out bread, carbs and cheese as part of Dr Malhotra’s plan.
Dr Malhotra, 47, has been working on the diet for the past two years alongside London-based nutritionist Kim Pearson and says it is largely based on the Mediterranean Diet (which is often hailed as one of the healthiest meal plans), with an emphasis on plant-based foods and healthy fats, such as olive oil and raw nuts.
He says ingredients like these are believed to help the body remove excess cholesterol from arteries and keep blood vessels open.
This in turn, helps to reduce the risk of diabetes and high blood pressure.
Dr Malhotra suggests a berry smoothie or vegetable omelet for breakfast.
Berries are packed with nutrients and antioxidants, and can be a good source of fiber, which can help with digestion and slow down food through the digestive tract. They are also filling and low in calories.
Berry smoothies are also rich in vitamins and minerals like vitamin C, vitamin K, potassium, B vitamins, and magnesium.
A protein salad is the recommended lunch option – load up on as much veg as you want. You can choose lean or fatty pieces of meat, and red meat is certainly not forbidden.
At night, Dr Malhotra and Pearson recommend a stir fry with fiber-rich Japanese noodles or meatballs with vegetable spaghetti.
You should eat three meals a day and leave four to five hours between each sitting.
As packaged foods with long ingredient lists are banned, Dr Malhotra’s diet will involve learning some skills in the kitchen.
He also admits that shopping for fresh ingredients will be ‘slightly more expensive’ but he highlights that this will save you money in the long run, as your medical bills will be reduced with the diet improving your health.
The doctor, 47, has been working on the diet for the past two years with nutritionist Kim Pearson, pictured
Participants should also ‘allow for a fasting window overnight of between 14 to 16 hours to reset the digestive system’.
The diet recommends eating at least five vegetables or pieces of fruit per day, with these included in at least two meals.
On the drinks side of things, Dr Malhotra says his diet plan only allows for zero calorie coffee, water and tea.
Diet sodas are banned, as he highlights that these ‘would be considered ultra processed with additives that have the potential to compromise health’.
He also explains that ‘fake sugars’ can cause people to develop a sweet tooth and crave all sweet foods, so ‘we want to work with people to unsweetened their sweet tooth and attune their palate to whole foods.’
Participants can also drink alcohol in moderation, with the suggested consumption being three small (175ml) glasses of dry wine or seven single (25ml) measures of white spirit.
Explaining why alcohol is allowed, Ms Pearson says: ‘We want to ensure that the plan is sustainable for people long term and for many, the ability to have a couple of glasses of wine a week is something they enjoy.’
But Dr Malhotra doesn’t suggest a junk food ban for America, admitting he himself was a former sugar addict who used to consume around 40 teaspoons a day.
Instead, his hope is that his diet will help Americans to kickstart new habits and from there, they can tailor it to suit their lifestyle.
This ‘makes goals more digestible’.
One of his ‘simple switches’ for Americans not on his diet plan is eating McDonald’s burgers without the buns. In one of his investigations, Dr Malhotra found the bread contains 50 additives, while the patties themselves with toppings are good to eat.
To make his Metabolic Reset diet more approachable, he says people can adopt the ’80/20 rule’ if they are really missing their guilty pleasures.
This allows them to stick to the diet 80 percent of the time, and cheat if it is the weekend or they’re at social events where their preferred ingredients might not be available.
Dr Malhotra says his diet plan is largely based on the Mediterranean Diet, with an emphasis on plant-based foods and healthy fats
Dr Malhotra’s views on processed foods offer insight into how the nation’s food policies could be shaped under the Trump administration.
He also has close ties to RFK Jr, Trump’s pick for secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, who has spoken at length about his plans to ban ultra-processed foods and tackle obesity.
Mr Kennedy proposes to change all that with his radical policies aiming to ban pesticides, food additives, seed oils and some ultra-processed foods.
Details on which could be banned are not clear, although the idea formed a key plank of his ‘Make America Healthy Again’ plan, which he said aimed to provide families ‘with safe food and end the chronic disease epidemic plaguing our children’.
He has only explicitly mentioned Yellow 5, but similar ingredients that could be under the microscope are Red 40, Blue 1, titanium dioxide, propylparaben and potassium bromate, which are often added to sweets and baked goods.
The ingredients, which are either banned or heavily regulated in Europe, have been the focus of new laws trying to make food safer.
Experts estimate the American diet is made up of 70 percent ultra-processed foods.
Dr Malhotra’s diet plan comes with a sign up fee of $50 and a monthly charge of $25.
This offers people meal plans, and access to educational advice and support through ‘an exclusive online platform.’
You can access it here metabolicreset.co