The Sonoma Diet: Dr. Connie Guttersen InterviewYou’ve written that the Sonoma Diet is the “next step” diet. Why is this?
In the past, when you heard the word “diet” it was how many days were you on it until you were off. Then you could either try another one or go back to what you were doing before; it was always a temporary stage.
The Sonoma Diet is a way of eating that becomes a lifestyle that you don’t want to give up. It has nothing to do with low-carb or low-fat. The “next step” recognizes that artificially low levels of dietary fat or carbs are neither pleasing or healthy.
You divided your diet into three segments, or Waves. Why did you make Wave One ten days long, and how long does Wave Two last?
The first part, or Wave One, is 10 days long because it allows you to really get a jump start and completely focus on the triggers that put extra pounds around your waist. This is when you see the greatest change, especially around the waist.
For most people who want to lose weight, that is where the weight is. We know that those extra pounds around the waist, the spare tire, is a red flag for heart disease, diabetes, inflammation, and possibly even Alzheimer’s.
Those first 10 days are designed to deal with sugar cravings and improve energy levels. They also target hunger. It’s enough time to get the motivation going. Wave Two is where you stay until you reach your goal weight, and Wave Three is the lifestyle phase, for after you have reached your goal weight.
Isn’t Wave One more restrictive and a little harder for people?
Yes. It’s a little more difficult because there is no wine allowed. There’s also no fruit for that time period, because we really want to restrict the sugar for those first 10 days. For the majority of people who need to lose weight, they sure love the sweets.
If you’re somebody who’s used to eating a lot of really intense sweet flavors, your taste buds are almost blunted. In those first 10 days your taste buds regenerate themselves. And it seems to be enough time to get over the worst cravings for sweets.
Then on the eleventh day, when you bite into a strawberry or a blueberry, you can really taste the natural sweetness and you think Wow, this tastes great!
You recommend in your book that people start by completely cleaning out their kitchen and throw out everything with white sugar or white flour in it.
It helps if you don’t have these things around tempting you. I say that in the book just to make a point. I have kids, so I know that you can’t necessarily throw everything out-but get rid of the stuff that really tempts you, and replace it with healthier things.
Some diet books tell you to remove items with even the slightest amount of sugar, such as salad dressings, sauces and marinades. Do you think that’s necessary?
No, I don’t think so. Realistically, you may end up with a few things that are good products but have a little bit of sweetness. Just use a little common sense and don’t be obsessive.
You don’t believe in the whole low-carb fad, do you?
Not at all. In the Sonoma Diet you never cut the carbs-it’s whole grains all the way. I don’t believe in low-carb eating. Whole grains are power foods and they are extremely important.
What’s the difference between Wave One and Wave Two in the Sonoma Diet?
Wave One is a little more restrictive. On Wave One we’ve seen people lose up to 7 pounds in those first 10 days. And I know some people are tempted to stay on Wave One longer, but it’s not worth it.
Go to Wave Two on the 11th day. In Wave Two you can have wine; you can have a little bit of dark chocolate; you can have fruit. You’re really eating from all the food groups, and in the smartest combinations.
So what you discover is that you can stay on this for a really long time. It’s comfortable, and you’re not hungry. Most people lose about one to one and a half pounds a week. Wave Two is where you stay until you reach your goal weight.
If you push too hard with Wave One, you won’t be able to sustain it and you could end up with the yo-yo effect.
Absolutely. You want to eat good food and enjoy it. What I like about Wave Two is that it works for the entire family. You are not forced to eat something different from everybody else.
And then, once you’ve reached your goal weight, you’ll find Wave Thee is not really what you would call “maintenance.” You’ve changed your entire approach to eating-for the better.
You’ve eliminated sugar cravings so that sugar-sweetened items are back to being what they are meant to be-occasional treats.
When we interviewed Dr. Andrew Weil, he had a lot to say about the benefits of the Mediterranean diet. He also talked about how important it is socially and culturally to enjoy your food.
Our climate here in Sonoma County, California is very similar to the Mediterranean climate. So there’s a parallel there.
There is a parallel, and I spend a lot of time talking about the Mediterranean diet in the introduction of my book. I think it’s a very healthy way to eat and easily adapted for people in the United States.
The Sonoma Diet is inspired by the Mediterranean way of eating: using natural ingredients, lots of fresh produce, olive oil, whole grains-and having a slow and relaxed meal with a glass of wine.
But the Mediterranean diet is not a weight loss plan. The Sonoma Diet incorporates a plan to get those extra pounds off.
Another nutritionist we’ve interviewed is Ann Louise Gittleman. She says that too much sugar is the number one problem with the Standard American diet (the S.A.D. diet). What do you think about that?
If it’s not at the top, it’s right up there. Actually, I’d have to say processed foods are even more of a problem than sugar. I think the quality of the food most Americans eat is very poor.
Too much sugar is definitely a problem, but the food that many people eat is so processed that it’s basically absent of nutrients. So you get all the calories but none of the nutrients.
That’s why in the Sonoma Diet I really stress smart combinations of foods and whole, unprocessed foods, so that people get proper nutrition.
The whole grains, which are the good carbohydrates, are nutrient dense and those white flour processed carbs are nutrient lacking, aren’t they?
That’s right. And with some of the supermarket brands that are supposedly whole wheat, all they do is add the fiber back in.
So it’s not really a whole grain. The benefits of whole grains are beyond just the fiber-it’s the phytochemicals, the vitamin E, the selenium, the magnesium, the protein.
There’s lots of things in whole grains beyond just fiber that have been found to help people lose weight, contribute to satiety and prevent the risk factors for diabetes, heart disease and Alzheimers. [source: SG]
Note: There are two more parts to this interview, which I will post in the coming days.