Advocates of the Perricone Diet---developed by Dr. Nicholas V. Perricone---suggest that following it is a great way to feel good, lose weight and look better and younger. By incorporating foods known to fight biological and environmental factors that affect the way we age, the Perricone Diet focuses on weight loss and disease prevention with healthy skin as a secondary benefit.
Perricone Diet Fundamentals
Perricone's diet focuses on the negative effects of chronic inflammation on our bodies and our health. You may be familiar with what is known as acute inflammation---abrasions and other skin trauma---resulting from trauma to, or overexposure of, the skin. However, you may be less familiar with what Perricone describes as an internal and invisible chronic inflammation resulting from the mistreatment of our bodies. An unhealthy diet and chronic exposure to stress result in this type of inflammation, which is associated with obesity, an inability to lose weight, mental health issues like depression and chronic and terminal illnesses like diabetes, heart disease and cancer. Perricone suggests that every allowable food on his diet is one that alleviates and prevents chronic inflammation.
Foods to Avoid
The Perricone Diet says it's imperative to avoid high-sugar foods containing refined products. Perricone also suggests avoiding less obvious types of food, such as rice, that our bodies readily convert to sugar for energy. The list of "pro-inflammatory" foods to avoid includes fast foods, desserts like pastries and pie, pasta, margarine, fried foods, most cheeses and soda. Also avoid corn syrup, shortening, potatoes, popcorn and foods containing corn starch. Rather than using vegetable oil when you cook, substitute olive oil, which contains beneficial healthy fat. Instead of drinking fruit juices, eat fresh fruit to get more fiber and avoid added sugars. In general, apply common sense and your knowledge of food to direct you toward healthy foods allowed on the Perricone Diet.
Foods to Include
High in omega-3 fatty acids, wild Alaskan salmon is an important protein component of this diet, and Perricone recommends that you incorporate at least three servings of the fish into your diet per week. Although more expensive than farm-raised salmon, the extra investment allows you to avoid potentially harmful antibiotics and other chemicals. Perricone states that, "brightly colored fruits and vegetables signal the presence of antioxidants, nature's natural anti-inflammatories." Since antioxidants are known as age fighters, include foods like deep greens and red peppers into your menu. Nuts and seeds contain beneficial protein, a healthy nutrient that will also satiate your hunger. Also, include the fruits and vegetables containing heart-healthy fats---olives, avocados and coconut---into your new regimen.
Superfoods
According to Health Products Report, Perricone recommends that you consume an abundance of 10 "superfoods," which are those foods containing maximum levels of inflammatory-reducing properties. These superfoods include acai berries, foods from the allium family like leeks, chives, onions and garlic, buckwheat, hot peppers, nuts and seeds, beans and lentils, barley, kefir and yogurt, spouts and green foods.
Example One-day Menu
All days on the Perricone Diet are structured identically, and they include breakfast, lunch, a snack, dinner and finally, a bedtime snack. An advocate of what Perricone teaches, Oprah Winfrey has featured his diet on several episodes of her television show. In addition, on her website, she provides a sample five-day Perricone Diet Menu. By using that sample, you could develop a one-day menu that looks like this.
Breakfast includes 1/4 cup slow-cooked oatmeal with 1 tbsp. of berries, 3 oz. smoked or grilled salmon and 8 oz. water. Lunch is a tofu salad and 8 oz. water. For a snack, eat three cherry tomatoes, one hard-boiled egg, three walnuts and drink 8 oz. water. Dinner includes a wild salmon fillet on a bed of greens with 1/4 cup of steamed asparagus and 8 oz. water. The bedtime snack is 1/4 hummus, one celery stalk and 8 oz. water.
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