The Chemical Diet: A Comprehensive Review

The Chemical Diet is a fad diet that people claim helps kick-start weight loss.

Supposedly, the diet is based on the chemical constituents of specific food combinations, which are thought to amplify results and boost fat burning.

According to proponents of the plan, dieters can expect to lose up to 14 pounds (6.4 kg) by following the diet for just 1 week.

Proponents also say the diet reduces blood sugar levels and supports better long-term blood sugar control.

While there’s limited information available on the origins or history of the diet, it often appears on blogs and weight loss forums.

However, there’s no research on the diet and little to no evidence available to support its claims.

Summary

The Chemical Diet is a fad diet popular among weight loss blogs and forums. Proponents say it increases weight loss and improves blood sugar control. However, there’s no research to support these claims.

The Chemical Diet is a 7-day meal plan that proponents suggest you repeat once per month.

It involves following a strict regimen that consists of three meals per day. It doesn’t permit snacking between meals.

Although there are several variations of the diet with slight differences, it generally encourages eating a very limited selection of foods, including fruit, whole grain toast, eggs, and tomatoes.

Here’s an example of what people eat on the diet:

Day 1

• Breakfast: 1 slice of whole grain toast with 1 grilled tomato or canned tomatoes
• Lunch: fresh fruit
• Dinner: 2 hard-boiled eggs, 1 grapefruit, and salad with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, and celery

Day 2

• Breakfast: 1 hard-boiled egg and 1 grapefruit
• Lunch: grilled or roasted chicken with 2 large tomatoes
• Dinner: 1 slice of whole grain toast, grilled steak, and salad with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, and celery

Day 3

• Breakfast: 1 hard-boiled egg and 1 grapefruit
• Lunch: fresh fruit
• Dinner: 2 grilled lamb chops, 1 grapefruit, and salad with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, and celery

Day 4

• Breakfast: 1 slice of whole grain toast
• Lunch: fresh fruit
• Dinner: 2 hard-boiled eggs and salad with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, and celery

Day 5

• Breakfast: 1 slice of whole grain toast with 1 grilled tomato or canned tomatoes
• Lunch: fresh fruit
• Dinner: fish and salad with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, and celery

Day 6

• Breakfast: 1 glass of fresh grapefruit juice
• Lunch: fresh fruit
• Dinner: grilled chicken, 1 grapefruit, and carrots

Day 7

• Breakfast: 2 scrambled eggs with 1 grilled tomato
• Lunch: 2 poached eggs with spinach
• Dinner: grilled steak and salad with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, and celery

Note that the diet plan permits only the foods listed above. It doesn’t allow snacks or substitutions.

Although there are no guidelines for which foods you should eat during the 3 weeks you’re not following the diet, proponents recommend eating a healthy, well-rounded diet rich in nutrient-dense whole foods.

Summary

The Chemical Diet is a strict 1-week regimen that involves eating three meals per day consisting of only certain foods, including grapefruit, whole grain toast, tomatoes, and eggs.

The Chemical Diet sets strict guidelines on which foods to eat and avoid.

Foods to eat

The ingredients listed on the meal plan are the only foods you can consume while following the Chemical Diet.

This includes fresh fruits, eggs, and certain types of vegetables, grains, and meat.

Here are some of the foods the diet includes:

• Fruits: grapefruit, apples, bananas, oranges, pears, peaches, plums
• Vegetables: tomatoes, spinach, carrots, cucumbers, celery, lettuce
• Grains: whole grain toast
• Meat: steak, lamb chops, chicken, fish
• Eggs: hard-boiled, poached, and scrambled eggs
• Beverages: water, black coffee, unsweetened tea, grapefruit juice

Foods to avoid

Only the foods listed on the meal plan are allowed while you’re following the Chemical Diet.

All other foods are prohibited, including dairy products, grains, legumes, snack foods, and vegetables besides those listed above.

Here are some of the foods to avoid on the diet:

• Vegetables: sweet potatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, and all other vegetables not listed above
• Dairy products: milk, yogurt, cheese, butter
• Grains: quinoa, couscous, barley, rice, oats, buckwheat
• Legumes: beans, chickpeas, lentils
• Nuts: almonds, pistachios, walnuts, macadamia nuts, cashews
• Seeds: chia seeds, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds
• Snacks: chips, pretzels, candy, trail mix, popcorn, crackers
• Oils: olive oil, vegetable oil, coconut oil
• Sweeteners: sugar, honey, maple syrup, stevia
• Beverages: alcohol, soda, sports drinks, fruit juice, sweet tea

Summary

The Chemical Diet permits fruits, eggs, and specific types of vegetables, grains, meat, and beverages. The diet does not permit you to eat any other foods.

The Chemical Diet is a very low calorie meal plan that requires you to drastically decrease your food intake.

In fact, most days on the diet involve eating fewer than 1,000 calories and some days provide only 400–500 calories in total.

Therefore, the diet is likely to cause short-term weight loss by reducing your consumption of calories (1).

Although very low calorie diets may be effective initially, studies show that they’re likely to cause weight regain once you resume a typical diet (2, 3).

Low calorie diets may also increase your appetite, reduce lean body mass, and decrease the number of calories you burn during the day (4, 5).

This could make it more difficult to maintain weight loss in the long run.

Summary

The Chemical Diet significantly decreases your daily calorie consumption and may lead to short-term weight loss. However, it’s unlikely to be effective for maintaining weight loss in the long term.

Unlike many other diets, the Chemical Diet is straightforward and doesn’t have any complicated rules or regulations.

The Chemical Diet provides detailed guidelines on which foods you should eat and avoid, and some people may prefer this because it’s highly structured and simple to follow.

Additionally, the diet requires you to follow the strict eating plan for only 1 week at a time and allows you to eat whatever you’d like during the rest of the month.

This could be appealing for people who want to enjoy their favorite foods without any dietary constraints or commitments most of the time.

Summary

The Chemical Diet is straightforward and highly structured. It also only requires you to follow the diet for 1 week per month.

The Chemical Diet has several major downsides.

Overly restrictive

Most days on the Chemical Diet meal plan provide only a few hundred calories. This is significantly fewer calories than most healthy adults require, and it may be dangerous.

Although your calorie needs for weight loss can vary depending on factors like your age, activity level, and size, the Chemical Diet calorie intake still falls far below what experts recommend.

For long-term, sustainable weight loss, healthcare professionals recommend men consume around 2,000 calories per day and women consume about 1,500 calories per day (1).

Consuming too few calories per day can cause symptoms such as hunger, weakness, fatigue, headaches, dizziness, and nausea (6).

Yo-yo dieting can also contribute to several heart disease risk factors and may cause unstable blood sugar levels (7, 8).

Lacks essential nutrients

The Chemical Diet eliminates many healthy food groups and allows you to enjoy only a few specific foods per day.

This can make it more challenging to meet your nutritional needs and could also increase your risk of nutrient deficiencies.

Micronutrient deficiencies can cause a wide range of symptoms, including anemia, fatigue, impaired memory, and decreased immune function (9).

Meanwhile, diets lacking in important nutrients, such as protein, can cause symptoms such as stunted growth, weakness, and fluid retention (10).

Unsustainable and difficult to follow

The Chemical Diet is very restrictive and sets strict guidelines on which foods you can consume each day.

Although the diet is intended for you to follow for only 1 week at a time, it doesn’t offer any flexibility during that week. For example, it doesn’t allow you to enjoy any snacks between meals or make substitutions.

This can make it very difficult to follow, especially over extended periods of time.

The diet may also not be suitable for those with dietary restrictions, food allergies, or certain food preferences.

Summary

The Chemical Diet is overly restrictive, unsustainable, difficult to follow, and lacking in essential nutrients.

The Chemical Diet is a fad diet in which you follow a specific meal plan for 1 week per month.

Although the diet is straightforward and may cause weight loss, it’s likely to lead to weight regain and other negative health effects in the long run.

It’s also overly restrictive and unsustainable and may increase your risk of nutritional deficiencies over time.