As a board-certified OB-GYN, Dr. Mary Clair Haver has delivered thousands of babies during her career. It’s certainly a rewarding occupation, but as her patient population has aged, the Galveston, Texas-based physician has delved into a different area of health. Her patients have been vocally concerned about gaining weight while going through menopause.
For years, Haver advised menopausal patients to eat less and exercise more to avoid putting on extra pounds. It wasn’t until she, too, experienced midlife weight gain that she realized this approach wouldn’t work.
To help her patients, she created the Galveston diet in 2018. Haver claims that the Galveston diet is the only eating regimen designed to help women address fat gain associated with perimenopause and menopause.
Perimenopause occurs during the six to 10 years in a woman’s life before her last menstrual period. When a woman hasn’t had a period for 12 months, she’s considered to be in menopause — assuming there is no other cause, such as pregnancy. The average age for menopause is 51.
During perimenopause, estrogen levels fluctuate, which causes symptoms that can include increased belly fat, hot flashes, irregular periods, hair loss, memory loss, bladder problems, mood shifts, sexual dysfunction and muscle or joint aches.
What Is the Galveston Diet?
To address the symptoms perimenopausal and menopausal women experience, the Galveston diet combines two popular eating approaches.
“The Galveston diet marries some of the principal concepts of the ketogenic diet with intermittent fasting,” explains Melanie Murphy Richter, a registered dietitian nutritionist based in Los Angeles.
The diet encourages lower carbohydrate intake and higher fat and protein intake. It also emphasizes anti-inflammatory foods, such as certain leafy greens and olive oil, to reduce chronic inflammation.
“Most foods on this diet are whole and unprocessed and are naturally low in sugar, high in fiber and other nutrients to lower the risk of disease and support overall health,” Richter says.
Processed foods, like those with added sugars and artificial ingredients, are especially limited on this diet, adds Lana Nasrallah, a clinical dietitian with UNC Health, a not-for-profit integrated health care system based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Foods with added sugar tend to have higher glycemic index scores, which increase blood sugar levels more rapidly than foods with a low score. Research suggests that limiting those foods can help with some symptoms associated with menopause. A study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, for instance, suggests that diets heavy in foods that dramatically increase blood sugar levels could be a risk factor for insomnia in postmenopausal women.
[SEE: From Fat to Fit: Tips for How to Lose Fat Fast]
Intermittent fasting
The Galveston diet doesn’t focus on counting calories. Rather, it recommends that its adherents adopt intermittent fasting, an eating regimen in which all calories are consumed within a particular window of time each day. It recommends the 16:8 approach, in which all calories are consumed within an eight-hour period. Haver says most of the people who subscribe to the diet adhere to this approach.
The fasting schedule has multiple benefits.
“This strict eating routine has been shown to improve hormone balancing in menopausal women, improve their ability to manage their weight, and it also touts better cardiovascular health, blood sugar regulation and reduced inflammation,” Richter explains.
Elimination of inflammatory foods
As the second component, the Galveston diet encourages limiting or avoiding foods associated with inflammation, including white flour, white rice, refined sugar and foods with high fructose corn syrup.
Fuel refocus
Adjusting your food intake to enhance your body’s burning of fat for energy is the last pillar of the Galveston diet. The online Galveston diet program and “The Galveston Diet” book both provide specific ratios of fat, protein and carbohydrates to consume for optimal fat burning for energy.
[READ: Does Keto Cause Menopause?]
Galveston Diet Meal Plan and Food List
Foods recommended by the Galveston diet include:
— Dairy.
— Fruits.
— Healthy fats.
— Lean proteins (meat, poultry and fish).
— Legumes.
— Vegetables.
— Whole grains.
The Galveston diet also recommends limiting the intake of:
— Alcohol.
— Cooking oils that may cause inflammation (canola oil and vegetable oil).
— Fried foods.
— Refined flours and grains.
Galveston diet shopping list
If you’re headed to the grocery store, here is a suggested list of items you may want to pick up:
— Lots of high-fiber and nutrient-dense leafy greens, such as spinach, kale and Swiss chard.
— Brightly colored vegetables, such as broccoli, bell peppers and red cabbage.
— Lean proteins, such as chicken, fish and turkey.
— Plant-based protein sources like tofu and tempeh.
— Olive oil and other healthy fats, such as avocados and avocado oil.
— Nuts and seeds.
— Legumes.
Sample weekly meal plan
When switching to the Galveston Diet, it can be helpful to plan your week’s list of meals so that you aren’t left scrambling when you’re hungry or too tired to shop.
It’s also worth noting that because the Galveston Diet advocates a 16:8 fasting schedule, most followers won’t be eating until about noon. So, the concept of breakfast may look a little more like lunch than you’re used to. To be clear, you can eat “breakfast” foods any time of day, but the emphasis here tends to be on more savory foods for the first meal of the day. The diet also recommends that followers eat two meals and two snacks per day. A sample weekly plan follows.
Day 1:
— First meal: Two scrambled eggs with spinach and tomato and a cup of fresh berries.
— Snack: Grilled chicken breast over mixed greens with fresh mushrooms, feta cheese and half an avocado.
— Second meal: Salmon and asparagus with olive oil and lemon drizzle.
— Snack: Half a sliced cucumber with a dollop of full-fat creamy dressing.
Day 2:
— First meal: A BLT sandwich with salmon.
— Snack: Two slices lean roast beef and two cheese sticks.
— Second meal: Chicken salad in lettuce wraps with cheddar cheese and almonds.
— Snack: Avocado chips.
Day 3:
— First meal: Greek yogurt with mixed berries.
— Snack: Two slices mozzarella cheese with onion, green bell pepper, olive oil, mushrooms, cooked spinach and Italian seasoning.
— Second meal: Salmon burger with tomato, avocado and lettuce.
— Snack: Cucumber slices with cream cheese and garlic powder.
Day 4:
— First meal: Veggie stir fry with sliced chicken breast, half an avocado and half a tomato.
— Snack: Cucumber with vinegar, dill, thyme and lemon.
— Second meal: Veggie curry stew with tomato, spinach, garbanzo beans, carrots and seasoning.
— Snack: Avocado chips.
Day 5:
— First meal: Roasted cauliflower with turkey tips.
— Snack: Hard-boiled egg with cheddar cheese, bacon and spinach.
— Second meal: Leafy green salad with chicken, walnuts and shallots.
— Snack: Greek yogurt with chia seeds and berries.
Day 6:
— First meal: Shrimp and broccoli with parmesan, pistachios and garlic.
— Snack: Minestrone soup (minus the pasta).
— Second meal: Two portobello mushroom caps topped with red onion, grape tomatoes, mozzarella and basil.
— Snack: Oat and berry acai bowl.
Day 7:
— First meal: Tuna steak with wilted greens, olive oil and lemon drizzle.
— Snack: Spinach omelet with strawberries.
— Second meal: Salmon with roasted red pepper quinoa salad.
— Snack: Celery sticks with cream cheese.
[READ Added Sugars Hiding in Your Diet]
Does the Galveston Diet Work?
Depending on your goals, the Galveston diet can work, provided you follow the rules as directed.
“Comparatively, the Galveston Diet is likely slightly harder to adopt and less sustainable than other diets due to the nature of food restriction and the strict feeding window,” Richter notes. “But this diet is likely more beneficial when it comes to weight loss than other ‘safe’ diets, such as the Mediterranean Diet, for instance, whose primary goal is longevity rather than weight loss.”
Because the diet relies on intermittent fasting as a core aspect — and intermittent fasting has been shown in some studies to assist with weight loss and blood sugar regulation — you can probably expect some improvements in those areas.
However, because the diet is restrictive, some people may not find it sustainable for long. Once you go off the diet, you’re likely to experience weight regain and a reversion to your previous metabolic state.
For this reason, Haver recommends adopting the Galveston diet as a lifestyle you’ll follow for the rest of your life rather than looking at it as a short-term solution or a quick-fix option.
It’s also worth underscoring that all findings related to the Galveston diet so far have been anecdotal in nature. There has not been a large, long-term clinical study of this eating pattern to measure how effective it might be for alleviating symptoms related to menopause and perimenopause.
Can I Lose Weight on the Galveston Diet?
Yes, you can “absolutely” lose weight on the Galveston diet if you follow its food and intermittent fasting guidelines, says Sharon Collison, instructor of clinical nutrition at the University of Delaware. But staying with the diet, in the long run, could have health trade-offs.
Take late-night snacking, for instance. Adhering to intermittent fasting may cut down on overeating at night.
“Overeating at night is not good,” Collison says. “But not eating at all is also not good as it doesn’t promote a healthy relationship with foods.”
Recipes and Meal Ideas for the Galveston Diet
Here are a handful of Galveston diet meal and snack recipes:
Egg scramble (serves one)
Ingredients:
— 2 eggs.
— 1 cup fresh spinach leaves.
— ½ cup fresh tomatoes, chopped.
— 1 tablespoon of butter.
— Salt and pepper to taste.
— 1 cup of raspberries.
Directions:
— Crack the eggs into a bowl, add a pinch of salt and pepper and whisk until blended.
— Melt butter in a large saucepan over low heat.
— Pour the egg mixture into a saucepan, and cook until a thin layer of cooked egg appears around the edge of the saucepan. Fold the eggs gently. Continue to cook, pushing and folding eggs around the pan occasionally.
— Halfway through cooking, add the spinach and tomatoes. Continue pushing and folding eggs until eggs are barely set. They should look a bit runny on top.
— Serve the scrambled eggs with a small bowl of fresh raspberries.
Grilled chicken salad (serves four)
Ingredients:
— 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast.
— 3 tablespoons of olive oil.
— 1 ½ teaspoons of paprika.
— 1 head of romaine lettuce, washed and chopped.
— 1 lemon cut into four wedges.
Directions:
— Heat one side of your grill on high and the other side on medium, or grill the pan over medium-high heat.
— Pat chicken dry, and coat with olive oil and paprika, or seasoning of your choice.
— Brush grates with olive oil, and place chicken on the hot side of the grill (or grill pan). Don’t touch the chicken until the pieces start getting some grill marks.
— Let the chicken brown on one side, turn over and move to the cooler side of the grill.
— Remove from the grill when the internal temperature of the chicken reaches 155 degrees Fahrenheit.
— Cover chicken with foil and let rest for 5 to 10 minutes. Serve over a bed of Romaine, and dress with a fresh lemon.
Crunchy kale chips with pecans (serves four)
Ingredients:
— 1 large bunch of kale.
— 2 tablespoons of olive oil.
— 1 tablespoon of sea salt.
— ¾ cup of pecans.
Directions:
— Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
— Remove the kale from the stems, wash it and dry it off well.
— Add kale to a Ziploc bag with oil, and shake well so that every piece is coated.
— Put the kale onto a baking sheet, spread it out and flatten the leaves.
— Bake for 12 minutes, remove from the oven, add sea salt and enjoy with pecans.
Galveston Diet Pros
There are pros and cons to the Galveston diet, says Lisa Jones, a registered dietitian based in Philadelphia.
An emphasis on whole, healthy foods
The foods the Galveston diet emphasizes — whole grains, lean proteins, fruits and vegetables — are very similar to the ones in the Mediterranean diet, which is rated the top diet overall by U.S. News’s team of experts.
Limited intake of unhealthy foods
The Galveston diet recommends limiting or avoiding alcohol, fried foods, refined grains and cooking oils that may cause inflammation, such as canola and vegetable oils. Collectively, consuming excessive amounts of these foods is associated with diabetes, obesity and other chronic diseases.
This diet is anti-inflammatory
The Galveston diet eating regimen is designed to fight inflammation in the body, Haver says.
Research published in 2019 in the journal Nature Medicine suggests that social, environmental and lifestyle factors can lead to systemic chronic inflammation. In turn, such inflammation can lead to an array of health problems, including:
— Autoimmune and neurodegenerative diseases.
— Cancer.
— Chronic kidney disease.
— Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease.
It can be effective for weight loss and management
By limiting the intake of added sugars, fried food and processed foods and adhering to intermittent fasting, the eating regimen “seems to help people lose stubborn pounds gained in their perimenopausal years,” says Lisa D. Ellis, a registered dietitian in private practice in Manhattan and White Plains, New York.
Galveston Diet Cons
While the Galveston Diet has helped some women lose weight and keep it off as they go through menopause, it’s not necessarily for everyone. If you’re considering the Galveston diet, here are some aspects, as mentioned, you should keep in mind.
The restrictive nature of the diet may cause overeating
Intermittent fasting may help some people lose weight, but it could trigger overeating after periods of restriction, Ellis says.
What’s more, “the Galveston Diet is likely slightly harder to adopt and less sustainable than other diets due to the nature of food restriction and the strict feeding window,” Richter says.
The Galveston diet may be difficult to sustain
The fat-loss phase of the Galveston diet is a low-carbohydrate eating regimen, and some people find low-carb diets restrictive, Jones says. Such individuals may have difficulty staying with the diet over time. Haver, however, notes that the low-carbohydrate phase is temporary and included in the plan for fat loss.
After the low-carbohydrate phase (which lasts varying amounts of time, depending on how much weight you want to lose), carb intake is increased to a moderate level for long-term weight maintenance.
It may be a challenge to get enough fiber during the fat-loss phase
Cutting back on carbs can reduce your fiber intake, Jones says.
“Including lower-carb, fiber-rich foods like non-starchy vegetables, avocados and berries is important when following a low-carb eating regimen like the Galveston diet,” she adds.
Fiber supplementation may be necessary to achieve the recommended 25 to 35 grams of fiber per day for women and 38 grams a day for men, Haver says.
A lack of scientific research
To date, there are no peer-reviewed studies evaluating the effectiveness of the Galveston diet. While studies looking at similar eating patterns have been conducted, the Galveston diet itself has not been the subject of a large clinical trial yet.
“There is still a lot we are learning about the Galveston diet’s benefits and also of its pitfalls,” Richter says. “It’s important to consult with a qualified health care practitioner prior to beginning this diet to ensure it’s the right move for you.”
Galveston Diet vs. Menopause Diet
Menopause is a fact of life that can bring with it a range of unpleasant side effects, such as hot flashes, mood swings and weight gain.
Several diet plans aim to support people going through perimenopause (the period leading up to menopause) and menopause (which officially transpires 12 months after a woman’s last period). The Galveston diet is just one of them but is perhaps the best known. It’s also a diet anyone can follow, regardless of reproductive status, sex or gender.
“(This diet) was designed with women in mind, there is no reason a man couldn’t follow it too,” Richter says. “In fact, men can also benefit from the weight management, blood sugar and heart health benefits of this diet.”
Galveston Diet Success Story — A Reviewer’s Experience
Sometime in late 2021, Diana Johnson was having a bad time. She was experiencing hot flashes and knee and hip pain from carrying more weight than usual in her midsection.
“I felt awful,” recalls Johnson, 57, who lives in Galveston, Texas.
Johnson’s primary care physician told her she was experiencing symptoms of menopause. Johnson tried dieting and exercising to lose weight, to no avail. Her doctor then told her about some of Haver’s educational videos she’d seen on social media.
Intrigued, Johnson watched the videos and read some of Haver’s blog posts. She called Haver’s office, met her, became a patient and adopted the Galveston diet. Online, she worked with a Galveston diet coach who helped her through the program.
About a month into the regimen, Johnson began seeing results.
“My knees and hips didn’t hurt as much,” she says.
Johnson notes that inflammation is also associated with weight gain, and she believes her weight loss is another sign that her inflammation has been going down since she started the diet.
“Before I started the diet, it was difficult for me to walk up flights of stairs or sit on the floor and get up by myself, because my knees and hips hurt so bad, because of inflammation,” she says. “After being on the regimen, I could do those things without pain. I knew my inflammation was reducing.”
Before adopting the diet, Johnson hit the scale regularly. Although she’s no longer obsessed with weighing herself, Johnson has dropped 25 pounds and hopes to lose another 40 or so.
“In general, I just feel so much better,” she says.
Galveston Diet Costs
The diet has two main levels. The Program level costs $59, a one-time fee that doesn’t require an ongoing subscription. At this level, you get access to all of the diet’s course material, which includes a step-by-step plan to start the Galveston diet as well as meal plans and educational videos.
The other subscription level, Platinum Coaching, bills itself as “the ultimate Galveston diet experience.” Costs start at $24.99 for the first month, then costs $49.99 per month. You can cancel anytime. This subscription tier includes everything in the basic program plus ongoing coach support, live coaching sessions, a downloadable workbook, progress tracking, weekly bonus content and more.
As of mid-2023, about 100,000 people had signed up for the Galveston diet, Haver says. Many family members of those who’ve signed up for the Galveston diet have also lost weight, she says, particularly in households where diet participants tend to be in charge of cooking.
In terms of food costs, Richter says the Galveston diet is comparable to other generally accepted healthy ways of eating, like the Mediterranean diet.
“On the one hand, you’re focused on more whole, nutrient-dense foods which can, occasionally, be more expensive,” she says. “But you are also eating less food overall and are likely eating out less too, which can help you save money.”
Health Benefits of the Galveston Diet
One of the health benefits of the Galveston diet stems from its similarity to the Mediterranean diet. Both emphasize consuming healthy, nutrient-dense foods that research suggests can reduce inflammation in the body, Collison says.
“Science consistently supports the Mediterranean diet as the best (eating regimen) for disease prevention and overall health,” she says.
More specifically, the Galveston and Mediterranean diets consist primarily of vegetables, fruits, nuts, fish, extra-virgin olive oil and avocados. The two diets, as mentioned, also recommend avoiding added sugars, refined grains and processed foods. The high fiber content associated with both diets likely stabilizes estrogen levels, Haver says.
There is a raft of research also suggesting the Mediterranean diet is effective for weight loss and heart health. Research published in Reviews in Endocrine and Metabolic Disorders in 2020, for example, suggests that the Mediterranean diet has been consistently associated with reduced cardiovascular disease and lower rates of noncommunicable diseases and total mortality in prospective studies. The diet “might also be used advantageously for weight loss,” researchers wrote.
Health Risks of the Galveston Diet
Research suggests intermittent fasting — a key part of the Galveston diet — can provide an array of health benefits but could also be disadvantageous for some people.
On the benefits side, research published in 2021 in the Annual Review of Nutrition suggests that “intermittent fasting is a safe diet therapy that can produce significant weight loss in individuals with overweight or obesity.” Researchers wrote that intermittent fasting regimens may also improve certain aspects of cardiometabolic health, such as blood pressure and insulin resistance.
Additionally, research published in 2019 in the journal Nutrients suggests that intermittent fasting “limits many risk factors for the development of cardiovascular disease” and therefore the occurrence of such disease. Intermittent fasting is also beneficial for the prevention of hypertension, researchers wrote.
However, intermittent fasting could be dangerous for individuals in certain groups, including:
— People with diabetes.
— Individuals with hormonal imbalances.
— Pregnant women and women who are breastfeeding.
— People with a history of eating disorders.
Another small study published in 2020 in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine concluded that “time-restricted eating, in the absence of other interventions, was not more effective in weight loss than eating throughout the day.”
Collison says she thinks people should pay attention to their hunger and fullness cues, which intermittent fasting may not prioritize.
“Telling someone they’re not allowed to eat when they’re getting hunger signals can be very damaging, especially for people who have disordered eating,” she points out. “Their relationship with food is not great, so putting all these restrictions into place and not letting people honor their feelings of hunger goes against what is good for one’s mental and physical health.”
She also notes that many high-functioning athletes need a higher level of calories than usual when they are training, which can be a challenge if they have to adhere to intermittent fasting.
In short, Richter notes, “the risks of the Galveston Diet depend on the person, their health history, their existing health status and their goals. Some people may struggle with the long-term sustainability of the strict eating window and/or the lack of certain social foods. Also, similar to the keto diet, people with gallbladder issues might struggle with the emphasis on fats in this diet and may have a hard time with digestion.”
How to Get Started on the Galveston Diet
Before incorporating the Galveston diet into your lifestyle, Haver and her staff recommend that you consult with your health care provider. Once you have your provider’s approval, they suggest slowly easing into intermittent fasting action. Consistently delay your first meal of the day by 15 to 30 minutes to gradually achieve a 16-hour fast. In doing so, your body has time to adjust, and you should avoid any unpleasant side effects, Haver says. It’s important for you to be patient with the process and listen to your body.
The anti-inflammatory approach to nutrition can be phased in by slowly reducing inflammatory-causing foods and increasing the amounts of anti-inflammatory foods you consume. The Galveston diet curriculum contains lists of specific foods to avoid, such as refined carbohydrates, and foods to embrace, such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean proteins and healthy fats.
Richter underscores that you should consult with a health care professional before starting the Galveston diet.
“As always, our needs change, so it’s imperative to listen to your body and adjust your needs if you need to stop or modify this plan,” she says.
Bottom Line
The bottom line with the Galveston diet is that if you follow its instructions closely, you’ll probably lose some weight and may see some relief from menopause symptoms. You’ll generally be eating healthy, nutrient-dense foods. However, you’ll also be restricting when you eat and eliminating some foods that might offer pleasure because they’ve been deemed inflammatory or otherwise problematic.
As with any diet, once you go off the Galveston diet or change your eating habits, you may see any benefits you’ve experienced disappear, and it may be difficult to stay on this diet over time.
More from U.S. News
Best Foods to Eat for Your Mood — and a Few Bad Ones
Best Diet Programs: Putting Your Money Where Your Mouth Is
Signs and Symptoms of a Hormonal Imbalance
Galveston Diet for Menopause – Expert Review originally appeared on usnews.com
Update 09/11/23: This story was published at an earlier date and has been updated with new information.
