the Sirtfood Diet Adele also took time to address the specific lifestyle changes she made over multiple years. While it was first reported by People (and covered by multiple outlets, including Good Housekeeping) that the songstress turned to the Sirtfood Diet, she's since denied it outright in her British Vogue interview.
The Sirtfood Diet has earned notoriety in the wellness industry for its unique, albeit restrictive, meal plans and strict fasting rules. Some proponents of the diet claim it can trigger a weight loss of 7lbs in just one week.
The diet, developed by celebrity-friendly nutritionists in the United Kingdom, pushes grocery staples that are purported to stimulate your body's sirtuin proteins, aiming to jumpstart one's metabolism.
"If anything I eat more than I used to because I work out so hard,” she told British Vogue in October.
The Sirtfood Diet certainly does restrict a whole bunch of high-calorie, nutritionally lacking staples, including processed snacks and treats — but has often surprised curious dieters with its signature allowance of red wine and chocolate. Over the last few years, the program has rocketed to fame as fans of superstar songstress Adele speculated that the performing artist had adopted its strict lifestyle to jumpstart her own weight loss.
Developed in the United Kingdom, the most popular Sirtfood Diet plans often stem from its official guide, The Official Sirtfood Diet, and restructures the dieters' meal plans to focus on calorie restriction. But there's a focus on what the developers call "Sirtfoods," or those ingredients that they suggest will help your body maintain higher levels of sirtuin proteins, impacting your metabolism in a rapid manner. Most Sirtfood Diet plans focus on heavy restrictive tactics at first before incorporating the program's signature green juice and mainstay list of Sirtfoods into your routine for the foreseeable future.
Dieters may be surprised to learn that experts aren't sure of the Sirtfood Diet's effectiveness in the long run. Here's why nutritionists are wary of the Sirtfood Diet in the first place, and how you may be able to adapt the best elements of this fad diet into your own.
Editor's note: Weight loss, health and body image are complex subjects — before deciding to go on any diet, we invite you gain a broader perspective by reading our exploration into the hazards of diet culture.
What is the Sirtfood Diet?
Believe it or not, this somewhat-controversial diet program was launched by two U.K.-based nutritionists, Aidan Goggins and Glen Matten, after they first by the same name in 2016. The book touts the diet's effectiveness as it turns on the "skinny gene" by relying on staples that are high in sirtuins, a subset of plant-based proteins that can be found in certain foods and in the body naturally. Increased sirtuin levels in the body may help jumpstart your metabolism and reduce inflammation, and has been highlighted for its anti-aging properties, according to this 2013 review published in the Annual Review of Physiology.
"In general, it could be a good thing to eat foods that are rich in sirtuin — a gene that may be able to help with weight — like apples, blueberries, and extra virgin olive oil," says Tracy Lockwood Beckerman, RD, author of The Better Period Food Solution. Foods high in sirtuins, then, have been dubbed "sirtfoods" in the diet plan.
What can you eat on the Sirtfood Diet?
As highlighted in The Official Sirtfood Diet, the diet program is based on a meal plan that is curated to be full of sirtfoods, but curtailed in overall calorie counts. In fact, one of the book's authors claims that it can help you shed seven pounds in a single week, according to the New York Post. But the book's meal plan is quite regimented: For the first three days, dieters are expected to consume just 1,000 calories each day that consists of a single meal and two green juices. Later in the first week, dieters will enjoy 1,500-calorie meal plans for four days that are mostly divided between two meals.
The majority of the program asks dieters to create meals that are high in sirtfoods... and not much else. Some of the staples that the diet highlight include many different produce items, including kale, strawberries, onions, parsley, arugula, blueberries, and capers. Some grains, like buckwheat, and walnuts are praised, as are spices like turmeric. Interestingly, beverages like coffee, matcha green tea, and red wine are encouraged — as is a heavy reliance on 85% dark chocolate.
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If you're wondering what kind of staples you'll be enjoying on this diet, the program's guidebook lists out the 'best' Sirtfoods to incorporate into meal plans from the jump. According to the program's developers, these foods will help to jumpstart your metabolism and may impact your body's weight alongside intense calorie restriction and some fasting. The following items aren't unhealthy by any means on their own:
Arugula
Kale
Strawberries
Blueberries
Red onions
Soy, particularly in unprocessed forms
Parsely
Extra virgin olive oil
Dark chocolate (85% cocoa)
Matcha green tea
Buckwheat
Walnuts
Bird’s eye chili, or Thai chili
Lovage, a member of the parsley family
Medjool dates
Red chicory
Capers
Tumeric
Coffee
Red wine
Is the Sirtfood Diet actually healthy for you?
If the diet's list of celebrated ingredients seems a bit lacking, you're not alone — many health experts criticize the Sirtfood Diet for being highly restrictive. Beckerman says she has never recommended the Sirtfood Diet to any of her clients because of its tight calorie restrictions. "While I applaud the Sirtfood Diet for promoting the consumption of real ingredients, I denounce it for its promotion of calorie restriction and unhealthy eating rules." Like many other diets that remove food groups from regular consumption, Beckerman says the Sirtfood Diet may indeed lead to "disordered eating" as it also blends elements from intermittent fasting plans into the mix.
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McKenzie Caldwell, MPH, RDN, who specializes in women's nutrition and pregnancy dietary wellness in particular, says that the calorie counts associated with the diet are by far it's worst quality. "1,000 calories per day is only appropriate for a child between the ages of 2 and 4," she says, citing current dietary guidelines distributed by the Mayo Clinic. "Not only is this not enough energy to support an adult body, it is not possible to fit in all the macro- and micronutrients an adult needs in that amount of food… The diet may cause weight loss in the short term merely because of it's caloric restriction."
Most importantly, however, both nutrition experts agree that there is little to no clinical evidence to support this diet being healthy for sustained weight loss. "There is absolutely no evidence to back up any claims that the Sirtfood Diet has a beneficial effect on healthy weight loss," Beckerman says. "The creators of the diet claim to have put participants at their own gym on the diet, but this anecdotal supposed study has not been published nor validated by true researchers or scientists."
It's been a banner year for Adele — she's celebrating the release of her newest album, 30, and has been more public than ever about the personal growth she's experienced over the last few years. She's also opened up in a string of interviews and television specials over the last few months about her health journey at large.
In October, the 33-year-old superstar graced the cover of British Vogue, and took time to confirm that she intentionally revolutionized her outlook on health to achieve her weight loss goal that she reportedly made in 2016. She also addressed how she's been navigating body image and the public's reaction in 2020 and beyond.
“People are shocked because I didn’t share my ‘journey.’ They are used to people documenting everything on Instagram, and most people in my position would get a big deal with a diet brand,” she told Vogue. “I couldn’t give a flying f--k. I did it for myself and not anyone else. So why would I ever share it? I don’t find it fascinating. It’s my body.”
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In a special televised interview with Oprah Winfrey, Adele added that she didn't feel it was her "job" to validate any particular stance on body image.“I feel bad if anyone feels horrible about themselves, but that’s not my job," she said, reiterating in her Vogue interview that anyone can be body positive regardless of their weight. "I’m trying to sort my own life out. I can’t have another worry.”
Adele also took time to address the specific lifestyle changes she made over multiple years. While it was first reported by People (and covered by multiple outlets, including Good Housekeeping) that the songstress turned to the Sirtfood Diet, she's since denied it outright in her British Vogue interview. "No. Ain't done that," she told the magazine, adding that she didn't turn to any other specific diet, including intermittent fasting, to achieve her weight loss.
"I work out two or three times a day," she told British Vogue, explaining that she turns to strength training early in the day, and will fit in cardio at night, while squeezing in activities like hiking or boxing in during the day. She added that she feels that her routine is "not very doable" for most: "I was basically unemployed when I was doing it, and I do it with trainers."
The bottom line:
Just like Keto and Whole30, the Sirtfood Diet often radicalizes how you normally eat by asking you to skimp on meals. While all diets often adhere to some form of a calorie-limit, Caldwell says it's important to consider your own lifestyle and think about what you need throughout the day. "The reality is, there is nothing magical about sirtfoods in particular — being rich in polyphenols, they do have anti-inflammatory properties, but the research doesn't support them having any extra effectiveness for weight loss."
If you're dead set on giving the Sirtfood Diet a try, first experiment by incorporating more of the diet's signature staples into what you're already eating at home. "Incorporating polyphenol-rich foods, including those on the sirtfood list, can be helpful in preventing or reducing inflammatory diseases like cardiovascular disease," she advises. "Skip the initial restrictive steps and prescribed green juices, and instead opt for adding in antioxidant-rich foods to your eating pattern in a way you enjoy."
Zee Krstic Health Editor Zee Krstic is a health editor for Good Housekeeping, where he covers health and nutrition news, decodes diet and fitness trends and reviews the best products in the wellness aisle. Prior to joining GH in 2019, Zee fostered a nutrition background as an editor at Cooking Light and is continually developing his grasp of holistic health through collaboration with leading academic experts and clinical care providers. He has written about food and dining for Time, among other publications.
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