Whole30 is a 30-day elimination diet with rules including the removal of alcohol, sugar, legumes, grains, dairy, and all processed foods. Followers of the diet have noted weight loss and increased energy, along with the identification of any problem foods. But what are the disadvantages?
Some downsides include Whole30 side effects like digestive problems, worsened food cravings, and reduced nutrient intake. The diet restricts certain foods and food groups, which, if followed long-term, can result in nutrient deficiencies. Here's what you need to know.
For the Whole30 diet, a person eliminates certain foods or additives for 30 days. Once dieters complete Whole30, they enter a "reintroduction" phase that lasts for 10 days.
During the reintroduction phase, you add the foods you've avoided for a month back into your diet one by one. The point of this phase is to help people pinpoint the food groups that aren't serving them. For example, if someone eats a bowl of yogurt post-Whole30 and suddenly gets bloated, it may signal that dairy doesn't sit well with them.
What Can You Eat?
The Whole30 diet essentially focuses on a lot of whole food and protein choices, such as:
- Eggs
- Fruit and vegetables (including fruit juice)
- Foods with simple or recognizable ingredient lists
- Herbs, spices, and seasonings
- Meat and seafood
- Natural fats like olive oil, avocado, nuts (except peanuts), and seeds
- Vinegar, except malt-based vinegar, and botanical extracts, like vanilla or lemon
What Can't You Eat?
Though you have a few options you can eat, the list of what you need to avoid is longer. Foods you can't eat when on the Whole30 diet include:
- Added real or artificial sugars
- Alcohol
- Carrageenan—a type of plant-based sugar—or sulfites
- Commercially-prepared chips or French fries
- Dairy products, except for clarified butter or ghee
- Foods recreated with allowed Whole30 ingredients (e.g., coconut milk ice cream)
- Grains
- Legumes except green beans and most peas
Other Rules
A non-food rule of Whole30 concerns scales and measurements. You don't have to keep notes on your weight or use a tape measure to track if you've lost inches. The goal is to focus on your food intake.
Potential Benefits
There's not much research available about the benefits of Whole30. The benefits below are listed on the Whole30 website but not scientifically proven or fully studied. These results are self-reported:
- Better mood, self-esteem, and self-confidence
- Fewer episodes of conditions like seasonal allergies, migraines, and asthma attacks
- Improved blood pressure, blood sugar regulation, brain function, energy, and sleep
- Reduced GI and premenstrual syndrome (PMS) symptoms
- Stronger hair and nails
Doing the Whole30 diet might result in problems with your digestion because the diet bans beans. Legumes are great for gut health. Rich in both soluble and insoluble fiber, beans are critical for a healthy gut microbiome, as they help feed the good bacteria in your intestines.
Whole30 doesn't allow beans based on the idea that they contain "anti-nutrients" like phytates. Phytates are compounds found in plants that can potentially block the body's absorption of important minerals like magnesium, iron, and calcium. If you are someone who has trouble digesting FODMAPs (fermentable oligosaccharides, disaccharides, monosaccharides, and polyols), reducing bean intake may help with bloating, gas, and digestive symptoms.
In reality, the health benefits associated with beans far outweigh this potential interaction. That's because phytates are largely destroyed by food prep methods like sprouting, soaking, and cooking.
2. Worsened Cravings
Since the Whole30 diet is basically a month-long exercise in avoiding certain foods, you may start to desire the foods you eliminated more. One review noted that short-term avoidance of foods can increase cravings for those foods.
"When you overly restrict the diet, it can set up unhealthy eating behaviors and attitudes," Sharon Palmer, RDN, nutritionist and author of "The Plant-Powered Diet," told Health. "If you feel deprived, the diet encourages you to have a strong desire for 'forbidden' foods."
Additionally, if you have a history of disordered eating, this side effect could be triggering. Talk to a mental health professional if you are considering trying Whole30.
You could miss out on important nutrients by not eating whole grains while doing the Whole30 diet. You get several nutrients from whole grains that play a role in various bodily functions, from thyroid regulation to immune system maintenance. Those nutrients include:
- B vitamins like thiamin and folate
- Dietary fiber
- Iron
- Magnesium
- Selenium
Other Potential Challenges
A few other challenges that might come with the Whole30 diet are as follows:
- Cost: Since Whole30 focuses on a lot of whole foods like fruits and vegetables, grocery trips can become expensive. Food costs, like grocery prices, are steadily increasing, and healthy foods specifically have been associated with higher costs.
- Flexibility: Because the diet restricts many foods—even some healthy ones—there's almost no flexibility with what you're allowed to eat. For example, you're not permitted to eat or create foods with Whole30-appropriate foods to substitute for things you can't eat on the diet.
- General feelings about eating: "When you overly restrict the diet, it can set up unhealthy eating behaviors and attitudes," said Palmer. "If you feel deprived, the diet encourages you to have a strong desire for 'forbidden' foods."
- Sustainability: The diet isn't meant to last forever. "A diet needs to be a way of eating that you can maintain for your whole life," explained Palmer. "It should set you up for a healthful, more vibrant life, not just for a period of time of weight loss."
The diet program made the following suggestions as tips:
- Follow through with the rules, and don't negotiate. For example, a person may tell themselves that they can do the diet rather than they'll try to do it.
- Set and keep food boundaries, even during special occasions. That means eating what you can eat and sticking with the plan.
However, Palmer recommended focusing on the core principle of Whole30 —eating more whole, unprocessed foods—instead of following the full program. That way, you don't have to focus on taking an all-or-nothing approach to eating changes.
Who Shouldn't Try the Whole30 Diet?
You should also consult a healthcare provider or registered dietitian before starting any diet or making changes to your eating. Whole30 is not appropriate for everyone. People with a history of disordered eating or at risk for developing an eating disorder should not try this diet.
While there are some beneficial aspects of the Whole30 diet that are good—namely that it promotes minimally processed foods—there are also downsides. You may crave the foods that you eliminated, and ultimately, it's not a sustainable way of eating. If you have any questions about whether Whole30 is right for you, reach out to a registered dietitian or healthcare provider.
