Is this the holy grail of health?

No, this diet doesn’t involve praying, chanting verses from the Bible or fasting, but involves shunning all the sinful foods you can think of. While there’s no dearth of diet plans in this world some are easier (diets are never easy, mind you) to follow whereas some are downright difficult, seeming almost impossible requiring extreme dedication and discipline. Speaking of the latter, one such diet that we stumbled across is the Hallelujah Diet. Read on to know more...

ORIGINS

This Bible-inspired diet was developed by Baptist minister Reverend George Malkmus and his wife, Rhonda from Glen Falls, New York, way back in 1976, when he was diagnosed with colon cancer. Earlier, his mother died of colon cancer and surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, apparently caused her death. The minister decided not to seek medical intervention and meet the same fate as his mother.

Malkmus’s evangelical friend Lester Roloff (who earned the nickname ‘Carrot Juice’ Roloff within his preaching circuit) convinced the Reverend to consume raw vegetables and fruits. The Reverend took inspiration from a quote from The Bible (Genesis 1:29: And God said, “Behold, I have given you every herb-yielding seed, which is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree, which bears fruit yielding seed. It will be your food” — and adopted it into a diet, a plant-based one. And allegedly, within a year’s time, his physical problems vanished. This was probably Malkmus’s Hallelujah moment that made him develop this diet.

BASIC GUIDELINES

The Hallelujah Diet entails consuming 85 per cent raw plant-based foods and 15 per cent cooked plant-based foods. Fresh vegetables (especially greens) and fruit juices are to be consumed daily, along with nutritional supplements by Hallelujah Acres (they can make your wallet lighter by costing around over $2,000 a year). Nutrition supplements because of environmental pollution, pesticides and toxins affect foods leaving our bodies deficient in nutritionists, and so they claim most of their products are gluten-free, dairy-free, sugar-free derived from non-GMO (genetically modified organism) and organic plant sources and almost 100 per cent vegan and allergy-free. Just following this stringent diet is not enough. One is also expected to exercise for 30 minutes a day. The diet prohibits meat, fish, eggs, dairy, alcohol, canned foods, processed foods, refined grains, roasted and salted nuts and seeds, hydrogenated oils and those containing trans fats, refined table salt, sugar and artificial sweeteners, brown sugar, most soy products, caffeine, nicotine, etc.

In case you’re curious what typical meals on this diet would look like, here’s an example

Breakfast - Have something that is easy to digest, eg. a green smoothie, fruit, oatmeal with rice milk or almond milk. If one has cooked food for breakfast then one should eat raw foods for the rest of the day.

Lunch - Try to make your lunch as raw as possible, eg. vegetable salad, blended salad or a salad smoothie, green smoothie, pita pocket with veggies, etc.

Dinner - First, have a large portion of raw foods ie. a salad. Incorporate healthy fats like nuts, seeds, avocados, etc. Cooked food options include baked potato, whole grain pasta, etc. (more recipes on their website).

l Snacking options include green smoothie, fresh fruit (keep it to 15 per cent of daily intake), broccoli or celery sticks with almond butter or other raw snacks.

And as if the Hallelujah Diet wasn’t stringent enough as it is, there’s also the Hallelujah Recovery Diet meant for aggressive nutritional support for self-healing. This diet is recommended for those undergoing traditional protocols like chemotherapy and radiation. Apparently, this version of the diet is touted to significantly enhance the immune system’s ability to reduce the harmful side effects of these toxic treatments. Here, the diet includes more intake of vegetable juices, more restrictions on choice of oils, more restrictions on fruits because of their sugar content.

EXPERT SPEAK

Thanks to an increasingly sedentary lifestyle and diets that are high in fat and sugar, most people today are at risk for cancer. Considering these risks, this kind of  diet is a good attempt to reconcile such a lifestyle, in order to decrease such causes. A diet like this helps to reduce obesity, which is yet another part of growing cancer threat, opines nutritionist Karishma Chawla of Eat Rite 24x7. However, she raises some concerns, “Following such a vegan diet, in the long run, can develop deficiencies of B12 and calcium. And more importantly, it ignores the benefits of complete protein which comprises lean meat: chicken and fish, eggs, low-fat milk and milk products. Dietary protein is important because the amino acids that make up our proteins are responsible for everything from our structure to hormones, enzymes and immune system.”
According to dietitian Amreen Shaikh, Wockhardt Hospitals, this diet is nutritious but is unbalanced too. She says that it can lead to starvation since it is low on calories and protein, which can further lead to nutritional deficiencies. It will reduce the person’s immunity due to deficiencies and low protein intake. Initially, it may also lead to gastric upsets due to a sudden change in diet.

SUITABLE FOR INDIANS?

Since we Indians are not an inherently salad-eating or juice-drinking people, this diet is definitely a challenge here, says Dhvani Shah, healing diets specialist, The FIMS Diet Clinic. However, with modernisation, ingredients and delivery services, this task is getting easier. Chawla says that considering the benefits it holds of reducing obesity, keeping blood sugar in check and enhancing cardiovascular health, it is worth a try for anyone who is into frivolous eating like processed foods and foods high in fat, sugar and salt. But again for a brief period only.

Would they recommend it? 

“A balanced diet comprising complex carbohydrates, complete protein and essential fatty acids is the key to optimal health. Therefore, following a vegan diet or a diet comprising of 85 per cent raw foods is clearly unnecessary,” says Chawla.

ADVISABLE FOR CANCER PATIENTS?

Using this program for a cancer patient is a challenge due to their weak digestive system and frequent nausea. Moreover, these patients require concentrated sources of nutrition, which is partially fulfilled through the Hallelujah Diet, says Shah.

Shaikh doesn’t think it’s advisable because “Clinically speaking, there are different types of cancers which could be benign or malignant, and so you can’t prescribe the same diet for everyone. Some individuals are suggested high protein and others are not. Cancer can affect the kidneys too, and in  these patients, proteins are to be  restricted. Also, in cancer patients, their immunity is compromised. In the case of neutropenia, blood CBC count fluctuates and so patients are advised to have cooked meals. Also, because of the use of pesticides, patients are advised to have cooked meals.”