The Virgin Diet

First off, the virgin diet is named after its creator, J J Virgin, not some chastity vow that leads to weight loss. A self-titled fitness and nutrition expert, Dr. Virgin believes that most diets are doomed and that our bodies have very individual reactions to everyday foods. Only by discovering, through trial and error, the foods that are right for our body can we achieve true health and achieve our perfect body weight.

J J Virgin (her real first name is shrouded in mystery) believes that we all suffer from food intolerance (FI). This intolerance causes us to react negatively to certain foods that we eat. The problem? We are all intolerant to different foods.

Dr. Virgin is no stranger to odd diets. She co-hosts the TLC TV show Freaky Eaters with Dr. Mike Dow, also of diet fame. This exposed her to a wide range of eating approaches. Not mainstream eating, but what kind of show would that make, anyway?

The Virgin Diet is all about finding and eliminating those foods which trigger your food intolerance (FI) reactions. These reactions result in maladies which include inflammation, headaches, bloating, acne, joint aches and weight gain.

You discover your personal FI trigger foods that old fashion way: you eliminate everything. This means cutting out the seven most common FI foods: corn, soy, gluten, dairy, eggs, peanuts and sweeteners (natural sugars and artificial). You eat a monastic diet consisting of what’s left after eliminating all of these triggers for a total of 21 days. This period allows your body to get rid of residual FI vestiges and become healthy again.

Following this cleansing period, you slowly re-introduce various trigger foods one at a time, carefully noting the effects. Over time you will discover your personal FI foods. Boom! Inflammation is a thing of the past. Now your body will feel better and you can lose weight successfully. You just have to learn how to live without your trigger food or foods.

Could this work for you? What do you think about three weeks without any (and I mean any) of the trigger foods. Dr. Virgin is quick to point out that cheating, even a little, will render the Virgin Diet worthless. Just a taste of an FI food will restart the cycle of inflammation and all the rest, so you are signing up for a very limited diet for a long time.

You are also signing up for some pretty careful journaling, as you record your daily foods and how your body is reacting. This is a critical step in finding your trigger foods. Bad notes means sad results. Only you can know if you are up to this.

Have you tried the Virgin Diet? How has it worked out for you?