Rotation Diet

Rotation Diet

The Rotation Diet was created by Martin Katahn, director of the Vanderbilt University Weight Management Program. Katahn is also the author of The 200 Calorie Solution and Beyond Diet. The concept of this diet, as the name suggests, is to rotate foods and calorie consumption. The central theory behind the Rotation Diet is that there’s a tendency for people to become bored with diets, and for the metabolism to slow down once the body becomes accustomed to any one eating approach. Katahn argues that one can avoid this plateau by adjusting calories to increase metabolic rate.

Followers are instructed to constantly change the number of calories they consume, and the regimen is combined with daily exercise. Dieters consume 600 calories per day for the first three days, 900 calories per day for the next four days, and 1200 calories daily for the next week. This cycle may be repeated, and after 21 days dieters do three days of 1200 calories, then four days of 1500 calories. This diet may be continued as long as followers take a 1-2 week break after four weeks.

If followers are still hungry after consuming their allotted calories, they can consume “safe” foods such as apples. To control eating during the maintenance phase of this diet, Katahn suggests regular exercise, drinking plenty of water, and avoiding artificially sweetened drinks, which are said to spike hunger levels.

This diet is commonly used to determine if an individual has certain food allergies. One of the best ways to help isolate a certain allergy or prevent the development of new food allergies is to maintain a varied diet, and notice how the body reacts to different foods.

Foods to include: