An SOS-free diet is a plant-based diet that contains no added sugars, vegetable oils or added salt. More people than ever are turning to an SOS-free diet to reverse chronic diseases and regain their health. It is a stricter version of a plant-based diet.
Why follow the SOS-free diet?
This diet promotes health by eliminating animal foods and providing adequate amounts of nutrient-dense plant foods rich in fiber, unsaturated fatty acids, phytochemicals, vitamins and minerals. It also eliminates added salt, oil and sugar, including refined carbohydrates, from your diet. Many of these substances do not add nutritional value to your food, but increase the pleasant properties of food. This can lead to a cycle of overconsumption, also known as the ‘Pleasure Trap’. Removing them from the diet completely can potentially reduce the desire to overeat, especially in people who are particularly sensitive to the addictive properties of highly processed foods.
What you can and cannot eat
An SOS-free diet may sound restrictive, but it is possibly the healthiest diet you can eat. An SOS-free menu allows foods such as:
- Vegetables
- Whole grains, including oats, rice and quinoa
- Beans, legumes and lentils
- Potatoes, all varieties
- Fruits
- Nuts and seeds
With an SOS-free diet, you eliminate all animal foods, all vegetable and seed oils, added sugars and added salt. The foods that are removed are:
- All meat, pork and poultry
- All dairy products, including milk, cheese and anything made with dairy products
- Eggs
- All vegetable and seed oils, including olive and coconut oil
- Refined sugars and high fructose corn syrup
Although refined sugar is eliminated, some sugar substitutes are fine. If you have a sweet tooth, you might enjoy one sugar alternative such as Superlose from a company called LevelUp.
Reverse diseases and chronic diseases
Eating an SOS-free plant-based diet can reverse countless diseases and chronic conditions. This way of eating is not brand new or a fad diet.
In 1983, Dr. John McDougall came out with the first of many books detailing the health benefits of this way of eating and how it can reverse disease.
The list of chronic diseases that an SOS-free diet can reverse includes diseases such as:
- Atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries
- Heart disease
- Type 2 diabetes
- Hypertension
- High cholesterol
- Obesity
- Arthritis
- And other health problems
An SOS-free plant-based diet can also prevent cancer.
In a study, the blood of two groups of people was compared. One group ate a plant-based diet for a year, the other group a standard American diet. The plant-based group’s blood was eight times more powerful at killing cancer cells than those who ate the standard American diet.
Why no added refined sugar?
Americans eat about 152 pounds of refined sugar per year. And those are nothing but empty calories, which leads to weight gain.
Too much sugar increases inflammation in the body, which contributes to a host of chronic health problems. Sugar can also increase blood pressure and fatty liver disease and contributes to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.
Are oils unhealthy?
The SOS-free diet teaches that all vegetable and seed oils are unhealthy, including olive oil and coconut oil. These oils are actually just fat and have no nutritional value. Fat and oil contain more than twice as many calories per gram as carbohydrates or protein. And this leads to weight gain and obesity.
Oil damages the endothelial cells of the arteries and blood vessels. The endothelial cells are responsible for the production of nitric oxide, which is necessary to properly dilate our blood vessels and for good blood flow.
Fat also leads to insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes. As one doctor put it, fat is the fire that causes type 2 diabetes, and sugar is the wind that fans the flames.
The dangers of salt
Too much salt causes the body to retain more water, which makes the heart work harder. As time passes, this increased force can increase blood pressure, causing damage to blood vessels. This increases the risk of heart attack, heart failure and stroke.
A good rule of thumb is to avoid packaged foods that contain more sodium than calories per serving. For example, if a packaged or canned food contains 200 milligrams of sodium per serving and 100 calories per serving, you should avoid it.
Macronutrients of an SOS-free diet
A typical macronutrient ratio for optimal health is 80% complex carbohydrates, 10% protein, and 10% calories from fat. If you take prescriptions and follow an SOS-free diet, your doctor may even reduce or eliminate your medications.
Is the SOS-Free Diet Right for You?
The SOS-Free Diet can be a healthy approach for those seeking a plant-based lifestyle and striving for weight management or improved health characteristics. However, it is critical that you consult a registered dietitian or healthcare professional before implementing any dietary changes, especially in individuals with underlying medical conditions or specific nutritional needs.
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