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What is the Rotation Diet?

Celia Gaillard
Celia Gaillard

The term rotation diet typically refers to three different types of diets. The first has to do with identifying and controlling allergies, while the other two are concerned with how to maintain a certain metabolic rate to ensure weight loss. Although these three rotation diets have different purposes, the general concept of rotating certain foods during the diet is the same.

For people suffering from food allergies, a rotation diet can sometimes be beneficial. The concept of the diet is to rotate foods from a specific food group every four days. For instance, if someone consumes a wheat product on day one, they would not be able to eat another wheat product until day five. H eor she is also supposed to eat only one serving per day of a food from the same food group.

Anatomical model of the human body
Anatomical model of the human body

The rotation diet for allergy sufferers is designed to help the immune system recuperate after the consumption of an allergy causing food. In addition, the diet can help a person identify his or her food allergies, as well as prevent the development of new allergies. This diet gives people the opportunity to eat foods they may only be mildly allergic to and helps stave off food boredom because the diet allows for more variety.

The name rotation diet is also applied to a diet created by psychologist Martin Kethan. The concept of Kathan's diet is that a dieter will follow a calorie-restricted diet for three weeks and then be off the diet for one to two weeks. The belief is that this diet will allow the body to maintain a high metabolic rate. The focus of this diet is not to restrict types of food but to focus solely on rotating calorie consumption.

For women, days one through three are restricted to 600 calories, while calorie consumption during days four through seven is increased to 900 calories. During days eight through fourteen, women are to consume 1,200 calories a day and then repeat the process of days one through seven for the third week. Kathan's rotation diet works the same way for men but the daily calorie count is increased by 600. This diet also includes certain vegetables and fruits, like asparagus and melon, that dieters can eat without limit.

The term rotation diet is also applied to Jayson Hunter's diet plan. A registered dietitian, Hunter created the Carb Rotation Diet that is meant to maintain a high rate of metabolism in the dieter's body. Hunter's claim is that the dieter can lose up to 15 lbs (6.8 kg) in 30 days by following his plan.

Hunter's rotation diet follows a three day rotation in which the first day consists of a high carbohydrate food with lean protein and vegetables. The second day includes a low carbohydrate food paired with lean protein and vegetables, while the third day eliminates carbohydrates completely allowing the dieter to eat only lean protein and vegetables. The dieter continues repeating this three day cycle for a full month.

Discussion Comments

musicshaman

I've never tried a rotation diet, but it sounds like it could work for me -- I really hate doing the same thing over and over again too, so this might be a good plan to avoid me getting bored and breaking out of the diet.

Does anybody have some good rotation diet menus or recipes? I would also be really interested to hear some rotation diet reviews from people who have tried it -- that's the calorie rotation diet I'm talking about, by the way, not the food allergy one.

So let me know -- I'd be really interested in finding out more about this diet first-hand.

Thanks!

pleats

I've read a ton of online diets, and a ton of books on how to diet, and honestly, this is the one that's worked the best for me.

I do the thing where you rotate the amount of calories you eat depending on certain days of the week. I have to say, although it's a little more work than some other diets might be when you're just starting up, it is actually a lot easier (at least for me) after you get going.

I think that the biggest draw about the rotation diet for me is that it's interesting. I can't stand doing the same thing day in and day out, but since the rotation diet is changing every day, you don't have to worry about getting bored. And since I get bored even on a quick diet, this is a good choice for me.

If you do try it though, make sure that you do it according to the book -- this can work if you do it right, but it can also be a little risky if you don't, so follow the advice of your nutritionist or physician when you do it.

Best,

Pleats

EarlyForest

I can definitely understand why people could use the rotation diet plan as a weight loss diet plan, but using it for food allergies seems a bit silly.

Wouldn't is just be easier to avoid those foods that cause you allergies altogether than to work out some kind of special diet plan to allow your body to recuperate in the mean time?

That would make more sense to me, but then, I don't have any food allergies, so I don't really have a first-hand knowledge of things like that.

If anybody reading this does use a rotation diet for their food allergies, I'd love to hear how it works -- maybe there's just something that I'm not quite getting.

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    • Anatomical model of the human body
      Anatomical model of the human body