London, May 25 (ANI): A low-fat vegan diet known as the 80/10/10 has become popular among Olympic heroes and hopefuls.
The diet takes its name from its recommended dietary intake: 80 percent fruits and vegetables, ten percent protein and ten percent fat.
The diet, which advises to eat 80 percent raw food per meal, has been adopted by tennis star Martina Navratilova, NBA star Ronnie Grandison and professional bowler Bruce Hamilton as well as Michael Arnstein, a marathon runner who is training towards the London Olympics.
According to the diet's creator, Dr Douglas M. Graham, other fans include Ohenewa Akuufo, the current 11-time Canadian National Champion wrestler.
Akuffo is working towards qualifying for the 2016 Olympic games.
Dr Graham, who graduated from chiropractic college in 1983 and has been studying health and diet ever since, said that while the diet focuses on fruit and vegetables, our bodies also require fat - however, in a limited amount.
"By meeting our needs for fat, without surpassing those needs, we tend to experience optimum digestion, ideal weight management and stabilised blood sugar," the Daily Mail quoted him as saying.
He added that Olympic athletes have adopted the diet as it optimises one's ability to 'uptake, transport and deliver oxygen to the cells'.
This implies that sports performance increases, 'while the risk of cancer is minimised.'
The 80/10/10's calorie intake is broken down by the following: 90 to 97per cent 'sweet and non-sweet fruit' and two to six per cent 'tender, leafy greens and celery'.
Zero to eight percent is taken up by 'everything else' which includes other vegetables like cabbage, broccoli, plus fatty fruits, nuts and seeds.
"You can generally accomplish this with two or three large fruit meals during the day plus a large salad in the evening," Dr Graham said.
"Fruit predominates heavily, yet you consume as many greens as you like," he said.
Dr Graham claimed that the diet is not as hard to adopt as it may sound to some.
He wrote in his book titled 'The 80/10/10 Diet: Balancing Your Health, Your Weight, And Your Life, One Luscious Bite At A Time', that the program allows people to keep eating the foods that they love.
"If you eat a relatively typical American diet, 80/10/10 is a program that allows you to continue eating the foods you are used to, while beginning to introduce the new foods that will lead you toward your goal," it read.
He also wrote about the benefits of eating ample raw food in every meal of the day.
"If you adopt a diet of raw foods, your body can easily cope with cleansing itself of past toxic accumulations and normalise its weight," the book states.
"Common sense does not support cooking," it read.
According to Dr Graham's research, further health benefits include maximum nutrition, quick digestion, overall improved health and energy, oxygenated cells and ultimate well-being and vitality.
He stressed that although many diets aim to eliminate carbohydrates all together, they are a necessity in anybody's diet.
"By meeting our needs for carbohydrates, we tend to feel great energy and mental clarity," he said.
"Carbohydrates are required in order to use fats properly and consuming enough carbs is the key to satiation, [which means] keeping food craving at bay," he said.
Dr Graham added that the hardest obstacle for many is getting used to eating such large portions of fruit.
"In general, fruits are considerably higher in calories than vegetables and leafy greens," he said.
"So it makes sense that most of the raw food diet be made up of fruit, complemented by large salads to provide essential minerals such as sodium, potassium, calcium and magnesium," he said.
He added that the rewards are worth the dietary shake-up.
"The 80/10/10 diet may seem like a huge shift in your lifestyle in the beginning. Developing the lifestyle will enhance every moment of your life to come," he added. (ANI)
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