Morning rituals or miracle cure? Testing the 30:30:30 diet for a week, exploring its claims of transforming your body through a simple morning routine. Photo / 123rf
Eat a high-protein breakfast, do some low-level exercise immediately after and apparently the weight falls off. But does it really work?
Viral diets have a nasty tendency to combine two of my least favourite things: deprivation and maths. First there was the 5:2 diet (eat normally for five days, fast for two). The 40-30-30 “zone” diet (40 per cent of your calories from carbs, 30 per cent from protein and 30 per cent from fat) and the 16:8 rule (eat within an eight-hour window, fast the rest). Now, it’s all about a new ratio – 30:30:30.
In a viral TikTok video, viewed 21 million times, the self-described human biologist and biohacker Gary Brecka explains the magic formula: “30-30-30. I’ve never seen anything in my life strip fat off of a human being faster than this … 30g of protein within 30 minutes of waking, followed by 30 minutes of steady-state cardiovascular exercise, bringing your heart-rate down to below 135 beats per minute. Do that for a month and watch it eviscerate.”
The formula – developed from The 4-Hour Body, by the lifestyle guru Tim Ferriss – aims to hack the ways in which our bodies store and burn glucose. Proponents promise that it will jumpstart the metabolism and control the appetite from the moment you rise.
However, Jessie Inchauspé, the French biochemist and New York Times best-selling author of Glucose Revolution expressed her doubts when asked for comment. She said she was not familiar with the routine but replied with a degree of scepticism about its underlying science.
Still, this viral diet appeals more than most. It prescribes a hearty breakfast, rather than starving yourself. Nor does it involve self-punishing workouts. A half-hour walk is the sort of exercise regime I can embrace. The dog too will be thrilled. I decide to give it a shot. For a week, at least...
My typical breakfast is a slice of wholemeal toast, with some almond butter and – if I’m lucky and someone’s discarded it – half a banana. This, it turns out, amounts to only nine or 10g of protein. So how can I hit the magic 30g? “A tablespoon of Greek yoghurt contains about 2.5g of protein, one egg is 6g,” says the dietician Dr Emily Leeming. I cannot possibly swallow five eggs every morning!
“You could pair one with smoked salmon, avocado and two slices of pumpernickel bread. That would make about 25g of protein,” she suggests. This sounds more palatable, but also quite elaborate for a Tuesday morning – and expensive.
On TikTok, a 30:30:30 evangelist explains that he simply downs a protein shake each morning. My local supermarket contains some that squeeze a whopping 50g into every chocolate or strawberry-flavoured drink. But the additives also listed don’t exactly whet my appetite.
Why would I want to eat so much protein at breakfast? “There is good evidence that having a high-protein breakfast can help stop cravings later in the day,” Leeming says. A study of obese Chinese teenagers, for example, found that swapping a grain-based breakfast for an egg-based one led to significant weight loss over three months.
Plus, says Dr Frances H Mikuriya, founder of Frances M Fitness, we burn more calories while digesting and absorbing protein than carbohydrates or fat. That said, both she and Leeming are sceptical that 30g is a magic number.
The amount you need changes, depending on factors like weight, age, and health. “This formula should not be imposed on everyone,” Mikuriya says. This is comforting. Because on the day I try to eat three eggs, I feel distinctly queasy.
It is, Leeming suggests, a mistake to prioritise high protein intake at the expense of dietary diversity. “Most people are actually eating enough protein already, but not enough fibre,” she says.
“This is a real problem for your gut microbiome which needs fibre to thrive. But fibre also helps you to feel fuller for longer. Fibre-rich foods also tend to be nutrient dense. So I prefer to focus on both protein and fibre in the mornings, pairing a protein source like eggs or Greek yoghurt with fibre from veggies, wholegrain toast or berries with nuts and seeds.”
Leeming suggests that aiming for between 20g and 30g of protein at breakfast would be sensible, as long as you get your fibre in too. So while not definitive, there is some sense to this first component of the regime. What, though, about the second rule of 30?
My usual routine involves waking, downing black coffee, feeding the other humans and pets, finding lost school shoes, signing overdue school forms and then doing the school run (late). A good two hours usually pass before quiet descends and I eat my own breakfast.
Fortunately, there are no advantages to eating within 30 minutes of waking, Leeming reassures me, recommending that I time my breakfast according to my body’s hunger cues instead. In fact, my delayed breakfast could even be a healthier start. Plenty of the leading experts I have interviewed in the past delay their first meal until midday. There’s even a snappy ratio for it: 18:6, or confining your meals into a six-or-eight-hour window, which – proponents claim – can improve your blood sugar control, boost weight loss and even, perhaps, your longevity.
So while improving what’s on my breakfast plate might help me lose weight, controlling when I eat it should not. Which is a relief. But what about the regime’s final diktat – exercising soon after?
From Monday to Friday, I struggle to keep to the timeline. I can either blow the breakfast window, eat later and exercise shortly after as advised. Or I can wake earlier, make us all a five-star, protein-rich breakfast, but then become hopelessly entangled in the school run or commute. I begin to harbour dark suspicions that this regime was not designed by, or for, a frazzled working parent.
Its logic emerges, however, come the weekend when my pace slows. Starting the day the right way – a balanced (not snatched) meal, followed by some light exercise – seems to set the tone for a less slouchy, snack-filled, snappy day.
“A lot of the benefits attached to this regime might be psychological,” agrees Mikuriya. “If you have woken up and immediately implemented health habits, you’re likely to feel good about yourself and more motivated to continue practising healthy habits for the rest of the day.”
An early dog walk also means I get the morning light that scientists studying circadian rhythms insist we need in order to feel more alert during the day and to sleep better at night. But does exercising within 30 minutes of breakfast have real weight-management benefits?
A study published last year in the journal Obesity found that exercising between 7am and 9am could indeed help you shed kilograms. These benefits, however, were linked to “moderate to vigorous” activity, while the 30-30-30 plan prescribes “steady-state” cardio, keeping your heart rate under 135bpm so that, Brecka suggests, you can still carry out a phone conversation or even read a Kindle. Intensify your workout, goes the claim, and your body will burn muscle, instead of fat.
It is the opposite of the HIT (high-intensity training) culture that has many in its grip. And, being lazy, I love it.
Mikuriya, not so much. She questions the wisdom of sticking exclusively to lower intensity workouts if you want to lose weight. You will be burning fat, she says, but slowly.
“One would have to exercise for longer in order to burn the same amount of calories, compared to working at higher intensities. It’s the total number of calories burned, compared to caloric intake, that leads to weight and fat loss.
“In a higher-intensity workout, your body is more efficient, not only burning more calories in total, but also burning both glycogen and fat because the glycogen stores will be depleted quickly for ‘fast energy’ and the fat storage will be the next source in your system to be burned off.”
In fact, 30 minutes of steady-state cardiovascular exercise – even if done daily, within the strict time constraints and after a protein-piled breakfast – would not satisfy the UK health service guidelines for weekly activity, which advise “at least 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity”, raising your heart rate and leaving you able to talk but not sing.
Presumably this also precludes reading a Kindle. So while it’s certainly a healthy start to the day, it may be a mistake to imagine that it, alone, will do miracles for your waistline.
Which is disappointing for me as I love the week’s morning walks. On Saturday, I follow the drill to a T, waking, eating my eggs and salmon, and getting out into the morning light almost immediately with the dog.
That said, at supper, I eat a burger and chips, drink a not inconsiderable amount of red wine and have seconds of treacle tart. I do not regret it. But I also do not imagine that my pure morning routine countered this gluttony.
Since my BMI falls within the healthy range (though decidedly towards the more padded end of it), I have more pressing concerns than getting “beach-body ready” (like getting my children “school ready”).
Even I, however, can see that starting the day with a healthy breakfast and a gentle walk is good for your mental and physical health.
I can’t help thinking, though, it might just be much more doable if you don’t have dependents and do have a disposable income. If you’re under 30, say.
Maybe they should rename it the 30:30:30:30 diet.
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