A 30-day no-starch diet may reveal the answers you are looking for to lose weight. Are you feeling sluggish? Do you want to lose weight but can’t find the right program? Perhaps you’re eating ingredients that work against your weight loss.
The 30-day no-starch diet will help you try something that is a combination of old and new. It has long been claimed that this concept will help people lose weight. However, you should know the rules first, so let’s get to the facts to help you start.
Here are some food types you can eat on the no-starch diet (7, 8):
At the same time, one of the main rules of the no-starch diet is to eat when you feel hungry and stop when you feel full (8). The lean protein and healthy fats will help you stay full.
The 30-day no-starch diet is a stricter way of losing weight and it’s best to understand the benefits and rules before you try it.
Medical News Today describes starch as a complex carbohydrate (13). It provides your body with glucose for cellular energy and gives you minerals, vitamins, and fiber. Eating a healthy amount isn’t bad for most people. However, the Mayo Clinic says that consuming limited carbs is a strategy for weight loss that may also reduce the risk of diabetes and metabolic syndrome (6).
Most healthy people can survive without starch for a while, but it’s a good idea to consult your healthcare provider to make sure it is safe for you. Similarly, a registered dietitian can help you make sure you still get all the nutrients you need and recommend supplements if necessary. Medicine Net also suggests eating high-fiber foods on a low-carb diet or taking a supplement to ensure you get enough dietary fiber (1).
The Mayo Clinic says that severely limiting carbs may cause ketosis, where your body breaks fat into ketones for energy (6). There are potential pros and cons to ketosis. For example, it can cause bad breath and fatigue, but it is believed to help burn fat.
The Mayo Clinic suggests that low-carb diets may help you lose more weight than low-fat diets in the short-term, but not in the long-term (6). However, for heart health, it is always good to limit saturated fats while eating lean protein and a few complex carbs from vegetables on a no-starch diet.
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No-starch diet meals are part of a strict low-carb routine to help you lose weight. Some research has suggested that very low-carb diets can produce slightly greater weight loss than low-fat diets, but over a longer time frame, the difference between the two disappears (2). You are most likely to lose weight on a diet you can stick to.
The meal plans help you eat no starch over the desired time. Here is a list of foods you can eat during a no-starch meal plan:
The foods you should eat daily include non-starchy vegetables and salad greens (7):
Protein is an important nutrient and usually contains minimal or no carbs. Here are some of the proteins you can include (7, 8):
Here are some of the healthy fats and dairy you can eat daily on the diet (7, 8):
Some foods are high in carbs and they won’t work on the no-starch diet. Follow these tips to use the no-starch diet (7, 8):
No-starch foods require proper preparation if you are to avoid starchy pitfalls. The best ways of preparing no-starch food are to bake, broil, fry, microwave, roast, sautee, and stir-fry the recipes (7). Never use batter, crumbs, or flour!
You should read the labels on food and medicine bottles to help you stick to a no-starch diet plan. Check the serving size and total carb count and calculate the net carbs by subtracting the fiber count. For example, if the total carbs are eight and the fiber is three, this means the net carbs are five.
In addition, you should watch out for carbs under different names, including (7):
Read more: Fuelling Your Fitness Journey: The Magic of Diet Spaghetti
The no-starch diet meal plans will include 7, 14, and 30-day options to inspire you with meal ideas. Each program has different requirements to suit your needs.
A low-carb diet plan doesn’t mean you must eat zero carbs. Some versions of the diet include specific net carb goals, whereas others simply cut out most starchy foods and don’t worry about counting grams. The meal ideas meet the requirements for a moderately low-carb diet or come close and are courtesy of Eating Well (3).
Daily Macros: 1,206 calories, 123 g carbs, 48 g fat, 81 g protein, and 22 g fiber (3)
Daily Macros: 1,204 calories, 109 g carbs, 63 g fat, 60 g protein, and 35 g fiber (3)
Daily Macros: 1,201 calories, 94 g carbs, 71 g fat, 56 g protein, and 23 g fiber (3)
Daily Macros: 1,180 calories, 97 g carbs, 54 g fat, 82 g protein, and 29 g fiber (3)
Daily Macros: 1225 calories, 100 g carbs, 75 g fat, 50 g protein, and 25 g fiber (3)
Daily Macros: 1,200 calories, 125 g carbs, 54 g fat, 66 g protein, and 33 g fiber (3)
Daily Macros: 1,215 calories, 92 g carbs, 73 g fat, 59 g protein, and 26 g fiber (3)
Our 30-day no-starch diet meal plan also adopts a low-carb approach to keep your energy up while losing weight. Doing this for 30 days may be tricky, so let’s increase the suggested five grams of effective carbs per meal to help you get through 30 days (8). Instead, you’ll have up to 15 grams of carbs per meal as your maximum allowance.
The recipe ideas to use over the next 30 days are courtesy of Taste of Home, Skinny Ms., and Eating Well (11, 10, and 3). You’ll find five recipes each for breakfast, lunch, and dinner to help you experience a little variety over 30 days.
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Macros: 12 servings, 204 calories, 15 g carbs, 15 g fat, 6 g protein, and 3 g fiber (3)
Macros: 2 servings, 124 calories, 14 g carbs, 5 g fat, 7 g protein, and 2 g fiber (3)
Macros: 6 servings, 212 calories, 5 g carbs, 15 g fat, 16 g protein, and 1 g fiber (3)
Macros: 4 servings, 122 calories, 1 g carbs, 10 g fat, 7 g protein, and 0 g fiber (10)
Macros: 6 servings, 73 calories, 3 g carbs, 5 g fat, 5 g protein, and 1 g fiber (10)
Macros: 8 servings, 120 calories, 4.1 g carbs, 6.4 g fat, 11.9 g protein, and 1.1 g fiber (10)
Macros: 8 servings, 247 calories, 12 g carbs, 17 g fat, 13 g protein, and 2 g fiber (3)
Macros: 4 servings, 351 calories, 14 g carbs, 20 g fat, 28 g protein, and 5 g fiber (3)
Macros: 4 servings, 214 calories, 7 g carbs, 8 g fat, 28 g protein, and 1 g fiber (11)
Macros: 4 servings, 141 calories, 6 g carbs, 3 g fat, 23 g protein, and 2 g fiber (11)
Macros: 8 servings, 352 calories, 8 g carbs, 20 g fat, 34 g protein, and 1 g fiber (11)
Macros: 4 servings, 336 calories, 6 g carbs, 18 g fat, 36 g protein, and 2 g fiber (11)
Macros: 4 servings, 148 calories, 9 g carbs, 12 g fat, 4 g protein, and 3 g fiber (10)
Macros: 4 servings, 293 calories, 11 g carbs, 20 g fat, 23 g protein, and 7 g fiber (3)
Macros: 4 servings, 453 calories, 14 g carbs, 25 g fat, 44 g protein, and 5 g fiber (3)
Change your breakfasts, lunches, and dinners throughout your weeks, matching lower-carb meals with higher-carb meals to ensure you don’t eat too many carbs each day. Leftovers can also be eaten the next day if you don’t mind eating the same thing again.
However, snacks are missing, so let’s take a look at snack carbs for the 30-day plan. You can use the snack ideas from the 7-day plan or the recommended snacks for the no-starch diet, which include (7):
You can also use your recommended vegetables or salad greens as snacks.
Read more: The Best Fasting Diet for Men, According to Research
A no-carb diet plan for 2 weeks will help you cut out starch as much as possible. Here are 10 meal ideas that contain less than the recommended five grams of effective carbs per serving (8). Use the recipes on different days or eat multiple recipes on the same day to ensure you consume five grams of carbs or less.
These meal ideas are pretty low on fiber, so you may want to add extra vegetables as snacks between meals and/or use a fiber supplement. These ultra-low-carb recipe ideas are courtesy of Taste Of Home (11).
Macros: 2 wraps, 252 calories, 5 g carbs, 15 g fat, 24 g protein, and 2 g fiber (11)
Macros: 6 servings, 418 calories, 3 g carbs, 33 g fat, 26 g protein, and 0 g fiber (11)
Macros: 8 servings, 224 calories, 2 g carbs, 11 g fat, 25 g protein, and 0 g fiber (11)
Macros: 4 servings, 325 calories, 3 g carbs, 27 g fat, 20 g protein, and 1 g fiber (11)
Macros: 4 servings, 317 calories, 1 g carbs, 23 g fat, 25 g protein, and 0 g fiber (11)
Macros: 6 servings, 234 calories, 2 g carbs, 15 g fat, 22 g protein, and 0 g fiber (11)
Macros: 4 servings, 363 calories, 3 g carbs, 21 g fat, 40 g protein, and 1 g fiber (11)
Macros: 4 servings, 427 calories, 1 g carbs, 31 g fat, 35 g protein, and 0 g fiber (11)
Macros: 8 servings, 201 calories, 5 g carbs, 8 g fat, 26 g protein, and 2 g fiber (11)
Macros: 4 servings, 262 calories, 2 g carbs, 16 g fat, 26 g protein, and 1 g fiber (11)
Cutting out starch restricts the number of carbs you consume for energy. The Mayo Clinic suggests that you enter a state of ketosis when you limit your carbs to the extreme (6). Your body stops burning glucose and turns fat into ketones to burn for energy.
WebMD says removing carbs will deplete the glycogen stores in your muscles before you enter the ketosis state (12). Your body will process glycogen for some time before you start ketosis, which transforms body fat into ketones for energy production.
Medical News Today suggests that increased ketones make your breath and urine smell different (9). You may notice weight loss and unusual thirst, and you may also experience muscle cramps or headaches. Fatigue, sleep changes, and digestive issues may arise during the immediate ketosis switch.
You may lose weight if you cut your carb intake to 50 grams or less per day (4). However, how much you lose is dependent on what else you eat, as carbs are not the only energy source. The Mayo Clinic says that you should eat 500-750 fewer calories each day to lose 1-1.5 pounds weekly (6). You may lose more during the first week due to water weight (12).
A 30-day no-starch diet can be uniquely tailored to suit your needs. Cut out as much starch as you want to, but you should consult your healthcare provider and ensure you are still getting all the other nutrients your body requires. You can then choose your meal plan or follow recipes from different meal plans to cut starch for as long as you desire.
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