This diet bans most grains, animal dairy products and foods cooked at high temperatures. The latter contain glycotoxins that are responsible for inflammation in many people. However, this diet can be severe for some because of the restrictions it requires, and it lasts a very long time.
What are the principles of hypotoxic diet?
Among the most popular diets of the moment, we find the hypotoxic diet. Otherwise known as the Seignalet diet, this dietary rebalancing does not aim to lose weight. It would fight against inflammatory diseases and would allow, more generally, to stay in shape.
- Ancestral or original diet
- Dairy products and modern cereals are forbidden
- Diet rich in plants and animal products
- Food is eaten raw or very little cooked
- Would be effective in the treatment of 91 pathologies
What to eat and not to eat in the hypotoxic diet?
To know if a food is allowed, whether it is a mustard preparation, mayonnaise, soy cream, soy sauce, ice cream with or without lactose, etc., it is necessary to read each ingredient on the container.
If there is the presence of milk protein, processed or modified milk products, milk, cream (in fact anything related to animal milk protein) or the presence of cereals, whether the name of the cereal is mentioned or not, the food should be avoided unless it is mentioned that the food contains only the cereals allowed by the diet.
Prohibited foods:
- Dairy products: all dairy products from animals are prohibited, including all cheeses. This includes milk and cheese from sheep and goats.
- Lactose-free dairy products: Lactose-free products: the sugar (lactose) has been removed from the milk in these products, but the milk proteins remain and it is these proteins that are implicated in the development of chronic inflammation diseases. These products are therefore not consistent with the hypotoxic diet.
- All the products on the market that contain milk proteins are therefore not compliant with the hypotoxic diet. Moreover, many products that are milk protein concentrates and others, can even be dangerous for the kidneys because they cause an increase in nitrogenous waste and thus an additional work for the kidneys.
- Soft drinks full of refined sugar or containing sweeteners (aspartame and others) should be avoided.
- Fresh eggs are allowed and organic eggs would be better for your health. Powdered eggs (because they are industrially processed) are not recommended.
- Boiled potatoes are allowed in the diet since the boiling point does not exceed 100 degrees C. On the other hand, French fries and potato chips are forbidden because they are cooked at very high temperatures.
- Frozen vegetables and fruits are allowed on the diet. Canned vegetables are okay but less recommended than frozen ones because of the synthetic coating inside the can.
- Consumption of all vegetables, including vegetable juices, is encouraged, unless there is a personal intolerance.
- Fruit
- Consumption of ripe fruit is encouraged. Commercial juices with no added sugar are acceptable but not to the same extent as whole fruit.
- Unfermented soybeans
- Beverages: The only beverages accepted by the diet are those made from either brown rice and/or buckwheat or millet.
- Cereals: it is important to remember that it is not only gluten that is harmful to people with chronic inflammation, but all the proteins in cereals that are identified as harmful.
- Allowed grains are: all kinds of rice, white, brown, red, wild rice, buckwheat, sesame seeds.
- Yeast: Fleischmann’s bread yeast is gluten-free. When using yeast, always check on Google that the brand used is gluten free.
Permitted foods
As mentioned above, there are certain grains that are allowed such as: white rice, brown rice, red rice, wild rice, buckwheat or sesame seeds.
- Butter can be replaced by oils (virgin olive oil, rapeseed oil, walnut oil…).
- We are heading primarily towards organic food, in order to limit pesticides, herbicides, hormones, antibiotics, GMOs …).
- Fat is your enemy in this diet. except some: avocado, nuts, olive
- Fish, seafood and meat: as long as you eat them in moderation and always return to organic food.
- Legumes (lentils, chickpeas)
- eggs
- All fruits and vegetables
Please note that food should be cooked at low temperature (100 to 110° maximum).
What margarine is allowed in the Hypotoxic diet?
It is the “Vegan-Vegetable” margarine that is acceptable because it does not contain hydrogenated oil, therefore no trans fats, no dairy products and no gluten. In addition, they are organic.
Is the Hypotoxic diet proposed by Doctor Seignalet Really effective?
Yes, the hypotoxic diet is certainly effective. There’s a study conducted on about 115 people with chronic and inflammatory diseases that proved its effectiveness at the beginning. The percentage of recovery of these people was 80%.
It’s a diet that consists of balancing the plate and avoiding bad food additives, and keeping the food as it was by avoiding cooking which destroys the nutritional value of a food.
So yes, it is effective in the prevention and relief of pain related to inflammatory and chronic autoimmune diseases, and reduce symptoms and sometimes healing.
What other diet is the hypotoxic diet similar to?
The hypotoxic diet is too similar to the raw food diet. Both have almost the same principles. However, there is a small difference in the choice of food like milk from animal flesh which must be excluded in the hypotoxic diet. There’s also a difference in the degree of cooking, in the hypotoxic diet it varies between 100 to 110 °, while the raw diet consists of not cooking food or cooking it at very low temperature which is 40 °.
How does hypotoxic diet affect our body?
This allows us to eliminate toxins from our body as its name suggests. To simplify things, this diet is designed to exclude all foods that contain a substance called “glycotoxin“. This substance comes from cooking food at high temperatures, but fortunately this diet includes this method of cooking. It is also called Advanced Glycation End product formation (AGE).
Following this diet and respecting its principles will reduce the symptoms or perhaps cure some of these autoimmune, chronic diseases: Type I diabetes, Crohn’s disease, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, multiple sclerosis
How long should the hypotoxic diet last?
It must be followed for at least 2 years. However, this diet requires the supervision of a specialist in nutrition who will inform you about the duration that is appropriate for you, that is to say, it is quite according to your biological balance sheet, and your general condition.
If you feel better, start introducing other foods gradually, and always avoid cooking foods at high temperature. So, give preference to organic food.
For some people, they have followed the hypotoxic diet for a long time since they feel much better with this diet and for fear of resuming the symptoms of their disease.
What are the benefits of this plan?
Since it is rich in proteins and fibers, this diet provides good satiety. By excluding refined products from the diet, overcooking which can cause a Maillard reaction, as well as sweet products, certain diseases linked to an eating disorder can be improved, such as celiac disease or type 2 diabetes.
It consists in reducing the sensation of pain by reducing the inflammation caused by the t-bodies that are eliminated in this diet.
Who is the hypotoxic diet for?
- The Hypotoxic diet is for you if you suffer from a chronic pathology that medicine is no longer sufficient to relieve.
- Athletes must be careful and must take the advice of a nutritionist if they can follow this diet or not, however sport is also a good way to relieve chronic diseases.
- Autoimmune diseases (rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, psoriatic arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, scleroderma, multiple sclerosis, celiac disease, etc.)
- Diseases related to “cellular clogging” (cancer, acne, fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, migraine, manic-depressive psychosis, nervous breakdown, type 2 diabetes, spasmophilia, etc.)
- Elimination diseases (psoriasis, urticaria, chronic bronchitis, asthma, colitis, etc.).
Can we lose weight with the Hypotoxic diet?
Yes, the primary goal of the hypotoxic diet is not to lose weight, but to return to an ancestral diet that can alleviate certain pathologies. On the other hand, it is a diet that is very rich in plants and raw products and low in sugar and industrial products. As a result, weight loss is very likely during the first weeks of the diet.
Is there a risk with the Hypotoxic diet?
- As this diet encourages raw food, so there’s a risk of contamination (E. Coli, salmonella) increased by eating raw food especially meat.
- It can be difficult to understand at first.
- Not compatible with an active social life (e.g. restaurant)
- Raw eggs and raw meat are fragile foodstuffs that can be contaminated (salmonella, E. Coli.), so food poisoning is frequent with this diet. Moreover, with the numerous restrictions on grains and cooking methods, the hypotoxic diet can be difficult to follow on a daily basis. However, it is mainly undertaken by people suffering from incapacitating pathologies, so this can be an important source of motivation to follow this diet.
A typical day on a Hypotoxic diet
Breakfast
- Strawberry banana smoothie
- Gluten free bread
- Almond butter
Morning snack
- Unsalted pistachios
Breakfast
- Shredded carrots
- Buckwheat pancake
- Egg casserole
- Steamed zucchini
- Apple
Afternoon snack
- Almonds
- Pear
Dinner
- Steamed rice
- Cod fillet
- Spinach
- Soy milk yogurt
Let’s wrap it up !
The hypotoxic diet (seignalet) can be followed in cases of pathologies without effective drug treatment. Although scientific studies are still lacking, I think that there is absolutely everything to gain by trying this diet in cases of medical impasse.
It can be difficult to follow and requires a lot of motivation and rigor. As well as the possibility of cooking homemade meals in order to control the cooking temperatures and the variety of foods.
In conclusion, I encourage people suffering from incurable pathologies to try the hypotoxic diet as a complement to their treatment. Food is a healing factor that is too often put aside.
