CU menopause expert tells Everyday Health Galveston diet is a marketing tool
Everyday Health breaks down the Galveston diet, and Dr. Nanette Santoro weighs in on claims of its benefits.
This diet came about after a Texas-based OB-GYN started to experience her hormones fluctuating in midlife. She also wanted to drop weight but the approaches she tried weren’t working, so she reached out nutritionists she knew. They pointed her to other potential reasons the weight was staying on, including the subclinical inflammation that is speculated to increase with age.
The OB-GYN, whose hometown is Galveston, created a new eating plan, which is now being marketed as the Galveston diet. Dr. Santoro and others are skeptical.
“Midbody weight gain is almost universal among menopausal women,” Dr. Santoro said. “Virtually every woman gains at least some fat under her skin with the end of menses, which researchers believe could be related to the loss of estrogen, although this has not been proven. There are a lot of compelling theories and good science being done around his question,” she told Everyday Health, adding that there are currently few answers.
“There is no evidence that the Galveston diet is some special kind of magic” for midlife women,” Santoro says. “The diet is an example of a hunch-based marketing tool,” said Dr. Santoro, noting it incorporates several ideas with at most a small amount of research behind them.