If you’re plugged into the ‘diet news’ that goes around online, you’ve probably heard of the ‘chicken and broccoli’ diet.
This diet is said to give you massive health benefits.
But it comes with one big challenge.
It gets old pretty quickly.
The idea behind the diet is simple:
You eat just chicken and broccoli.
And every meal must be prepared in a healthy manner.
(In other words, no breading and deep-frying.)
The idea is that the diet contains only essential nutrients and plenty of protein; no carbs, sugar, or other additives.
And in theory, it’s supposed to be amazing for overall health, wellness, and weight loss.
But does it work? Is it good for you?
And perhaps more importantly—is it even sustainable?
Let’s break it down and talk about it.
The Basics: Does The Chicken And Broccoli Diet Actually Work?
According to a story written in Men’s Health, you can actually lose a LOT of weight with this diet.
But of course, it’s not without its downsides.
The Men’s Health post follows two brothers who run a YouTube channel called ‘Buff Dudes.’
Well, they did one video where they ate nothing but chicken and broccoli for a week straight, and the effects of the test were pretty drastic.
Here were the general highlights.
They Lost A Bunch Of Weight
By the end of the 7-day experiment, one of the brothers had lost 8 pounds. Though this weight loss was likely mostly water-weight, it was still a lot of weight to lose in such a short period of time.
They Started To Feel A Lack Of Energy
According to their report, lifting weights started to get a bit more challenging. They started to suffer a bit in the ‘motivation’ department.
By day 3, they reported their energy levels being ‘a little low.’
They Got Really Tired Of Eating Just Chicken And Broccoli
Another downside to this particular diet is that it just plain gets super boring.
This may not sound like a big downside, but it actually is.
If you’re not careful, a super boring diet can quickly lead to binge-eating.
Why?
Because you crave so many other foods so badly that, if you do cave-in and cheat, you’re likely to binge, mostly due to the fact that you haven’t had anything really good to eat for a prolonged period of time.
What’s The Verdict?
The chicken and broccoli diet will very likely make you lose weight.
But it does come with some downsides.
As a general rule, this is a pretty healthy diet.
But it’s also a bit on the extreme side.
Most nutritionists say that you should avoid sticking so stringently to eating such extreme diets; and that eating a wider variety of foods for a more well-rounded diet is really the long-term winning strategy.
We can definitely see why nutritionists are likely right about this, though it certainly wouldn’t hurt anything to restrict a few meals per week down to the ‘chicken and broccoli’ diet essentials.
