The Hallelujah Diet (Featured on Web MD)

What It Is

A heavily supplemented, low-calorie vegan diet, consisting of 85% raw organic foods and 15% cooked foods, is the core of the faith-based Hallelujah Diet program. The Rev. George Malkmus and his wife, Rhonda, developed the diet and recipe books at their Hallelujah Acres farm to educate their followers on what they say is "God's way to optimal health."

"Our bodies are designed by God to receive raw or living foods, where the life force and nutrition are available to nourish our bodies and prevent disease," says Malkmus, who based the plan on his personal experience. "The Hallelujah Diet is our way of taking people back to the original diet, designed to be the best weight loss program on the planet Earth."

It's safe to assume dieters will lose weight on the plan, since the allowed foods are limited, low in calories, and bulky in nature. Indeed, it would be almost impossible to consume enough calories to cause weight gain on this diet. The problem could be getting enough calories and satisfying hunger with such limited food choices. 

Juicing vegetables and plant foods is a major part of the diet plan. Malkmus believes that juicing is the most efficient way to get nutrients into our bodies.

"Your digestive system only extracts 35% of nutrients in food, whereas when you juice the food, it is like an intravenous shot of nutrients, and you will absorb 92% of available nutrients," he says.

Most nutrition and health experts, however, do not embrace this theory.

"Juicing pulverizes foods, reducing the fiber, but it does not increase the absorption of the nutrients," says Christine Gerbstadt, MD, RD, a spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association. "That occurs at the cellular level, after the enzymes in your stomach prepare the food for absorption."

The Hallelujah Diet also calls for a variety of supplements, including B12, oils, digestive enzymes, a "cleansing" product, and barley powder -- all sold through The Hallelujah Diet web site. 

The plan also strongly recommends 30 minutes per day of regular exercise, strength training, and stretching, along with a daily dose of sunshine.

What You Can Eat

The Hallelujah Diet menu consists of raw organic fruits and vegetables, three daily servings of the supplement called "barleymax," and one meal of cooked grains and vegetables and a little oil -- and that's pretty much all that is allowed. Two meals and snacks are raw foods; dinner is the only meal where cooked foods are allowed. Fruits are supposed to make up 15% of the daily food allowance.

Raw foods make up the majority of allowed foods because nutrients are destroyed in cooking and man is the only animal that eats cooked food, says Malkmus.Here's a typical day on The Hallelujah Diet:

• Breakfast: 1 serving barley supplement (made from organic barley and alfalfa grass juices in powder form)
• Mid-morning snack: 1 cup vegetable juice or 1 piece fresh fruit or 1 vegetable supplement
• Lunch: 1 serving barley supplement, followed by a raw vegetable salad or raw fruit
• Mid-afternoon snack: 1 cup vegetable juice, carrot or celery sticks, or 1 vegetable supplement
• Dinner: 1 serving barley supplement, a large green salad with vegetables, and your choice of a cooked whole-grain or vegetable food from baked potato, brown rice, baked sweet potato, legumes, steamed veggies, whole-grain pasta, veggie sandwich on whole- grain bread, or squash
• Evening snack: Fresh fruit or a glass of apple or pear juice

Foods prohibited on The Hallelujah Diet include: animal products; dairy; white or brown sugar and sugar syrups; refined flour; seasonings including salt or pepper; alcohol; caffeine; coffee; tea; cocoa; soft drinks; sports drinks; artificial fruit drinks or juices with preservatives, salt, and sweeteners; canned and sweetened fruits; and nonorganic dried fruits. Also off limits are cold breakfast cereal; white rice; roasted or salted seeds and nuts; peanuts (because they are said to be difficult to digest); margarine, shortenings and anything with hydrogenated oils; soups (unless homemade); candy and gum; cookies, donuts, cakes, pies, or any product made with refined sugars or artificial sweeteners; canned vegetables; and vegetables fried in oil.

Because the food choices are so limited, people who follow the diet for extended periods could end up with nutritional deficiencies, experts say.

The American Dietetic Association approves of carefully planned vegetarian and vegan diets, but notes that vegetarian diets can be lacking in protein, iron, zinc, calcium, vitamin D, riboflavin, vitamin B12, omega-3 fatty acids, and iodine. Gerbstadt recommends consulting a registered dietitian to be sure you're following a healthy, balanced plan that meets your nutritional needs.

How It Works

You'll lose weight on The Hallelujah Diet because the plan is extremely low in calories -- potentially too low to sustain energy levels, keep you feeling satisfied, and provide all the nutrients needed for health. 

Malkmus theorizes that by eating a "living" food diet and eliminating addictive foods such as sugar, animal products, salt, white flour products, and caffeine, you will no longer crave those foods and your body will rid itself of 90% of all physical problems. 

"Sugar neutralizes our immune system and knocks it out and prevents it from functioning, so if you eliminate it and give your body a pure, living diet, it has the building blocks to rebuild cells," he says.

When you eat living foods, you no longer have to deal with hunger pangs or cravings, according to The Hallelujah Diet web site.

"All animal flesh originated in the living plant it ate, so eating animal products is a secondhand source to the plant, and it is God's design for us to eat raw or living foods directly from the source," says Malkmus.

He also says that juicing helps to reduce the bulk and fiber in some otherwise difficult-to-digest raw plant foods such as sweet potatoes. 

Dieters are given the option to adopt the diet gradually or "cold turkey" but are warned that an abrupt change in dietary habits may cause symptoms of detoxification. They're also urged to use the supplements, including a thrice-daily serving of barley powder, which is said to be the most nutritionally dense food on earth.

Gerbstadt disagrees with many of these ideas.

"There is no one single food that is the most nutritionally dense, there are lots of supernutritious foods, and when you eat a wide variety of foods, you are assured of getting all of the phytochemicals and fiber for good health that are not found in a supplement," she says.

Variety and moderation are the hallmark of a healthy, balanced diet, which can easily meet all your nutritional needs without supplements, says Gerbstadt.

What the Experts Say

Nutrition experts applaud a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. But beyond that, some say, the premise of The Hallelujah Diet lacks any scientific proof and the diet is not in accord with what we know is necessary for human health.

While Yale researcher David Katz, MD, says most Americans would benefit by eating a more plant-based diet, he questions the validity of recommending a raw and animal-free diet.

"There is a misperception that raw food is more nutritious than cooked, but it really depends on the food, because cooking food can enhance the digestibility," he says. "And in some cases like tomatoes, cooking makes the disease-fighting antioxidant lycopene more bioavailable to the body.

"We are omnivores, and derive specific benefit from animal foods such as fish," he says. "And when you eliminate all animal products, you miss out on valuable nutrients only found in animal products, like omega-3 fatty acids."

The American Heart Association recommends two servings a week of fatty fish, which contains heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

Experts also question the extremely low calorie level, and inadequate levels of protein and other nutrients in The Hallelujah Diet.

"Any motivation that helps people eat healthier and lose weight is fine, but this plan has glaring nutritional deficiencies that must be addressed in order for it to be a suitable diet for anyone," says Gerbstadt. 

She says the plan is potentially harmful, especially for the many overweight Americans who have diabetes, prediabetes, or metabolic syndrome. 

"Meals lacking enough protein -- whether from vegetable or animal sources -- are not as satisfying to hunger and mental and physical performance, and promote faster muscle breakdown, which is completely against the goal of long-term weight loss," she says.

Nutrition experts also note that any diet plan that calls for users to purchase its own supplements should send up a red flag for consumers. The cleansing of toxins from the body does not require supplements or dietary measures, as this task is handled naturally by the liver and kidneys in healthy people, they say.

"The body is an amazing machine designed to handle waste products and usual toxins," says Gerbstadt.

Stephen Barrett, MD, founder of Quackwatch, also questions the safety of The Hallelujah Diet.

"Extremely restrictive diets like The Hallelujah Diet are not safe for children, pregnant or lactating women, or any adult because it is nutritionally unbalanced, misleading, untrustworthy, and has not been scientifically validated," he says

His advice: If you want a healthy vegetarian diet, you can do it without spending thousands of dollars on supplements -- and you should seek the expertise of a registered dietitian, not a spiritual leader. 

Food for Thought

While a higher-fiber, lower-calorie, plant-based diet is advisable, The Hallelujah Diet is not recommended. If you're looking for a healthy weight loss plan, seek a balanced approach that is based on science.

Kathleen Zelman, MPH, RD, is director of nutrition for WebMD and the WebMD Weight Loss Clinic. Her opinions and conclusions are her own.