Drop 10 pounds in 7 days

European research breakthrough: Combining the slimming effects of keto with the healthy decadence of the Mediterranean diet will have fat falling off your frame—even as you enjoy the deliciousness of the season!

Here come the holidays, with all that scrumptious food and drink—and this year you can sail right through without gaining a single pound! In fact, you can enjoy downright decadent meals and lose weight before it’s time to shimmy into that beautiful little black dress for your holiday party. How? By blending the powerfully effective slimming methods of a ketogenic diet with traditionally hearthealthy Mediterranean fare.

The diet mash-up comes courtesy of researchers from Italy and Spain, who wanted to solve one of the biggest roadblocks to keto success: It can be a challenge to follow the restrictive eating plan long enough to see lasting results (especially around the holidays!). When the researchers put their hybrid diet to the test in a series of studies published in the Journal of Medicinal Food and elsewhere, they knew they had landed on a winning formula.

Supercharged keto

“The ketogenic diet has several advantages over other diets,” says Steve Parker, M.D., author of The Advanced Mediterranean Diet. To name just a few: Research at the University of California at San Diego shows that a ketogenic diet “reboots” metabolism so the body runs better on stored fat than on carbs. Once in this state, fat starts falling off your frame at record speed—weight loss of a pound or more a day is common. And as a fabulous “side effect,” keto has been shown to improve energy by 88%, memory by 62% and mood by 52%.

As researcher Antonio Paoli, M.D., a professor of biomedical sciences at the University of Padova in Italy, has noted, though, “The ketogenic diet works like a sprinter. It is effective over a short distance. For a long-lasting nutritional choice, the more effective protocol is definitely the Mediterranean diet.” Dr. Parker agrees: “When you combine [keto] with the Mediterranean diet—which is widely recognized as the healthiest— you get a great framework to help people lose weight in a healthy way.”

Indeed, in the Italian and Spanish studies, researchers found that a Mediterranean twist on keto takes the benefits to a new level, leading to massive weight loss. In one study, subjects lost 15% of their fat mass in six weeks, trimming an average of 4 inches from the waist, 3 inches from the hips and 1.5 inches from the thighs. In another study, subjects lost weight specifically from female trouble spots: the abdomen, thighs, hips, buttocks, waist, neck and upper arms. The study authors even compared the results to those seen from liposuction!

Beyond slimming

A keto-style Mediterranean diet also melts away the fat you can’t see. In a new Harvard study, the diet was significantly superior to a low-fat diet at decreasing fat storage in the liver, heart and pancreas. That’s a major plus since excess fat in these areas is linked to an increased risk of heart disease and diabetes.

And that’s not all: One of the Italian trials looked specifically at subjects with metabolic syndrome, which is characterized by high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, bloodglucose imbalances and belly fat. After just 12 weeks, the participants tested totally free of the condition. More evidence comes from the University of Cordoba in Spain. Subjects there experienced blood-sugar and bloodpressure reductions of up to 22%, plus their total cholesterol readings fell from high to healthy ranges and levels of “good” HDL cholesterol increased by 32%. Ready to dive in? Read on!

“Combine keto with Mediterranean, widely recognized as the healthiest diet, and you get a great framework to slim in

a healthy way.”

—Steve Parker, M.D.