Looking for the diet everyone’s talking about? The Valencia Diet — a new viral sensation stormed social media!
The Valencia Diet is quickly becoming a favorite with its vibrant colors and amazing health benefits. From Instagram reels to TikTok challenges, this sunny Mediterranean-inspired trend is transforming the way we think about food to lose weight. With its focus on fresh, seasonal fruits and veggies, it’s as colorful as it is healthy
Curious what all the buzz is about? Let’s dive into the hype, the benefits, and how you can join in the latest Valencia diet shaking up the internet!
Who is Dr. Valencia and What is Dr. Valencia’s Diet?
On TikTok, you will find tons of fun videos of Daniel Valencia (@doctordanielvalencia), a Texas-based osteopathic doctor with 1.4 Million followers. He shares recipe ideas, healthy eating tips, and weight loss tricks. The Valencia diet is good for your health in many ways, like helping you lose weight, lower inflammation, sleep better, and have more energy.
Dr. Valencia’s Diet focuses on whole unprocessed foods such as seeds, fruits, fresh plant-based protein, vegetables, and nuts. In a video, Dr. Valencia shared that you can eat as many fruits and vegetables as you like. He also suggested eating non-meat protein at breakfast and dinner, such as eggs, Greek yogurt, or tofu.
The goal of the Valencia Diet is reducing the calorie intake. You can consume about 1500 calories per day, mostly from seasonal plant-based foods including fresh vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts, and whole grains. Reducing overall calories and loading up on vegetables is an excellent approach to getting essential nutrients while losing weight without feeling hungry.
How was the Valencia Diet created?
Dr. Valencia created the Valencia Diet to bring health, balance, and colorful life together on your plate. Inspired by the traditional Mediterranean diet practices, it’s all about fresh, natural foods like colorful fruits, vegetables, plant-based proteins, seeds, and nuts. To Eat Healthy is made easy and fun with its straightforward and flexible approach.
Key Components of the Valencia Diet
Whole, Unprocessed Foods: The main component of the Valencia diet is the consumption of whole natural foods like green vegetables, fruits, grains, legumes and lean protein. This diet allows you to consume unprocessed food while eliminating refined sugar, artificial additives and processed food. This diet helps in weight loss, reducing inflammation and overall health.
Plant-Based Emphasis: Valencia diet is not a vegan or vegetarian diet, However it includes plant based food items like leafy greens, vegetables, nuts, tofu, seeds and fruits. The main purpose to include these plant based foods is they help in digestive issues, reduce inflammation, and boost energy levels as these foods are rich in fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants.
Healthy Fats: Many diet plans exclude fats, but in Valencia diet fats play an important role as it is essential for heart, hormonal balance and overall health. Fats help to control cholesterol levels and improve absorption of vitamins like A, D, E, and K. The fat sources used in the Valencia diet are live oil, avocados, nuts, and seeds.
Lean Protein Sources: This diet also includes a normal amount of lean protein like chicken, turkey, and fish. Protein plays an important role in one’s weight loss journey. When you are focusing on a restricted diet protein is good to take as it is important for muscle repair, increasing energy levels and helps in immune function. This diet not only includes meat but also allows fish, mostly likely salmon and mackerel, which are rich in Omega fatty acid. The Valencia diet allows both options so you don’t get bored and fulfil your food cravings.
Portion Control and Mindful Eating: The Valencia diet promotes eating meals in small portions. It helps in controlling extra eating throughout the day. This diet helps in digestion and nutrient absorption.
Low in Processed Carbs and Refined Sugars: In this diet you are allowed to consume unprocessed food but limits intake of refined sugar and processed food. The main reason for limiting these sugary items is that they are full of carbohydrates which results in increasing blood sugar level and weight gain issues. Instead, this diet focuses on eating healthy alternatives like quinoa, brown rice, and oats.
Does the Valencia Diet help with weight loss?
Yes, the Valencia Diet helps you lose weight.
In one video, Dr. Valencia shared that he released the Valencia diet in early 2023, originally designed for weight loss. He also mentioned that the diet is good for health problems such as diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol.
Moreover, the Valencia diet allows eating only fruits, vegetables, and whole grains which naturally lowers calorie intake and keeps you feeling full for longer. This results in a healthy and long-term weight loss.
Here’s how the Valencia Diet breaks down, according to the video:
✓ Breakfast: Three fruits + one non-meat protein
✓ Snack (optional): One large fruit
✓ Lunch: Three veggies + one protein + one carb
✓ Dinner: Veggies, salad, legumes + one fruit + one non-meat protein
A simple, balanced plan to fuel your day the healthy way!
What can you eat in the Valencia diet?
A wide variety of foods are included in the Valencia Diet, such as:
Sample Non-Diabetic Valencia Diet Plan:
Vegetables: Leafy greens (spinach, kale, arugula), cruciferous vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts), bell peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, and cucumbers.
Dairy (optional): Moderate amounts of low-fat dairy or dairy alternatives like almond milk or coconut yogurt.
Fruits: Berries, citrus fruits, apples, pears, grapes, and pomegranates.
Whole Grains: Quinoa, brown rice, oats, farro, and barley.
Legumes: Lentils, chickpeas, black beans, and kidney beans.
Lean Proteins: Chicken breast, turkey, fish (especially fatty fish like salmon), tofu, and tempeh.
Healthy Fats: Olive oil, avocado, almonds, walnuts, chia seeds, and flaxseeds.
Who can get benefit from the Valencia Diet?
The Valencia diet is a 7- days diet plan, created to provide nutritious eating habits. It is suitable for all kinds of people, there are no age restrictions. If you are looking to lose weight, improve overall health or simply want to start a healthier lifestyle then this diet is the best for you. Followings are the benefits you can get by implementing the Valencia diet so lets start.
1. People Looking to Lose Weight
The Valencia diet is a combination of whole nutrient, unprocessed food, that helps individual to reduce calorie intake without any suffering. The main focus of this diet is including high-fiber fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and healthy fats. Another advantage of the Valencia diet is it helps in maintaining blood sugar levels, which helps in controlling overeating habits.
2. Individuals with Heart Health Concerns
The Valencia diet is not only good for weight loss but It is also beneficial for heart health. It includes foods like olive oil, fatty fish, fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. These foods not only reduce inflammation but also reduce cholesterol levels and blood pressure levels which leads to improvement in heart health. This diet is an excellent choice for the people who have heart issues like heart attack etc.
3. Those Looking to Improve Digestive Health
Another benefit of the Valencia diet is improving digestive health. The Valencia diet involves the consumption of fiber based foods like whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and legumes. The diet rich in fiber helps in improving gut health, constipation issues and overall digestive health. You can also use yogurt and fermented vegetables for better digestion.
4. Diabetic Individuals or Those with Insulin Resistance
The Valencia diet restricted and limited the intake of sugar, while promoting low-glycemic foods like leafy greens, non-starchy vegetables, and lean, this can help people who are diabetic. These food items include protein which helps in regulating blood sugar levels. This diet also helps in managing insulin sensitivity by promoting energy level for the whole day.
5. Those with Inflammatory Conditions
The Valencia Diet is rich in anti-inflammatory foods, including fatty fish (high in omega-3 fatty acids), fruits, vegetables, and whole grains. This food list helps in reducing inflammation like arthritis, autoimmune diseases, or chronic pain. You can also take fruits like berries and citrus. They play an important role in fighting against stress as they have antioxidant properties.
6. People Looking for Sustainable, Long-Term Health Benefits
As we discuss, The Valencia diet helps in weight loss, heart health and reduces inflammation. It is also good for the people who are looking for long term health benefits without any extreme restriction. Valencia focuses on balanced eating by eliminating sugar and processed food this helps individuals to stick to this diet for a long term.
7. Vegetarians or Those Who Want to Reduce Meat Consumption
The Valencia diet is not a vegan or vegetable diet but it does include a number of green vegetables. It is flexible for vegan people too who don’t want to consume meat in their diet. It encourages plant-based proteins such as legumes, nuts, seeds, and tofu, which provide ample nutrition without the need for animal-based products.
8. Individuals with Skin or Hair Health Concerns
Since this diet is full of nutrients like Omega 3, healthy fats and protein, from olive oil and avocados to fruits and vegetables, can provide a positive impact on overall health specially on skin and hair.
Did Valencia diet plan help in weight loss as well as diabetes?
The 7-day Valencia diet plan was made to help overweight people to lose weight. The diet plan comes in two different versions: one for diabetics and one for weight loss. However, for diabetic people, he recommends that they take more protein and low-glycemic vegetables and fruits.
The high fiber content of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes helps control blood sugar levels and avoids type 2 diabetes. A review in the “American Journal of Clinical Nutrition” found that high-fiber diets cut the chance of acquiring type 2 diabetes by 30-50%
For diabetic people, Dr. Valencia shares:
Breakfast: Two low-glycemic fruits or two vegetables (like berries, peaches, plums, watermelon, apples, pears, kiwis, oranges, and veggies like jicama and sweet potatoes.).
Snack: Enjoy one non-meat protein.
Lunch: Include three vegetables, one protein, one carbohydrate.
Dinner: Veggies, legumes, and/or salad and two non-meat proteins.
Prioritize non-meat or plant-based protein in Valencia Diet
In the Valencia diet, Prioritize non-meat or plant-based protein like seeds, beans, lentils, eggs, cheese, legumes, nuts, and cottage. These sources provide protein, but without the saturated fat that is frequently found in animal-based protein. Take 1 gram of protein per pound of your ideal body weight — so if your goal is 130 pounds, that’s 130 grams of protein per day.
Is Protein recommended on the Valencia Diet?
Yes Protein is recommended in the Valencia diet because it helps in muscle growth, repairing of tissue and overall body health. Lean animal protein is a part of valencia diet in order to get high quality protein in a day. The animal protein sources can be Chicken breast (skinless), Turkey breast, fish and Lean cuts of beef. The Valencia diet also involves plant-based protein like Tofu, Quinoa, Nuts and seeds which is a good option if you are vegetarian or even following a vegan diet. The Valencia diet also provides a complete guide on intake of protein whether you are an adult, older or just a person who wants to build muscle. for adults: Aim for around 0.8 to 1 gram of protein per kilogram, If you are looking for muscle gain Protein intake can be increased to about 1.2 to 1.5 grams per kilogram or if you are a old person increase intake of protein to get better health.
Intermittent Fasting on the Valencia Diet
Intermittent fasting works perfectly with the Valencia Diet. This method promotes weight loss along with better health. Switching between eating and fasting helps boost your metabolism and burn fat naturally. When you eat, prefer fresh nutrient foods like fruits and vegetables, legumes, and plant-based proteins, to stay energized and full.
Common methods include:
16/8 Method: Eat in an 8-hour window while fasting for 16.
5:2 Diet: Eat as normal for five days, then restrict calories for two non-consecutive days.
Daily Physical Activity
To complement the nutrient-rich foods of the Valencia Diet, a balanced approach to physical activity should include a mix of cardiovascular exercise, strength training, flexibility, and balance exercises.
- Try to do 150 minutes of cardio per week or 20 to 30 minutes a day.
- Do exercises like weight lifting, kettlebell swings, deadlifts for at least 2-30 minutes a day.
- If you are a jogging and walking person, do least 10,000 steps per day
- Do 10-15 minutes of stretching or yoga.
Gluten-Free Version of the Valencia Diet
As We know Valencia diet is a mixture of unprocessed and whole food while eliminating unprocessed and sugar, It is a perfect fit if you are looking for a gluten free lifestyle. Make your breakfast and dinner by incorporating fresh fruits and vegetables, skip meat based products. For lunch it is suggested to involve foods based on carbohydrates and unprocessed food like quinoa, lentils, and whole grains. This means you can have a gluten free diet with some other sources. This version focuses on naturally gluten-free foods, such as:
Vegetables and Fruits: All freshly grown is gluten-free.
Gluten-Free Grains: Rice, corn, and quinoa are excellent alternatives.
Legumes and Nuts: These foods provide essential nutrients without gluten.
Sample Meal Plan for the Valencia Diet
Breakfast: All you need is 2 scrambled eggs, an avocado slice, add one whole-grain bread slice, use 1 Tsp, add salt and pepper for taste.
Mid-Morning Snack: Eat one apple or a handful of almonds.
Lunch: Taka a chicken breast, grill it, add spinach, kale or arugula with tomatoes, cucumber and bell peppers. Use 1 tablespoon of olive oil, vinegar, add salt and pepper for taste.
Afternoon Snack: Take 1 cup of yogurt, add one teaspoon of chia seeds and a cup of blueberries, raspberries and strawberries.
Dinner: 4 oz baked Salmon, add seasoning like lemon, olive oil and herbs. For a healthy taste add some green veggies.
Final Words
The Valencia diet offers an enjoyable and nutritious solution to effective weight loss. By focusing on fresh seasonal fruits, vegetables, proteins, whole grains, and healthy fats you can improve your overall well-being and health.
Ready to make lasting weight loss goals? The Valencia Diet is your go-to plan for healthy living and
sustainable weight loss!
Also Read: How Much Protein in 8 oz Chicken? Nutritional Information Explained
