Today we’ll visit Men’s Health and a review of the VShred Diet. While the review is not entirely bad, it’s noticeable that the author, Abby Langer, and the “expert” she consulted are not well-versed in human nutrition nor physiology or biochemistry, so I’ll add my thoughts along the way.
As the article is very long, I’ll cut out a few of the unimportant parts.
“IF YOU’RE ANYWHERE on the internet on a regular basis, you’ve probably seen an ad (or seven) for VShred. They typically involve a muscled up guy working out, telling you why your last diet failed, and promoting the company’s workout programs, such as Get Ripped in 90 Days or Fat Loss Extreme.”
Actually, I have no real recollection of seeing this crap. Perhaps mentioned in some video title on YouTube that I quickly skipped, as I do not want to waste time on bollocks. But yes, it sounds like the typical cringy fitness scam.
“VShred provides virtual training and nutrition programs, claiming that these systems will be the end to your yo-yo dieting and finally help you build a better body. But the more you dig into VShred’s nutrition programs, the more complicated it gets. And I say that as a registered dietitian with decades of experience helping clients meet their nutrition goals.”
You’re a dietician? I’m sorry you wasted your “education” (indoctrination) and life on that backwards thinking and propaganda. I should know, as I was a Certified Nutritionist, Coach, Trainer, Medical Researcher and Student, and Supplement Developer for more than 20 years while also working as an Editor in Chief, Writer, Speaker, Author and Consultant. I’ve worked with hundreds of top-athletes in most sports, but mainly within bodybuilding, strongman, powerlifting and fitness. Then in 2018 while my health was failing and I was dying due to cancer and organ failure I realized the truth about our species-appropriate diet and the biological terrain and recovered in months. I also realized that everything I had been taught was backwards and that they lied about pretty much everything. And since I knew all their lies inside and out, it was extremely easy to debunk and reverse-engineer everything to find the real truth — which is also fully available within the fields of biology, physiology, and biochemistry.
So, I’ve already experienced and worked with what you, Abby Langer, believe is diet and nutrition, something I’ve debunked a thousands of times in the last 7 years, so we will surely clash during this review and you should take notes or you and your clients will be speeding to an early grave.
“Watch or read any of VShred’s marketing material and you’ll notice claims around hormones and metabolism—and particularly that VShred says it leverages a Harvard-discovered secret loophole to help people lose weight. To deepen the mystery even further, VShred argues that the rest of the world doesn’t know about this loophole.”
This is the typical fitness industry jargon. Trying to speed up your metabolism, which actually means that you will age faster and die earlier. And also the talk about hormones, something that is extremely important, but also something that will naturally optimize itself if you follow our species-appropriate diet which will supply all the building blocks for hormones while removing all the toxins from the diet that will interfere with your hormones and also cause a lot of cellular damage (especially plant-based defense chemicals/antioxidants and antinutrients.)
As for loopholes, there are none in nature. Not unless you call your natural diet a loophole.
“What’s more, this loophole allegedly allows people to lose weight with little effort, though the company tells potential clients that their program is only for people who are ’dedicated and serious about achieving rapid results.’”
Ah, the “dedicated and serious” psychology. We’ve seen that a thousand times in fitness adverts. It makes insecure people feel like they’re taking on something big and “secret” that makes them special, like an elite band of soldiers. Silly, but it works.
And “rapid results” will always sell, as people want everything yesterday. Especially the younger more gullible population who never really worked and struggled to get something in life.
What is the VShred diet?
“THE VSHRED DIET is an eating plan that accompanies VShred workouts and supplements.”
Of course there’s totally useless and toxic supplements, the perfect up-sell for gullible people who believe in magic potions.
“The diet is primarily constructed around one fundamental concept: That your body type should determine what you should eat. More specifically, VShred builds its meal plans around three body types:
- Endomorphs: People who naturally have higher amounts of fat and muscle. They tend to gain weight more easily than other types.
- Ectomorphs: People who are naturally leaner. They tend to have gain weight less easily than other types.
- Mesomorphs: People who have a natural ability to gain muscle and lose fat.”
This is pure bollocks pseudoscience. If you have any knowledge of the most simple principles in biology and physiology, you know that all humans are constructed exactly the same. The only differences are minor changes to how efficient some parts of your body might be, and that comes from nutrient deficiencies and toxic damage during the development stages of being a fetus within your mother’s womb, as well as the first crucial years after birth when the secondary stages of development takes place. However, these things mostly affect how you look, as in bone structure and development. Most of any inefficiencies in organs, glands and such can be fixed as you grow and develop as a baby, toddler and child if you get the right nutrition (breastfeeding and animal-based foods such as fatty meat, organ meats and eggs.)
Even as an adult, you can renew most of your body as in soft tissues and organs, as long as you achieve a fasted state every now and then and get the right bioavailable nutrients and limit toxic exposure, as in following our natural species-appropriate diet.
So, there are no silly “body types.” These different “classifications” come from observing bodies that are struggling with nutrient deficiencies and a high toxic load, and by correcting these underlying causes and becoming healthy, you will function exactly the same as everyone else that is healthy. There is only ONE diet for any human, and that is our species-appropriate diet that we are physiologically constructed for. Follow that diet and everything will slowly repair, heal, and fix itself as well as it can (depending on the damage you have accumulated over the years.) It’s that simple.
“From there, VShred offers two options for its diet plans: one based on carb cycling, a nutritional practice with a goal of muscle gain and weight loss, and the other on counting macronutrients (or “macros”): protein, carbohydrates, fat.”
Both are worthless. But at least “carb cycling” allows for days with very little carbohydrates and a lot of fat, which are more in alignment with our natural human diet which should be ZERO carbs. This will reduce damage from elevated blood glucose as well as damage from glycation, at least on those days that are low in carbohydrates.
With that being said, if you increase fats by adding plant-derived seed- or vegetable oils, you will increase the toxic load of the body as these are always oxidized, as in rancid, and thus extremely damaging to your cells and especially your arteries. You should only get your fats from animal-based sources.
“VShred offers you basic meal plans for these diets and then the option to pay for a customized meal plan.”
I bet the differences are small at best. And a customized meal plan is worthless unless it is species-appropriate and explained in detail.
“The basic meal plans are low in calories, with some dipping below 1,200 calories a day. Otherwise, the foods on the meal plans include normal, everyday choices that most people can find in a supermarket. Sweet potatoes. Blueberries. Chicken breast.”
Idiotic. You should never limit food intake to force your body to lose fat weight as that is a recipe for nutrient deficiencies, which will lead to hormone imbalances, reduced detoxification, reduced healing and repair, and so on. Instead you should eat nutritious food to maintain your weight and then add in two days of fasting a week, or three days of semi-fasting. This will guarantee that you get the nutrients you need while losing fat on the restricted days. And as a big bonus, fasting will speed up detoxification, cell repair and renewal as long as you have sufficient nutrients stored in your tissues and organs.
Also, the foods listed are worthless. Humans are obligate hyper carnivores and we should only consume animal-based foods, focusing on fatty meats, organ meats and eggs. While being an animal-based food, chicken breasts are white meat and very lean, which means that its nutrient density is very low for a meat, especially compared to ruminants such as beef or lamb.
Meats such as chicken, turkey, white fish and even pork should only be eaten once in a while for variety if you really like it. Personally, I would only eat any of them if there’s nothing else available. I rather focus on the most nutrient dense foods such as ruminant meat, organ meats and eggs.
What does the VShred diet cost?
“Each program is advertised for between $47 and $99, but there are plenty of upsells, including meal plans and supplements.”
That is $47 to $99 for a generic program, as in something that could be part of a book. My first two books released in 2008 and 2009 were such complete programs with both meal plans and workout programs, but very detailed and spanning close to 150 pages, and they cost around $19. The first one was about fat loss and competition diets, which included instructions for a peak week before a competition or a photo shoot. There were actually several competing amateur bodybuilders and fitness competitors that used that book instead of hiring a coach and won their weight classes. The second book was solely about gaining muscle mass. Also, they were only available in Swedish, and still I sold more than 25,000 copies of the first and 7,000 copies of the second (illustrating how popular fat loss programs are in contrast to muscle building.)
Does the VShred diet work?
“The “loophole” is actually the hormone irisin, which, yes, Harvard studied way back in 2012, but there’s been very little published about it from a solid scientific research standpoint since. To me as a dietitian, that’s a red flag.”
As a “dietitian” you do not really stay updated or look into biochemistry, do you? Of course you don’t. Irisin is a naturally occurring multifunctional protein that plays a role in regulating fat tissue and maintaining body homeostasis, thus it can be called a myokine and adipokine. One of the primary functions of irisin is to facilitate the conversion of white adipose tissue (WAT) into brown adipose tissue (BAT,) a process known as “browning.” This conversion enhances energy expenditure and thermogenesis, contributing to weight loss and improved blood glucose management. This is a natural conversion because guess what? Yes, irisin increases with fat intake, as in a high-fat diet, or simply a natural ketogenic animal-based diet, the diet we are made for — our species-appropriate diet. Also, any kind of exercise, as in physical activity, also increases irisin.
So, if you follow our natural species-appropriate diet that is high in animal fats while also being somewhat physically active, your irisin levels will be optimal. No loophole here. What VShred is trying to insinuate is that the exercise regime and their carb-cycling, which includes days of high-fat and low-carb will increase this myokine and adipokine. Again, that is no loophole, that is simply a natural reaction to being physically active and increasing your fat-intake. Any similar high-fat diet will accomplish the same thing — and a fully ketogenic diet on animal-based foods will be far superior.
“VShred diets also cite TRPV1, a receptor that helps produce brown fat, which is a type of fat that may help burn calories. TRPV1 has also been studied … in mice and lab dishes; not humans. (Another flag.)”
Most studies on anything are on mice or rats which makes them totally useless. With that being said, there have been several studies on humans involving TRPV1, but not really in the scope of weight loss, but primarily on its role in various physiological and pathological processes. These studies examined the toxic response to capsaicin, which we will get to, and another study confirmed that the normal human bladder urothelium expresses TRPV1, and its expression decreases progressively in transitional cell carcinoma as the cancer stage increases. Being precise matters. Now, let’s get on with what TRPV1 actually is.
TRPV1, also known as the capsaicin receptor and vanilloid receptor 1, is a protein allegedly encoded by the “TRPV1 gene” in humans (which is theoretical speculation from useless electron microscope images.) It is believed to be a nonselective cation channel that detects and regulates body temperature and provides a sensation of scalding heat and pain. TRPV1 affects brown fat tissue by regulating the expression of “thermogenic genes” and proteins, which are crucial for maintaining body temperature and energy expenditure. Activation of TRPV1 in brown adipose tissue (BAT) can enhance its metabolic activity and promote lipolysis, as in using more fatty acids for energy. It is believed that endogenous lipids such as anandamide and 12-hydroxyeicosatetraenoic acid (12-HETE,) as well as heat, acidic conditions, and capsaicin can affect and activate TRPV1.
Acidic conditions are mostly theoretical as your body will retain its pH in every single tissue within acceptable limits. Even if you consume something acidic, it’s neutralized in the stomach and the pH is only slightly affected for a very limited time, and that’s not enough to affect TRPV1.
During very intense exercise, the body’s temperature rises, and this increase can activate TRPV1 channels. According to research, muscle temperature during intense weight lifting or long-term aerobic exercise can reach up to 42°C, which exceeds the activation threshold of TRPV1. However, that is not specific to VShred’s programs, but to any form of intense exercise.
Capsaicin is an active defense chemical found in chili peppers, which belong to the genus Capsicum. It is extremely toxic and a potent irritant for mammals, including humans, and can easily kill insects. It is the toxic nature of capsaicin that activates TRPV1 as part of the fight-or-flight stress response to mobilize more energy. Likely, VShred recommends its clients to use chili in their cooking to poison themselves, only to increase energy expenditure a tiny bit. Idiotic and ridiculous.
“The reality is there is zero evidence to support these body types and zero evidence to suggest you need to eat differently according to someone’s categorization of your body to these ‘body types,’ says Layne Norton, Ph.D., a nutritional sciences researcher. To put a finer point on it: “VShred’s marketing is long on claims but utterly devoid of evidence,” Norton says.”
Lame Norton? Seriously? He’s the biggest quack and retarded idiot in the fitness industry, and you chose to consult him? He knows absolutely nothing about human nutrition, physiology, biology or biochemistry. His education is within the pseudoscience of inverted nutrition, the same crap I once was educated in.
But still, as I’ve already covered, these “body types” are complete bollocks. Humans are obligate hyper carnivores and the only diet that we can thrive on and that will make us live for as long as we potentially can is that of animal flesh and fat, preferably as raw as possible. If we consume anything else, as in anything plant-based, that will damage our bodies and every time it will chip away at our cells’ limited capacity to heal, regenerate and renew itself — leading to “diseases” and a very shortened lifespan.
“To step back a bit more, yes, you may still lose weight after going on a VShred diet. But that’s not because of any fancy loopholes or body-type-adjusted plans. It’s because the VShred diet is low in calories. Anytime you can maintain a calorie deficit for any length of time, you’ll lose weight.
But just because a diet helps you lose weight doesn’t mean it’s great for you.”
If we ignore the silly calories, which do not exist nor matter, this is correct. If you eat less you will lose body weight, but you will also increase the likelihood of nutrient deficiencies, hormone imbalances and a disturbed metabolism. Any diet that is several weeks or months in duration and where you reduce your food intake for the most part of a week or longer is extremely unhealthy. Remember, most people’s diets are extremely bad with a lot of plant-based and processed foods, so they are already nutrient deficient going into a diet — an even more restricted diet which will really make them crash and burn, hence the fact that most people regain their weight and more.
Is the VShred diet healthy?
“NOT REALLY, ESPECIALLY when you consider a greater definition of “health”—a definition that doesn’t just factor in what you look like.”
This is something I’ve always considered in my diets, even before I discovered the truth that humans are not some backwards omnivore, but actually obligate hyper carnivores. So, fortunately, all my previous diets for my clients included meat in every single meal and also a lot of eggs and tallow or butter.
However, anyone educated in the pseudoscience of nutrition has been deceived to believe that we need toxic garbage from plants, such as defense chemicals (antioxidants) that damage tissues and even destroy hormones and fiber that destroy our gut linings and contribute to leaky gut and colon cancer.
So, when you speak of health, you have no clue on how to actually achieve it.
“The diet does not include any content around a person’s relationship with food, body positivity, or emotional health.”
This is why I use a transition phase, to slowly make you adapt to the healthy species-appropriate foods while reprogramming your taste buds and your reversed relationship to food.
“Both carb cycling and macro tracking require a lot of weighing and tracking at each meal. I don’t believe that either are a low-effort, intuitive way to eat.”
Not in the long term, but this is how everyone in the fitness industry does it when they diet to get in shape for a competition, for seminars or photo shoots. Totally backwards and cumbersome, I know, but that’s the pseudoscience and broscience they’ve been taught.
And you will have to learn and measure your food in the beginning as it will teach you about how much food you actually need, as in portion control. And within a few months you will simply go by instinct and feel.
This is another reason why I recommend that you eat what you need and to be satisfied while using a few days of fasting a week to lose body fat while improving your health. No need to measure or think about anything. Also, it’s very difficult to overeat and actually get fat on our species-appropriate diet.
“And while VShred meal plans involve very little decision-making, which some people may find easy, many people won’t thrive on a diet that is so restrictive and regimented. Restrictive diets typically don’t allow for any freedom in food choice, regardless of your situation. This can make the diet extremely difficult with travel, socializing, and *life.*”
This is irrelevant as it’s an excuse to consume unhealthy and bad foods. Cravings come from nutrient deficiencies and programming. Once you are fully nourished and have healed a little, as when you follow our species-appropriate diet, you will no longer feel any hunger nor any cravings. You will look at food completely differently, and you will only long for the most nutrient dense foods, such as beef, eggs, and perhaps the occasional organ meat. This happened to me within weeks and I feel sick to my stomach thinking about any kind of food that has plant-based crap in it.
“Aside from potentially feeling hungry all of the time, restrictive, low-calorie diets may result in nutrient deficiencies over time.”
Yes, I already mentioned this. However, any diet that is plant-centric and low in animal protein and animal fat will cause nutrient deficiencies. A “low-calorie diet,” as in eating less, will only aggravate already present deficiencies and likely cause new deficiencies as well.
“Ultimately, the VShred diet is slickly marketed and light on scientific support. It’s low in calories, and using meal plans doesn’t teach you how to self-manage food choices.”
Meal plans can be very beneficial if you explain the rationale behind them, as in educating your client in what to eat, what to avoid, and how to progress. This is something I’ve done from the day I started coaching in the early 90’s. However, 99% of all coaches do not do this, they simply hand over a meal plan to their client to follow. They do not want the client to understand what they do or why they do it, because they want them to keep coming back for more help.
However, that is not my approach, as I simply want to help as many as possible and give them the tools to stand on their own legs, and also, I would feel like a cheat if I had clients coming back every time they wanted to lose some body fat.
“According to Norton, your eating pattern should be about what you can sustain, not about empty promises about which diet is ‘better.’”
Again, Norton is an imbecile. There is only one species-appropriate and species-specific diet for any kind of animal, including humans. And it is extremely sustainable, as it is our natural way to eat, thrive, and be healthy. Any other diet is complete bollocks and damaging.
The only things you need to individualize is the ratio between fat and protein, your feeding window, meal schedule depending on work and social life, and perhaps focusing on different foods to aid in healing depending on your ailments from previously mistreating your body.
I’ve covered all these topics for free on this website, but if you want personal guidance or simply want to support my work, I’m available for coaching and consultations. And yes, my educational guides that are part of the coaching package do contain some information not available on the website — but most of it is.
You should always put health, longevity and wellbeing first, and that is only possible to achieve with a species-appropriate diet. And guess what, everything else will take care of itself, including fat loss. And if you need to speed it up, simply add in two days a week of fasting, or two or three days of eating only half of what you do on the rest of the days during a week. Extremely simple.
If you need help with any kind of health problems or transitioning from your current way of eating to our natural species-appropriate, species-specific way of eating, I’m available for both coaching and consultation.
Coaching and Consultation
And if you found the article and my insights helpful and enjoy my daily free information, please consider donating to help pay the webhosting bills and keep the site running. And if you’re interested in discussing and sharing information with likeminded people, consider joining our uncensored community at Ungovernable.se. Thank you!
