Melissa Urban on the new and improved Whole30.
Fifteen years ago, Melissa Urban created an extremely rigorous regimen that demanded its adherents cut all dairy, grains, sugar, alcohol, and a long list of other common ingredients from their diets for 30 days. Improbably, it exploded in popularity.
Whole30 promises to help you identify the foods that may be quietly impacting your “energy, sleep, digestion, craving, mood, and focus,” Urban tells us. The author and influencer has sold millions of books about the elimination diet, but a lot has changed since its inception, she says. Certain foods the original regimen deemed dangerous and strictly prohibited have been exonerated by recent research, and attitudes toward diet culture and restrictive eating have seriously shifted.
“I’m not afraid to say, ‘We got it wrong back then, and here’s how we got it wrong,’” Urban admits.
The New Whole30 is Urban’s attempt to correct the record and make the program more inclusive and slightly less demanding. We spoke with Urban about her exciting new book, how her thinking about Whole30 has “evolved,” and the big changes she made in this new and improved version.
Katie Couric Media: What led you to release this updated version of the Whole30?
Urban: When the original book came out in 2015, many people said that the program was life-changing. But I also heard feedback that the tough-love approach I took in that book and with myself was challenging. The voice, the tone perhaps wasn’t as welcoming or inclusive. And as I’ve evolved over the last nine years, the program’s evolved too. As I’ve become more aware of my own privilege and other people’s lived experiences, the program, the rules, and the support we offer had to change too.
We also heard feedback from plant-based people who couldn’t do the original Whole30. While we always wanted to offer support for those folks in our community, there really wasn’t a way to access it if you didn’t eat any animal products. So, the new Whole30 includes a complete plant-based version.
And what exactly are the changes you’re making to the program?
In the New Whole30, you’ll find four rule changes. They’re not huge — you’re still not drinking wine during the elimination phase — I don’t wanna get anybody’s hopes up, but they are impactful, and they all serve to make the program more accessible.
Two of the rules are around additives: We’ve historically ruled out carrageenan and added sulfites in products out of an abundance of caution. Back in 2014, there was a lot of buzz around whether carrageenan, which is an additive that’s often found in almond milks or other sort of dairy alternatives, might impact your gut health. In reviewing the current science, there just isn’t enough credible evidence to determine that carrageenan is potentially problematic enough to eliminate it from the program. Same with added sulfites: There isn’t enough credible research or science to point to the fact that reasonable doses — like what you might find in balsamic vinegar or mustard — would be problematic enough to exclude.
The big one is around seed oils, like soybean oil and corn oil. Seed oils, especially over the last few years, have really been demonized as inflammatory. I hear a lot of wellness influencers describing them as toxic. So we reviewed the current science and were really surprised to find that the research overwhelmingly points to the fact that seed oils are not inherently inflammatory. In fact, replacing saturated fats with these polyunsaturated fats can actually be protective of heart disease. So in this new iteration, any cooking oil whatsoever is fair game, which only serves to make the program far more accessible for folks who can’t necessarily afford to cook with extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil.
Another big change is the expanded plant-based program. Can you tell us more about that?
That’s another area where I look back on what I wrote in earlier Whole30 books and think to myself, I wish I didn’t write that. I was a vegetarian for a few years in college, and when I started working out more, I started to crave meat. And when I ate meat again, I started to feel so much better. I had this personal bias. So when I’d talk about a plant-based version, which we’ve always included in some form in old books, I would offer it as a resource, but then I’d also add, “But you should probably try eating meat.”
I’ve come to recognize that there are many reasons people eat plant-based. So I was really excited to be able to include an extensive FAQ, shopping list, meal plan, and 50-plus delicious recipes for the plant-based program in this book. This is on equal footing with the original Whole30 — it’s not a sub-program. I think it’ll welcome an entirely new community to the Whole30.
Since the original Whole30 was released, there has been a big shift away from diet culture. Has that impacted your thinking about the program and this new book?
I’ve thought about diet culture a lot over the course of the last nine years. I’ve unlearned a lot about it, just like everyone else. I’d been indoctrinated into diet culture, and I’ve also had to think about the role that Whole30 plays in perpetuating it. I did a lot of research with this new book with registered dieticians and mental health practitioners to try and understand Whole30 in this context.
Where I’ve landed is that I don’t agree with the perspective that any restriction is automatically born of diet culture. I understand that and acknowledge it, but don’t agree with that. What I will say is that if you have a history of disordered eating or disordered eating patterns, this might not be a good approach for you because that restriction can be triggering. In fact, what I say in the new book is that the restriction involved in the Whole30 or any other elimination diet can actually create disordered eating habits where there were none before. So that’s a point I don’t think I’ve acknowledged in prior books.
The Whole30 is not a simple process. It’s hard, as you acknowledge. What can people do to set themselves up for success?
The Whole30 is not easy. You’re eliminating food for 30 straight days that you probably really enjoy, that you may have used to comfort or self-soothe or relieve anxiety or stress. Even if you come into the program eating pretty healthy, elimination plans are a different animal. I don’t recommend anyone start tomorrow and just wing it. You have to plan and prepare. So I want you to think about planning some meals — at least two or three days of meals. I want you to clean out your pantry to make sure that you’re not reaching past the Oreos to grab a can of coconut milk. You can set aside a special drawer for those treats.
I also want you to build a support team. Tell people you’re doing the Whole30, share your very personal reason for doing the program, and ask for support. I want you to think ahead about difficult situations—a happy hour, a birthday party—you may encounter during the program and how you can handle those. We have a ton of resources to help you plan and prepare.
This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity and length.
