Mayo Clinic Plan
The Mayo Clinic Plan is a great diet, designed by medical professionals from a reputable health institute. The Mayo Clinic Plan (book available from Amazon) promotes a nutritious diet of fruit and vegetables with starchy carbs and then proteins and dairy, and is based on the Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Pyramid.

With the Mayo Clinic plan you eat practically unlimited amounts of vegetables and fruit, plus whole-grain foods, lean protein and heart-healthy fats. The objective is to eat foods containing a small number of calories in large amounts, such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, poultry, fish and whole grains. Also on the menu are low-fat dairy and unsaturated fats (especially from nuts and olive and canola oils). This is not a restrictive diet plan, so carries its own incentive to stick with it long-term.
The result is a balanced, nutritious diet to achieve a healthy weight. The Mayo Clinic claims that the plan can help reduce your risk for heart disease (by lowering high blood pressure and cholesterol), cancer and Type 2 diabetes.
Mayo Clinic Diet Plan
Internet site eDiets.com®, which claims to be the web’s authority in diet, fitness and motivation, working in partnership with The Mayo Clinic, appears to be the sole agency to offer the plan via the Internet (beginning December 2005) as the basis for a comprehensive program to manage and maintain your weight. eDiets no longer offers the Mayo Clinic Plan.
This program uses the Mayo Clinic Plan as its foundation, and additionally offers:
- Personalized menus each week
- Ingredients shopping lists
- Options to match meal plans and lifestyles
- Daily serving recommendations
- Results charts and reports
- Weight-loss do’s and don’ts
- Dining-out tips
Sample Meals
A sample meal might include:
- Pancakes with syrup and strawberries
- Dilled Pasta Salad with Spring Vegetables
- Rosemary Lemon Chicken
- Fresh Apricots
| Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 |
| Breakfast Oatmeal 1 cup nonfat, skim milk 1 slice whole wheat bread 1 1/4 cups sliced fresh strawberries |
Breakfast 2 pancakes, from mix (4” diameter) 1 1/2 tbsp. maple syrup 1 tsp margarine 1 cup nonfat, skim milk 3/4 cup fresh blueberries 1 cup honeydew melon |
Breakfast Poached Egg with toast and orange juice 2 slices whole wheat bread 1 tsp margarine 1 cup orange juice, calcium-fortified |
| Lunch Southwestern Salad 1/2 whole-wheat, approximately 6” (2 oz.) pita bread 1 cup nonfat, skim milk |
Lunch Dilled Pasta Salad with Spring Vegetables 1 small apple 1 cup nonfat, skim milk |
Lunch Tuna Salad Pita 1 bell pepper 1 small apple |
| Dinner Spaghetti with Marinara Sauce 1 slice whole wheat bread 5 baby carrots 1 cup nonfat, skim milk 1 cup cantaloupe |
Dinner Rosemary Lemon Chicken with Sweet Green Beans and Brown Rice with Green Onions 1 cup nonfat, skim milk 6 tomato slices 1 tsp. balsamic vinegar 1 cup cantaloupe |
Dinner Tomato-Basil Pita Pizza with salad and cantaloupe 2 cups lettuce, romaine or lettuce of choice 1 cup chopped or sliced cucumber 2 Tbsp. dressing, Italian low fat 1 cup cantaloupe 1 cup nonfat, skim milk |
| Snack 7 whole almonds 1 cup red or green grapes |
Snack
1 small pear 3/4 cup fresh blueberries |
Snack Vegetable juice 1 medium banana 1/2 cup canned vegetable juice 6 Whole Wheat crackers |
Look for other high protein meal ideas here.
Summary
The program altogether appears to be comprehensive and effective in its goals. It should appeal to many looking for a long-term lifestyle in which a healthy weight can be achieved and maintained without causing undue stress – in fact, it promotes a healthier life overall.
The Mayo Clinic Plan: 10 Steps to a Healthier Life for EveryBody! retails for $24.95.
Also, I have hypothyroidism (Hashimoto’s Disease)… How does this affect my metabolism and ability to lose weight? I have gained 40 pounds in two years since I have been diagnosed with this disease.
I do not eat sweets and do not enjoy eating fruits of any kind. I do not cook. Making pancakes in the morning would be ridiculus for me. Also, you do not address the role alcohol plays in this diet. Please explain how that fits in because my job involves tasting hundreds of wines per day.
i decided to start this diet on saturday 23rd january anything that will let me loose the weight Lol!!! vegetables is not one of my favorite but i will eat it for this wonderful cause and trust me i will excerise.
The supposed mayo clinic diet that isn’t real is the only diet that has ever worked for me so how can it be fiction. I recently got back on it and i’m loseing wieght. I was only ever on it one other time when i was younger. I’m confused what’s so wrong with it?
I am ready to try this new way of eating, please send any information that will help jump start a new year weight loss.
Thanks so much
This is a good diet.I have had it for years, it works perfect for me.
i at nuts when i did before and seeds within my first five days and still lost accordingly and yess i ate ketchup are any of you still doing it and how is it going i started back after christmas?
So, I just started the Mayo Clinic “fad” diet.
Can you have mustard, mayo, ketchup?
what are some good ideas for meals?
any ideas will help.
thanks-
bobbie
can you have nuts and cheese on this diet??