The purpose of this diet is to make your body think that times are hard and you don’t have access to as many nutritious foods as you normally do, while reducing testosterone levels by lowering protein and fat intake and reducing the amount of phytonutrients in the diet that help to keep testosterone levels elevated. Low protein, low nutrient, low fat, low calorie – that is the goal.
Potassium and sodium are also kept low. pH is lowered by weight loss and supplements more effectively than eating or not eating a few foods could ever do, so a few more alkaline fruits and vegetables are allowed. Everyone should make the effort to lose even just a pound or two, and NO ONE should gain weight while swaying pink. Weight loss will lower your testosterone and lower pH.
Diet should be based primarily around grains, fruits and vegetables, and skim dairy. Every food should be as low in sodium as possible. Protein intake should be kept to a minimum – adult women only need 40-50 grams of protein for optimal health. Most of us eat much more than that anyway, and eating too much protein is worse for the body than not eating enough.
A small bagel has 10 grams of protein so you can see that it‘s actually very easy to get enough. It is possible to develop a form of malnutrition called Kwashiorkor from eating too little protein for long periods, so just aim for 40 grams of protein a day. Don’t worry if you fall a little short one day or go a little over another day.
ALL foods contain nutrients, so always keep in mind that eating unlimited amounts of even the foods on this list may keep you from losing weight/muscle and keep your testosterone elevated. Also, there are no magic foods https://www.genderdreaming.com/forum/showthread.php?466-The-myth-of-the-magic-foodsso if you find that eating a food not on this list occasionally as a treat, really helps you to stick to the overall goals of the diet – low protein, low nutrient, low fat, low calorie – it is FINE if you eat it once in awhile.
I’ll say it again – IT IS FINE TO EAT A FOOD NOT ON THIS LIST, OCCASIONALLY AS A TREAT, AS LONG AS YOU STICK TO THE OVERALL GOALS OF THE DIET. It’s even ok if you find a low-protein food not on this list (let’s say for the sake of argument, radishes) makes a good everyday food for you. Radishes it is. As long as it helps you to stick to those overall goals – low protein, low fat, low-calorie.
It’s best to skip breakfast and also to eat 2-3 meals a day, rather than grazing or snacking all day long. https://www.genderdreaming.com/forum/showthread.php?519-WHEN-AND-HOW-TO-EAT-YOUR-MEALS-FOR-TTC-PINK&p=3764#post3764Fruits
– Apples with skin cut off, pears with skin cut off, cranberries, dried cranberries, and diet cranberry juice (avoid juice blends and cocktails, 100% pure juice is best), green grapes, fresh strawberries. AVOID brightly colored and strong tasting fruits.
Vegetables – Cucumber (skin cut off), green beans (wax beans aka yellow green beans are also acceptible), mung bean sprouts, iceberg lettuce, eggplant with skin cut off, white mushrooms, white corn, spaghetti squash, zucchini with skin cut off. AVOID brightly colored and strong-tasting vegetables.
Grains – white rice, low sodium pasta, homemade low sodium bread. Pasta and flour are sold fortified with iron and B vitamins, that is just something we have to live. Luckily, the type of iron in white flour is not well used by the body, esp. when you’re not eating a lot of Vitamin C. Spaghetti squash may be another option to consider.
Dairy – If possible, find dairy without Vitamin D. If you can’t find it, you may wish to reduce your dairy intake to avoid getting too much Vitamin D. Vitamin D is believed to raise testosterone.
Organic dairy may be preferable because it does not contain growth hormones.
Regardless of what you may have heard elsewhere, ALL dairy has potassium. By law, potassium content does not have to be listed on the label, so just because something doesn’t say ’potassium’ on the label, does not mean there is no potassium in it. Even UHT shelf-stable milk has potassium. Dairy also has a LOT of sodium per serving. Be aware and monitor to make sure you are not getting too much sodium.
Skim milk, fat-free yogurt (sweetened with aspartame is best), low sodium cheeses. Dairy foods have lots of protein, sodium, and other vitamins and should be used with care – remember, the goal is to reduce your protein intake enough to lower your testosterone.
Protein – Protein should be limited. Red meat and oily fish should be avoided all together because they have lots of protein and good fats in them, and it’s best to avoid chicken, turkey, and white fish as much as possible too. Egg beaters or egg white should be used in place of whole eggs when possible, because yolks have good fats and lots of vitamins. Beans are very healthy and high in sodium anyway, so they should be used sparingly, although they’re a good once in awhile treat on a day when you haven’t had much protein or sodium. Nuts should also be avoided due to their high healthy fat content, in addition to their protein.
Soy is somewhat controversial. On the one hand, soy has been shown to lower testosterone, but on the other hand, it IS protein and some believe that it increases estrogen and CM and may sway blue because of this. Soy is probably a great option for DH, if he’s dieting along with you, since lower testosterone and higher estrogen does seem to sway pink in men and men need more protein anyway. And if you find that you’re unable to get enough protein from grains and dairy, soy is probably the best option of all protein sources due to the potential to lower testosterone.
It’s best to meet your protein requirements through grains, vegetable (beans, soy) and dairy sources rather than from meats.
Condiments – Unfortunately, most condiments are very high in sodium and should be avoided. One tablespoon of ketchup has 7% of a day’s sodium for a normal diet, let alone a swaying diet! Even low sodium ketchup/mustard should be avoided due to their phytonutrient content. Low sodium mayonnaise is ok to use sparingly.
Tahini, or ground sesame seeds, is another acceptible condiment. It’s actually quite nutritious and is high in zinc (known to sway blue), but it is a traditional part of a pink sway due to being high in calcium and magnesium, and it’s used so sparingly that it’s probably fine as a part of an otherwise restricted swaying diet.
Strawberry jam (sugar free is best), homemade cranberry sauce, homemade eggplant dips, and small amounts of vinegar and lemon/lime juice are acceptable. However, vinegar and lemon/lime juice may make you more alkaline, even in small amounts. If you choose to use them, monitor your pH to make sure that it doesn’t go up. (if you’re taking supplements to lower your pH, you should be fine.) Homemade plain yogurt based dips and sauces are a good option as well.
Beverages – In addition to 100% cranberry juice and dairy, Crystal Light, Perrier, and peppermint tea are good choices. Caffeine should be avoided. Rice milk is a vegan drink made out of rice – it is fortified with calcium and several other vitamins and does have sodium, but it is very low protein (much less than cow’s milk) and is low fat. It may be an option if you find that dairy is adding too much protein to your diet.