The Evidence Behind the Method
Coaching should stand on more than enthusiasm. Here is the research this practice is built on, grouped by the claims that matter most, so you can check the ground before you climb.
You deserve to know the ground is solid
Every idea in these programs traces back to peer-reviewed research or major clinical bodies. This page gathers the load-bearing studies in one place. It is not exhaustive, and it is honest about where evidence is strong and where it is still emerging.
Ultra-processed food drives overeating
In a tightly controlled NIH ward study, the same people ate about 508 more calories a day on an ultra-processed diet than on a matched whole-food diet, and gained weight, without trying. A randomised inpatient crossover trial: twenty adults, two weeks on each diet, every meal supplied and measured.
Hall KD, et al. Cell Metabolism, 2019.
Fast carbohydrate increases later hunger
In a small crossover study, twelve teenage boys were hungrier and ate about 81% more at the next meal after a high-glycemic meal than after a low-glycemic one of identical calories. A small study, so read it as a signal rather than a law. But it is the crash and craving loop, measured.
Ludwig DS, et al. Pediatrics, 1999.
Well-formulated keto can improve type 2 diabetes
In the Virta Health trials, a supervised ketogenic approach reduced blood sugar and medication use in a large share of participants at one year, with the group followed out to two and then five years. At five years the average effect was smaller and about a third of participants remained at target on no medication or metformin alone.
Read these with their limits in view. The trials were funded by Virta Health, the company providing the treatment, and participants chose their own group rather than being randomised. That does not make the findings worthless. They are among the largest datasets in the field. It is why they belong in the promising column rather than the settled one.
Hallberg SJ, et al. Diabetes Therapy, 2018 (1 year) • Athinarayanan SJ, et al. Frontiers in Endocrinology, 2019 (2 years) • McKenzie AL, Athinarayanan SJ, et al. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, 2024 (5 years).
How you eat a meal changes its effect
Eating protein and vegetables before starch significantly lowered the blood-sugar and insulin response to the identical meal. Order is a free tool.
Shukla AP, et al. Diabetes Care, 2015.
Habits form through repetition, not willpower
New habits take on average about 66 days to become automatic, and missing a day does not undo progress. This is why the programs build one small change at a time, and why a slip is never a fall.
Lally P, et al. European Journal of Social Psychology, 2010.
Where the evidence is still emerging
Some mechanisms, such as the finer details of mitochondrial overload, are active models rather than settled facts, and carnivore-style elimination is largely anecdotal. We say so plainly, and we do not oversell.
Where are you on the mountain?
Take the free two-minute readiness quiz to find your starting point, or book a no-pressure call and we will map your route together.