The Perricone Diet

Do certain foods affect the health of our skin?

The major emphasis of the Perricone Diet is to give your skin a healthier glow and thus reverse the aging process. That doesn’t mean it is not beneficial for weight loss as well, but that is not the primary emphasis.

When I heard about the Perricone Diet, I thought it sounded like something great to try for both weight loss and improvement in my skin tone. People told me the wrinkles in my skin made me look about five years older than my 42 years, so I wanted to do something about it.

I had heard some good things about the Perricone Diet, and though I really didn’t need to lose much in the weight area, I definitely wanted to do something about the condition of my skin to help me look younger. That doesn’t mean I was happy with my weight, but my vanity led me to be more concerned about looking younger than having a few extra pounds on my bones.

Of course, although I wasn’t prepared for all of the exclusions that were on the food list for this diet, I knew I was going to have to make some sacrifices in order to change the way I looked.

The problem I faced when I began the diet was that many of the foods I enjoyed were not on the list. I was not a big fan of fish other than shellfish and tuna fish, and the diet recommends two servings per day of salmon which is not one of my favourites.

The foods you are not allowed include breads, cereals except non-instant oatmeal, rice, beef, pasta, coffee, fruit juices, and even sugar. The only thought going through my head was that it better work for all of the foods I had to sacrifice.

Of course, I didn’t realize at the time how much I was really going to have to sacrifice, including that of my energy. With nearly all carbohydrates eliminated from the diet, there was nothing left to boost my energy—sugar was even out of the picture, so there almost no source of energy.

I tried the Perricone Diet for about two weeks before I had to give up because I couldn’t even stay awake. Exercise was out of the question because I had no energy left—it took all of my strength just to go to work each day. My husband and oldest daughter had to cook dinner and clean the house because I couldn’t do it. I lost a few pounds that I needed to lose, but it didn’t make me look any younger.

Perhaps if I had chosen to purchase the vitamins and skin care products that were part of the program it might have made a difference, but I have my own preferences in both of those areas and have used the same manufacturer since I was a teenager.

The basis is that eliminating certain foods from the diet will reverse the aging process, and I just didn’t find that to be true. There is no documentation to support that theory, so if you’re looking for a way to reverse the aging process, you need to look into a good skin care system and not a diet plan.

Review by Sarah Hanson