TheWhole30diet declares swaths of food off-limits, and sets up ironclad rules about the little thats left.

That means it checks a lot of boxes fora fad dietor one thatstoo draconian to be effective.

But theres good here too, enough that it might help if you know what youre in for.

If these claims sound like a late-night infomercial, youve got the right idea.

Theres no science to back up the idea that the Whole30 diet is a miracle cure.

Instead, many of the forbidden foods are the subject of popular but unfounded myths.

But those fears are overblown.

Legumes arent a threat to your health.

But thats also a likely mythical statement.

Likewise, there is no evidence-based reason to give up MSG, carrageenan, or grains.

So theres a small chance that you might experience a health benefit from cutting out these foods.

But that doesnt mean that you have to cut them all out at once.

You then have to experiment with the ingredients individually, which you could easily dowithoutgoing through Whole30 first.

And the diets creators wont cut you any slack.

Dont you dare tell us this is hard, theysay on the website.

Beating cancer is hard.

Birthing a baby is hard.

Losing a parent is hard.

Restrictive diets are hard to follow, so theycan backfire.

(Other people lost parents, after all, and you were laid low by a cookie.)

Some Whole30 dieters find the strictness helpful, though.

These can work for any diet, not just Whole30, of course.

Youre also encouraged tofigure out who your support connection is.

This planning also includes making an emergency snack kit.

You evenkeep on planning after you finish Whole30another smart strategy.

You take stock of how the month went, and decide what foods to introduce to your diet again.

Up half a pound, you might feel like a failure.

For the entire time youre doing the Whole30 diet, youre not supposed to step on the scale.

Instead, the diets authors write that you should focus on how you feel.

Exercise and eating well are worth doing,whether they change your weight or not.

Illustration by Sam Woolley.