Diet principles of the Michael Meyer Éclat Diet

Dieting is not always a simple path to follow, and we have tried to make it as effective and easy as possible for losing weight and regain your ideal weight.

As mentioned in the Introduction, this diet is not a fad diet, but employs a multitude of diet principles and effective supplements to help you get back into shape.

The supplement we recommend is not essential to achieve good results, but better results will be achieved when you take apple cider vinegar in capsule form (with added gotu kola herb) as well as the Millenium 2000 diet capsules.

General diet principles

We grow up with the paradigm that we must have fluid at mealtimes, and that we must have tea or coffee directly after a meal.

That is nonsense, and we should strive not to fill our digestive system with beverages when it tries to optimize nutrient absorption during and after meals.

Rather have a glass of water with a dash of Apple Cider Vinegar, 45 minutes before your meal.

On this page the following items are discussed pertaining to this diet

• Water
• Coffee
• Tea
• Herbal Teas
• Milk
• Fruit Juices
• Vegetable Juices
• Sugar versus sugar substitutes
• Oats porridge
• Fruit
• Yogurt
• Fish
• Meat
• Chicken
• Vegetables

Water

This is still the best beverage to have, as it helps to flush and hydrate the body. The body can still do without nutrition for a time, but it cannot do without its life-giving water.

You need not be out in the desert to dehydrate - excess perspiration, dry climate control, stomach upsets, over-exercising etc. all can lead to your body losing excessive water, and your body starting to dehydrate, which has a negative effect on your general health and which is also detrimental to your looks.

Some "rules" exist, like 10 glasses of water per day, but water quality also counts. In order to further your general health, it might be worth your while to buy an on-tap water purifier, or a loose standing water-purifying jug - they are far cheaper.

Coffee

Although coffee is not the best beverage to have while trying to get the body into shape, or detoxifying, we must make allowances for the personal tastes of people, but limit the amount of cups per day to the minimum. Here I will not suggest more than two cups of coffee per day.

Tea

Although tea does not contain caffeine, as such, it is also better to limit the amount to the minimum to which you can live with.

Herbal teas

While on diet I would suggest that you rather look at having herbal tea instead of coffee or normal tea. Herbal teas should be taken without milk or sweetener, and a wide variety of such teas are available to suit your personal taste.

Consider having herbal tea which contains fennel, as fennel is most helpful when slimming - but stay away from laxative teas - even if it states that it is a herbal tea.

Milk

Although people promote the use of skimmed or low fat milk, I personally prefer to have normal milk. If you have a fat or cholesterol problem, you might want to consider these low-fat alternatives, but on this diet, you can, within reason use normal milk, where it allows you milk to drink during the day, or in your allowed tea and coffee.

Fruit juices

Although fruit juices are wonderful to have, try and limit these beverages, as they do contain natural sugars, and flooding your system with them, is also not called for.

Vegetable juices

Fresh vegetable juices are a wonderful aid to take while on diet, as they supply a host of nutrients to the body, while hydrating you as well. But as with anything, keep the intake balanced and don't overdo it.

Sugar versus sugar substitutes

There is still controversy about how safe sugar substitutes are, but I personally prefer to use sugar substitutes in my coffee or tea, to limit my intake of refined sugar to a minimum.

If you are however concerned about the health implications of using a sugar substitute, it is best to either have your tea and coffee without sugar, or to limit the amount of sugar to the absolute minimum.

Oats porridge

Although quick-oats are available in most countries in the world, where you only add boiling water to do the cooking, or simply cook for a couple of minutes.

I prefer to use proper oats, but to save time and washing pots, I cook it in the microwave. Simply take 1/3 cup raw oats (about 80 ml), add some salt and 2/3 cups water, place in a microwave proof bowl and microwave on full power for 1½ minutes. Regularly open the microwave and stir the oats, otherwise they might boil over. Remove from microwave and allow to stand for 2 minutes before serving.

Starting your day with oats will assist your body to maintain proper blood sugar levels and provide energy (1444 kJ per 100g raw serving) for the day ahead. It further provides dietary fiber (60% soluble), as well as carbohydrates (56,2g per 100g raw serving), a host of vitamins as well as minerals.

Fruit

The best fruits to have are those in season, and naturally ripened. If you feel that the specific fruit listed as your breakfast fruit is totally unacceptable to you, choose one from the other mornings that you can live with, but try and stick to the listed fruit as far as possible.

Although some diets specifically exclude bananas, we do not rule them out, as they do contain specific nutrients, and taken in moderate amounts will not counteract your diet. I personally find a banana a fast and efficient fruit to have during mid-morning.

If you find the breakfast fruit, like grapefruit, too sour for your palate, consider cutting it in half the previous evening, loosening the segments, and sprinkling a small amount of sugar substitute (or if you must - brown sugar) on it. Cover and place in refrigerator. Your grapefruit will be nicely chilled and a bit sweeter.

Yogurt

Yogurt is a superb food to ingest, but some commercial yogurt has so many extra additives, that it becomes a chemical concoction not worth eating.

Rather look for some plain yogurt, and although maybe not as nice as over-processed yogurt with added sugars, emulsifiers, colorant, flavorings and preservatives, it can be made very palatable by adding some honey, or fresh fruit cut into small pieces, such as kiwi fruit, peaches, apricots, strawberries, etc.

Just keep in mind that the added fruit is not the important ingredient - the yogurt is, so keep the fruit to a small quantity.

Fish

When preparing fish, try not to enhance it too much with batter and sauces, rather look at poaching, steaming or baking it. For flavoring, rather use herbs and lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar).

Herbs often used with fish would include bay, parsley, thyme, lovage and tarragon.

Once again, we have become so used to having fatty fried fish covered with sauces, crumbs and batters, that we rarely enjoy the subtle taste inherent in each type of fish. We are not specific on the type of fish you may have on this diet, since personal tastes vary, as well as the economic considerations when buying fish.

Personally I enjoy having hake, as it is an affordable fish, easy to prepare and great with herbs and lemon juice.

Another way of preparing fish is to sprinkle it with a couple of drops of olive oil, scatter some herbs over it, cover with foil and then bake in the oven.

Meat

When choosing beef or pork to have on this diet, select the leanest piece available, or remove all excess fat from the meat before preparing it.

Oven baked meat saves on using extra oils, but maybe consider frying the meat in a little olive oil.

Meat is a great source of protein, but excess fat should be avoided.

Vegetables

Although fresh vegetables, if really fresh, are better than frozen ones, the frozen vegetables allow you greater speed and less preparation time.

Boiling vegetables is not recommended, since a lot of the nutrients are lost that way, and never add soda to your vegetables to make them prettier - it kills off nutrients.

The best way to prepare vegetables is to steam them, and to serve them without dressings or sauces - if you really need something to add some zest to them, sprinkle some lemon juice over, or a couple of drops of apple cider vinegar.

Chicken

Although you should not eat chicken skins, I find that the taste of chicken is better if it is prepared with the skin intact. Not only is it more moist, but also has a far better taste and flavor.

But, should you prepare your chicken with the skin still intact, please limit the amount of fat used with it.

Rather place in a baking bag when baking it, as it will keep the juices around it, without the need of extra oil or fat, or if you wish to pan fry it, use only a little olive oil in the frying action.

Steaming of your chicken is another very successful way of preparing it, but here I would strongly suggest that you leave on the chicken skin in the preparation, as I find chicken steamed without the skin nearly tasteless.

Apple cider vinegar diet

Nutritional information

Underneath we have information page on vitamins, minerals, amino acids, trace elements, enzymes and various nutritional compounds that can impact greatly on your general health, well-being and longevity. Please note that these pages are for general information only and must not be used to treat or diagnose health concerns.