The Vertical Diet (Stan Efferding)

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Keto_Vampire
Keto_Vampire Posts: 1,670 Member
in Goal: Gaining Weight and Body Building
https://www.tigerfitness.com/blogs/diet-weight-loss/vertical-diet-stan-efferding

Anyone care to share experiences/critiques using this diet?

@ First, this seems like a very "Bro foods" type of diet consisting of "foods that work" (i.e. chicken breast, tuna, potatoes, rice, broccoli, etc.). Mostly carrots, rice, beef, oranges, potatoes, etc. (same staple foods similar a bro bodybuilder diet).

Upon closer examination, there appears to be elements similar to an IBS FODMAPS type of diet with an emphasis on consuming foods that are easy to digest & not forming gas/fermentable and restricting foods high in oligosaccharides, polyoyls, etc. I actually find this diet clever for those interested in bulking but not being able to stomach the sheer food volume (seems practical for powerlifters, strongman, bulking in general...does heavily favor use of carbohydrates).

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  • neugebauer52
    neugebauer52 Posts: 1,120 Member
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    I have added it to my A to Z listing of "diets" - at the last count I have recorded 138 of them. Nowadays I prefer small life style changes and healthy food I enjoy and can live with long term. About 50 pounds down, over 100 pounds to go.
  • gcpower
    gcpower Posts: 17 Member
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    Look up The Massonomics podcast, they did an episode on the Vertical Diet at the end of September.
  • RMaxwell90
    RMaxwell90 Posts: 36 Member
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    It's not exactly what most people would consider a "diet" in that it's really just recommendations and guidelines for people to follow. For instance one point Stan goes on about in length is getting adequate sleep. He also points out that calorie balance is king.

    You hit it on the head when you said it's similar to an IBS/FODMAP kind of framework, with the focus being to get larger individuals to maintain their weight and optimize performance.

    I tried it for 3ish months, most elements at least. I ate white/sweet potatoes instead of rice because I like them better, which still falls within the framework of the vertical diet. I added or removed things one at a time to observe effects.

    For the record, I'm a powerlifter, who trains 4-5x per week at a weight of about 175lbs +-5. So eating enough to maintain or gain weight isn't an issue for me, I wanted to see if what he suggests helped me feel better.

    Things that I think I benefited from:
    More salt
    Slightly more fruit (more as a different way to appease my sweet tooth)
    Daily vitamin D
    Better sleep

    Things I think didn't benefit me:

    Cranberry juice / iodine. The stuff he recommended is no sugar added not from concentrate, and at the amount he suggests it was 2 bottles of the stuff per week. At $6-$8 per bottle it was too much for something I didn't seem to get any benefit from. Added it for a month and eliminated it after noticing no appreciable difference.
    Eating exclusively red meat didn't make me feel better/more energetic/recover better from training. I still eat a significant amount of red meat but I include pork, chicken and fish too.

    Just my thoughts.
  • Keto_Vampire
    Keto_Vampire Posts: 1,670 Member
    edited November 2018
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    Yeah, the whole red meat for performance seems like bro-science woo to me at it's worst (not that there is anything wrong with red meat, but I think having some variety of protein sources is at least helpful for compliance).

    Also, the whole cranberry juice seems only applicable/tool for your 250+lbs/HUGE size person solely for the kcals (just so many alternatives for phytonutrients without crazy amounts of sugar).

    I don't necessarily think there is anything wrong with the inclusion of high glycemic index foods per se since this is pretty much not applicable when combining with protein & fat sources
  • notarunnermfp
    notarunnermfp Posts: 43 Member
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    The cranberry juice is actually pretty low calorie. I can't remember the exact amount he specifies, but I've been drinking 4 oz a day and it's like 30 cals. It is not fun to drink though, and was hard to find. I figured I was out less than buying a preworkout or something.

    Anyway, I have read about it and think there's some good takeaways, but haven't fully tried it myself.
    There is a cutting/"women's" version, but I think overall it better serves those who struggle to eat enough as OP said. (One of the cutting meals was steak and an orange lol)
  • Silkysausage
    Silkysausage Posts: 502 Member
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    Odd because cranberry juice isn't recommended for IBS sufferers...
  • Keto_Vampire
    Keto_Vampire Posts: 1,670 Member
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    Silkysausage wrote: »
    Odd because cranberry juice isn't recommended for IBS sufferers...

    No, not specifically, but generally the focus is on using more high glycemic index, refined foods with little to zero fiber. Was not aware of a particular lower kcal/lower sugar version he specifically recommends (besides the point, there are tons of other substitutes which are real foods/less refined without GI issues)

    Lol, dieting/cutting on steak & oranges (have read criticism that the food volume just isn't practical for cutting weight)
  • Keto_Vampire
    Keto_Vampire Posts: 1,670 Member
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    Experimented with this a bit...definitely agree with the whole white rice > whole grains in terms of ease of digestion. Needless to say but I assure everyone I did not catch the "beetus" (lol)
  • Gallowmere1984
    Gallowmere1984 Posts: 6,626 Member
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    Keto_Vampire wrote: »
    Experimented with this a bit...definitely agree with the whole white rice > whole grains in terms of ease of digestion. Needless to say but I assure everyone I did not catch the "beetus" (lol)

    Was about to drop in and say pretty much the same thing. I’ve been tooling with it for a couple of weeks now, and my digestion is definitely vastly improved. Also, because I am anal and track such things, it’s has had no negative impact on my glucose uptake either.

    Definitely going to be my bulking diet preference going forward.

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