Dr. Dixit’s Diet Plan: Achieving Sustainable Weight Loss and Beyond

Dr. Jagannath Dixit is one of the most common household names in Maharashtra, the sea-facing state of India. It is said that one in every three families there are following the special diet plan devised by him.

Unlike the other meal plans that you would usually see on the internet, Dr. Dixit’s is a unique one. It is based on the idea of having less frequent but fuller meals.

According to him, following his diet regime while leading a healthy and exercise-centric lifestyle can tackle global health problems like obesity and even potentially reverse the effects of type-2 diabetes.

While many patients have tried and tested Dr. Dixit’s famous meal plan to adopt a healthier lifestyle and lauded him for the same, the original propagator of this idea was Dr. Shrikant Jichkar, whom Dr. Dixit revered, even though the two never met physically.

After Dr. Jichkar passed away in 2004, Dr. Jagannath Dixit took on the mantle of educating people about the theory of the carbo-insulin connection and how a slight lifestyle modification can control the level of insulin produced naturally by the body.

There are many questions about this special diet plan devised by Dr. Dixit and his idol. Does it work? Can it really reduce the dependency on medical treatment, injections, and medicines that are usually prescribed to pre-diabetic patients? Can it also work as a holistic weight-loss diet?

In this article, we shall be exploring all these questions and providing you with accurate answers.

What is Dr. Dixit’s Diet?

Dr. Dixit’s diet is based on the concept of reducing the frequency of our meals to just two times a day when we are feeling exceptionally hungry. There is no limitation on the quantity of food consumed. He simply recommends that you eat enough to just satiate your hunger.

While there are no fixed times for the two meals, Dr. Dixit suggests that people use the trial-and-error method to identify two points during their day when they feel particularly hungry and have lunch and dinner at that time. He advises that it’s important for his diet that you are consistent with this schedule and have your meals as per a strict routine.

Dr. Dixit also advises that we consume more food in our first meal (lunch) compared to our second and last meal of the day (dinner).

Such a meal plan is expected to tackle two problems. Firstly, it will eliminate obesity as it is good for weight loss. If all his instructions are followed carefully, one can lose about 6.8 kilograms of body weight in six months.

Secondly, the diet should potentially reverse the effects of type–2 diabetes. Dr. Dixit firmly believes that slight lifestyle modifications and healthy changes are more effective in treating problems like diabetes than taking medicines or injections perpetually.

To achieve these ends, it is recommended that the food you consume should be high in protein content and low in carbohydrates. It should be noted that complete elimination of carbohydrate intake is not expected, just a gradual decrease.

The main reason behind the above rule is that high-carb food items tend to secrete more insulin than protein-based food items and vice-versa.

The inclusion of food items with low glycemic index, like whole grains, legumes, and low-fat dairy products, can also be beneficial.

Another very important rule of the popular Dr. Jagannath Dixit diet plan is that you should finish your meals within 55 minutes. The science behind this rule is that insulin is released by our body when we eat. It then takes up to 60 minutes for a person’s insulin measure to refill. If you finish your meal within this time frame, you will not get a second surge of insulin in your body.

These are all the basic rules of Dr. Dixit’s famous diet chart for battling obesity and prediabetic conditions. Many people complain that two meals a day will lead to frequent bouts of hunger and starvation. For this, Dr. Dixit listed out some food items that people can take in between these two meals:

• Hydrate the body with water.
• Home-made buttermilk. Avoid adding salt or other spices.
• Green or black tea without adding sugar.
• Coconut water once a day.
• One piece of tomato in a single day.

Despite being confident that this meal plan is capable of battling global health problems like obesity and prediabetic conditions, Dr. Dixit iterates that it is not meant for the following group of people:

• Children below 18 years of age.
• Lactating mothers.
• People who are suffering from type-1 diabetes.

Finally, another important element in Dr. Dixit’s diet plan is to keep an active lifestyle. He recommends that you dedicate at least 45 minutes per day. The best form of exercise is to walk around 4-5 kilometers per day.

You can also engage in swimming and other similar cardiovascular activities for 45 minutes to keep your body fit and healthy.

Does Dr. Dixit’s Diet Work?

Dr. Dixit’s diet plan was well-received by thousands of people across India. Within a few months after the start of his campaign, many success stories surfaced. In most cases, people talked about the amount of weight they lost.

Dr. Dixit’s claim of his diet being able to reduce an individual’s weight by 6.8 kilograms in six months is actually based on a 2018 campaign conducted by him to test the efficacy of his meal plans.

The result of the diet plan in terms of weight loss was straightforward – there was a significant decrease in a majority of the participant’s body weight and waist circumference. Moreover, after the first week of following the diet, most participants reported feeling light and active, which resulted in improved work efficiency.

Based on these results, it’s fair to say that Dr. Dixit’s diet plan is great for tackling obesity. Reducing the frequency of meals down to two will surely put an individual’s body in a state of calorie deficit, especially with the recommended amount of activity prescribed by the doctor.

Now comes the more important part – does his meal plan work in countering the effects of type-2 diabetes? According to Dr. Dixit’s most recent update, thousands of diabetics have benefited from this meal plan.

In some cases, anti-diabetes medication and complications are decreased, and in some, they are totally stopped, reversing the effects of type-2 diabetes and prediabetes completely.

The efficacy of this diet plan largely depends on the theory of the carbo-insulin connection. It is an apparent fact that consumption of carbs can lead to an increase in insulin levels in our bodies.

Research studies analyzing the results of behavioral trials have found that people tend to lose more weight when following reduced-glycemic load diets compared to low-fat diets.

This happens because the carbs we consume are broken down into glucose to provide energy to our cells. With a rise in blood glucose levels after a meal, the pancreas in our body releases the hormone insulin in response, leading to elevated blood sugar levels.

Dr. Dixit, therefore, strategically minimizes carbohydrate consumption in his meal plan and focuses more on protein-based dietary habits. Moreover, he advises all patients to finish their meals within 55 minutes and does not lay down many restrictions on the quantity of food they consume.

This is because it is reported that the same amount of insulin is secreted after every meal, irrespective of how much you eat. This ‘measure’ of insulin will vary from one person to another.

Once you have your meal and your insulin measure is completely depleted, it will take around 60 minutes for it to refill. So, if you finish your meal within 55 minutes, you won’t experience a second wave of insulin release.

Moreover, the supplementary food items prescribed by Dr. Dixit are all healthy and encourage a fitness-centric lifestyle.

All of these factors combined are very good for challenging global health problems like obesity and diabetes. While there are no specific journals or research works available to outright show any empirical relationships between Dr. Dixit’s diet plan and reduction in obesity or diabetes, the campaign led by him has been going on smoothly and producing many success stories.

So, it’s fair to assume that Dr. Dixit’s diet plan, while dotted with some shortcomings, is generally very beneficial.

Dr. Dixit’s Diet Plan

Before moving on to the diet pattern devised by Dr. Dixit, make sure that you follow these instructions while planning your meals:

• The diet should be protein-based, and the consumption of carbohydrates should be decreased.
• In between these two major meals, you should not take anything that can cause insulin secretion.
• Avoid including sweets and sweet fruits in your diet plan.
• Finish your entire meal within 55 minutes.
• Supplement your diet plan with an active lifestyle. At least 45 minutes of physical activity is required.

Meal Timings

Try to determine the two times during your day when you feel extremely hungry and take your meals consistently at that time. If you cannot determine the schedule by yourself, having the first meal at 1:00 PM and the second meal at 9:00 PM can be a good arrangement.

Dr. Dixit’s meal plan is fairly straightforward. It is simply divided into two meals.

However, there are some restrictions for diabetic people. Here is a run-down of the diet plan:-

Meal 1 (Approximately 10:00 AM – 1:00 PM):

• Start by consuming dry fruits like nuts, almonds, cashews, or fruits (non-sweet options like avocados are recommended) before you move on to the actual meal.
• Then have a bowl of salad including raw vegetables like cucumbers, tomatoes, capsicum, and cabbages. Note down the quantity.
• Now, eat sprouts like beans, mat beans, and chickpeas in the same quantity as the salad. You can have them raw or cooked, depending on your digesting power. You can also eat two boiled eggs instead of sprouts. Alternate between eggs and sprouts every day to keep yourself satiated.
• After this, have the normal meal that is cooked in your home – rice, vegetable, dal, or any other vegetarian or non-vegetarian dish as per your hunger levels.
• After the meal, you can drink milk or have tea with sugar (unless you’re anemic).

Meal 2 (Approximately 6:00 PM to 9:00 PM)

• Follow the same diet pattern, instructions, and sequence as the first meal.
• Consume a lesser quantity of food compared to the first meal. The first meal should be 60%, and the second meal should be 40% of the total amount of calories you consume while having these two meals.

Things to Eat Between Meal 1 and Meal 2:

If you feel hunger pangs between the two meals, you can satiate them by consuming food items that do not cause insulin secretion. Here is Dr. Dixit’s recommendations:

1. Try to satiate your hunger by drinking water.
2. Thin buttermilk can also be consumed. Try avoiding the use of salt, especially in the case of hypertension. Don’t include other spices at all.
3. Green tea, black tea (flavorless), and milk tea can be consumed with 25% milk. Do not put sugar or any form of artificial sugar in these beverages.
4. Coconut water can be consumed once a day.
5. One tomato can be consumed throughout the day.

Restrictions for Diabetic People

• Do not consume sweet-tasting dry fruits at all.
• Salads should not contain beetroot or carrots.
• Do not consume anything sweet until HbA1c is under control.
• Do not consume any fruit for the first three months. After that, citrus-based foods can be consumed for a while before moving on to sweet-tasting fruits.

Note: While following this meal plan, one must note that following the sequence is extremely important. For example, you cannot consume rice before salads and vice-versa. Similarly, having dessert or a sweet dish at the end of your meal will result in you deviating from the plan.

What to Eat

• Dry Fruits like almonds, cashews, peanuts, and so on.
• Raw vegetables as a salad, like cucumber, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, tomatoes, and so on.
• Fruits like guava, jackfruit, and avocados.
• Boiled eggs.
• Chicken-based dishes.
• Dal options like rajma.
• Paneer-based dishes and curries.

What to Avoid

• Too many rice-based dishes because of their high carbohydrate content.
• Flavored green tea or black tea.
• Tea with excessive sugar, jaggery, or other sugar substitutes.

Advantages of Dr. Dixit’s Diet Plan

• Tackles obesity by lowering insulin levels and encouraging a state of calorie deficit.
• Shown to reduce a diabetic’s dependency on medication and insulin injections.
• Shown to improve a person’s activity levels and energy.
• Not too restrictive for an average consumer.
• Highly accessible and affordable meal options.
• Eliminates the probability of binge eating by including healthy food items that can be consumed between large meals.
• Incorporates a holistic fitness-based lifestyle with prescribed instructions for exercising.

Disadvantages of Dr. Dixit’s Diet Plan

• Difficult to follow initially as hunger pangs are hard to subside.
• Diabetics on glucose-lowering medication are prone to hypoglycemia, which can cause side effects like light-headedness and shivering if not supported with frequent meals.
• No cap on the amount of food that can be consumed per meal can actually lead to further weight gain if you overeat.
• Does not work for people suffering from type-1 diabetes, lactating mothers, and under-18 teenagers or children.

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Is Dr. Dixit’s Diet Healthy?

Dr. Dixit’s meal plan incorporates the benefits of various scientific principles to provide high value in terms of nutrition while keeping a check on the individual’s weight and insulin levels.

It has been reported that Dr. Dixit’s diet plan can counter the growing problem of obesity and even reverse the effects of type-2 diabetes. A study was conducted on a singular patient to gain conclusive results for this claim, and it proved that the two-meals-a-day plan could, indeed, serve as the lifestyle modification needed to fight type-2 diabetes.

So, if there is any meal (or lifestyle modification) that can allow people to find a counter plan for global health epidemics like obesity and type-2 diabetes, it is certainly worth following. Based on the immense success of Dr. Dixit’s campaign, it’s fair to say that his meal plan is very healthy.

Recommended Exercise

Dr. Dixit recommends that we spend at least 45 minutes a day exercising. He prescribes long walks of around 4.5 kilometers.

One can also opt for similar cardiovascular activities like swimming to keep the energy and fitness levels up.

7 Things to Keep in Mind When Following Dr. Dixit’s Diet

Identify Meal Timings

Make sure you identify two separate times a day when you feel exceptionally hungry. Make them your meal times and stick to that schedule.

Do Not Overeat

Keep in mind that you should only eat to keep your hunger satiated. Do not eat more than what your body needs to make up for the long gap between the first and the second meals.

Avoid Eating Between Meals

While Dr. Dixit has prescribed some select dishes that you can eat between the first and second meals to satiate your hunger, he also recommends drinking a lot of water to eventually eliminate the need for these snacks.

Finish Your Meal Within 55 Minutes

Make sure that you complete eating within 55 minutes so that you don’t get a second surge of insulin released into your body.

Avoid Eating Sweets

While there are no perpetual restrictions, it’s clear that Dr. Dixit expects us to majorly choose healthy food items and avoid sugary sweets like jalebi or imarti.

Increase Protein Intake

Try to increase your protein intake while bringing down the amount of carbohydrates that you consume in a day.

Eat Sequentially

Dr. Dixit has devised a sequential meal plan where you eat one type of food item before the other. Stick to that sequence as long as you are continuing with the meal plan.

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Final Words

Dr. Dixit has devised a revolutionary diet plan that could change our perception of diabetes and associated medical conditions.

His primary concern is that diabetes is treated as an incurable disease when it can be treated with some lifestyle modifications. Moreover, over-reliance on injections and medication can lead to a highly-restrictive lifestyle, as per Dr. Dixit.

Based on these concerns, he planned the perfect diet chart to ensure that everyone leads a healthy and fitness-centric lifestyle.