Let me take you back to 2013: YOLO had just become a trending hashtag, “upscale vegan” restaurants were introduced to the culinary scene, and Katy Perry was topping the charts with her single, "Dark Horse." But for a superstar the likes of Katy Perry, producing chart-topping hits isn’t enough to maintain an entire image.
She’s also known for her, ahem, well endowed figure, one she’s made many references to herself. In keeping herself slim, it’s always been a priority that the weight not be lost from her trademark curves. To do this, she followed a regimen called the m-plan diet back in good ol' 2013.
So What Exactly is the M-Plan Diet?
The m-plan diet is a mushroom-based eating plan, touted for its ability to help women lose weight only in their “problem areas,” such as stomach and arms, while keeping the bust area full. The premise of the diet is to replace one meal a day with mushrooms, and its supporters claim that this swap leads to weight loss in said areas.
Disappointingly, this does not mean having cream of mushroom soup for lunch or a Portabello burger for dinner. Rather, the diet recommends that its followers consume the mushrooms either raw or oven roasted with a mere sprinkling of salt.
Listen, I like mushrooms as much as the next girl, but I have a few problems with the m-plan. First and foremost, no diet can promise weight loss from a certain area. I’m sorry, but the first law of thermodynamics states that if energy expended is greater than energy consumed, weight will be lost.
Physics doesn’t care whether that weight gets lost from your love handles, thighs, or chest. Secondly, replacing any meal daily with a serving of vegetables will lead to a lower total consummation of calories, therefore decreasing one’s consumed energy.
Is the M-Plan Diet All Bullsh*t?
Well, if celebrities like Katy Perry, Roxanne Pallett, and Kelly Osborne all swear by this diet, there has to be something to it. That something is the mushrooms themselves! Packed with B vitamins and Zinc, mushrooms help to break down stored body fat. A mere cup of raw mushrooms also contains nearly two and a half grams of protein per cup, something that can’t be said of other “diet” foods like celery or carrots.
With their high percentage of essential minerals and purported anti-cancerous properties, mushrooms themselves are the magic of the m-plan diet. In our American diet, we often don’t work mushrooms into our meals, therefore eschewing their potential health benefits. I do support the m-plan diet only in its mission to incorporate more mushrooms into our meals, just not by using them as meal substitutes.
While I still don’t buy the premise of “targeted fat loss” from mushrooms, I do support reaping their health benefits by incorporating them into an already balanced diet.
If you too want to take advantage of the natural benefits of mushrooms, try using them as a meat substitute on barbecue night, incorporating them into a hearty pasta dish, or—when in doubt—simply sautéing them with a dash of olive oil. While I can’t guarantee that you’ll drop weight from your problem areas, I can guarantee a delicious vegetarian-friendly meal.