This 2,500-calorie diet can help you lose weight and lower your cancer risk

Instead of chasing the next trendy diet to lose weight, why not turn to the past for answers?A new study suggests the traditional diet of people in Papua New Guinea, an island country in the Pacific Ocean, could be the key to better gut health, slimmer waistlines and lower chronic disease risks — without the need for calorie restrictions.The catch: You’ll need to ditch dairy, beef and wheat.What’s more, the researchers are opening their cookbooks to share recipes from the diet they developed, inspired by the eating habits of the people from the island, so we can all make the change ourselves.Western diets are notoriously low in fiber and loaded with ultra-processed foods, saturated fats and added sugars.

They’ve been linked to skyrocketing rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease, and are wreaking havoc on our delicate gut microbiomes. By contrast, the indigenous people of rural Papua New Guinea primarily eat plant-based foods rich in fiber but low in sugar and calories.Previous research found that the population boasts a more diverse gut microbiome than their western peers, along with lower levels of chronic illness.Inspired by these findings, Dr.

Jens Walter and his colleagues developed the Non-Industrialized Microbiome Restore (NiMe) diet, designed to replicate the eating patterns of Papua New Guinea’s rural populations.“Industrialization has drastically impacted our gut microbiome, likely increasing the risk of chronic diseases,” said Walter, professor of ecology, food and the microbiome at University College Cork and lead author of the study.“To counter this, we developed a diet that mimics traditional, non-industrialized dietary habits and is compatible with our understanding on diet-microbiome interactions.”The NiMe diet, which is primarily plant-based, is packed with fruits, vegetables and legumes, with just one small serving of chicken, salmon or pork daily.

It excludes dairy, beef and wheat — foods that aren’t part of the trad...