Dubrow Diet: Should You Try It for Weight Loss?

If you’ve paid attention to reality TV in the past decade, you may be fans of husband and wife Terry and Heather Dubrow. He is of Botched fame, and she earned a name for herself on The Real Housewives of Orange County. Together, they developed an eating plan called the Dubrow Diet. But can following it make you as slim, energetic, and healthy as they are?

What Is the Dubrow Diet?

The Dubrow Diet is detailed in a book by Heather Dubrow and Terry Dubrow, MD, that was published in 2018. The full title is The Dubrow Diet: Interval Eating to Lose Weight and Feel Ageless. In addition to starring on The Real Housewives, Heather Dubrow is an actress and singer, and Terry Dubrow is a plastic surgeon in Newport Beach, California, and a fellow of the American College of Surgeons. (2) His show Botched airs on E!.

The Dubrow Diet is not just about what you’re eating, but when you’re eating. Essentially, this is interval eating, or taking “an extended break from eating,” as Terry Dubrow writes in the book. (3) It’s also commonly called intermittent fasting, with the time spent eating called a “feeding cycle” and the eating break a “fasting cycle.”

The Dubrow Diet recommends a 16:8 schedule, meaning fasting for 16 hours with an 8-hour eating window in the initial phase. Depending on how quickly you want to lose weight, you would then choose a fast of 12, 14, or 16 hours during phase 2 and beyond.

The Dubrows cite University of Illinois research showing that intermittent fasting can lead to temporary weight loss. One of the university’s studies found that a 16:8 eating pattern helped adults with obesity cut calories and lose 2.6 percent more of their body weight over 12 weeks compared with a control group. (4)

Below you’ll find a list of some of the main foods in the Dubrow Diet, though this is not an exhaustive list.

Foods Recommended on the Dubrow Diet

Protein

• Eggs
• Turkey bacon
• Pork
• Lean cuts of red meat (such as eye of round, top and bottom round)
• Game meats (venison, bison, and buffalo)
• Poultry
• Protein powders
• Tofu
• Tempeh
• Fish and shellfish

Vegetables

• Green leafy vegetables (for example, spinach, arugula, lettuce, kale)
• Green beans
• Leeks
• Any vegetable that grows “above the ground” (asparagus, Brussels sprouts, celery, broccoli, summer squash, tomatoes, butternut or acorn squash)
• Garlic
• Onions
• “Below-ground” vegetables (limited; including radishes, turnips, and carrots)

Fruit

• Apples
• Berries (strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, raspberries)
• Peach
• Pineapple
• Cherries
• Lemon and lime
• Pears

Fats

• Avocado
• Oils (avocado, coconut, almond, grapeseed, olive)
• Olives

Nuts and Seeds

• Almond butter
• Pumpkin, sunflower, flaxseed, and hempseeds
• Almonds, pecans, pistachios

Dairy

• Feta and Parmesan cheese
• Nonfat or lowfat dairy (milk, cottage cheese, and yogurt)
• Kefir
• Alternatives (coconut milk and yogurt)

Grains and Legumes

• Beans
• Chickpeas
• Oats
• Quinoa
• Bulgur
• Lentils
• Whole-wheat bread
• Barley
• Hummus

Drinks

• Water
• Coffee and tea
• Calorie-free drinks with “alternative” sweeteners (such as monk fruit, stevia, or xylitol)
• Alcohol (during later phases)

Condiments

• Herbs and spices
• Hot sauce
• Mustard

Foods Not Advised on the Dubrow Diet

• Baked goods
• Cereal
• White pasta
• White bread
• Highly processed snack foods
• Desserts

What you’ll eat depends on what phase of the diet you’re in. But the meal plan below is a snippet of what you might eat if you’re on a 16:8 interval eating pattern, which likely involves eating two meals and one snack per day.

For the purposes of this sample menu, you can think of the meal times and snack times as follows, but you can adjust it as needed to fit into an eight-hour eating window.

Breakfast 10 a.m.

Lunch 12:30 p.m.

Snack 3 p.m.

Dinner and Dessert 5:30 p.m. (finishing your meal by 6 p.m.)

Day 1

Breakfast None or black coffee

Lunch Salad with grilled chicken and “above ground” vegetables, drizzled in olive oil and lemon

Snack Turkey jerky

Dinner Steak tips with broccoli

Dessert Plain Greek yogurt with honey (optional)

Day 2

Breakfast None or black coffee

Lunch Roasted salmon with zucchini noodles and quinoa

Snack Deli meat wrapped around carrot sticks or bell pepper strips

Dinner Chana masala (a savory Indian chickpea dish)

Dessert Plain Greek yogurt with honey (optional)

Day 3

Breakfast None or black coffee

Lunch Lentil salad with feta cheese and chopped cucumbers and tomatoes

Snack Cottage cheese and berries

Dinner Bison burger in a lettuce wrap

Dessert Plain Greek yogurt with honey (optional)

The Dubrow Diet is heavily promoted as a weight loss diet, with a strong emphasis on your appearance and being thin. If that is a message that resonates with you, you might find the book helpful.

A big bright spot is the focus on highly nutritious foods, and the book is written in such an enthusiastic way, that you might become motivated to eat them. “I’m a fan of how they promote lean proteins, lots of vegetables, nuts, seeds, and heart-healthy fats. Overall, they recommend foods that are not artificial or in packages. It’s a whole foods–based program,” says Amy Shapiro, RD, CDN, the founder and director of Real Nutrition in New York City.

Another perk is the focus on fiber, which will keep digestion regular, something that can go a long way in helping you feel great.

The Dubrows also advocate for their diet (specifically the interval eating aspect) as being something that can increase autophagy, which they describe in their book as “your cells’ self-cleaning process and an anti-aging rock star.” (3) Meaning: It’s said to increase DNA repair for inside-out anti-aging. While the idea is promising, it’s not a given yet. “I’ve seen animal research suggesting that [intermittent fasting] stimulates autophagy and that it may have value in reducing the risk of chronic diseases associated with aging. But animal research is very different from research in humans,” says Samantha Cassetty, MS, RD, a dietician based in New York City.

The Dubrows say that interval eating gives your metabolism a reset period; once your body has burned through your glucose stores in your body, it burns stored fat, leading to weight loss. “Our own test group revealed that combining this eating schedule with a greater intake of specific foods increased the [average] weekly weight loss to 1.8 pounds per week,” specifically in the abdominal area, they write.

That said, the diet is designed to be customizable depending on how quickly you want to lose weight, and the Dubrows say you can lose anywhere from 0.5 to 4 pounds per week. There are no randomized, clinical trials on the diet, though; these figures are from their test groups.

The plan is low in calories, fat, and carbohydrates, which is why people lose weight on the diet, says Shapiro. Then there’s the interval eating–intermittent fasting (IF) approach. “There’s some evidence that IF may influence appetite-regulating hormones, but the most basic reason it helps you lose weight is because of the calorie deficit it creates,” says Cassetty.

The upside for short-term weight loss is that this is a lower-calorie diet. Yet the restriction, along with the list of acceptable foods, does not bode well for your ability to stick with the diet. “Though I appreciate that the meal plan incorporates a lot of healthy foods, because the meal plans are actually quite low in calories, many people would have difficulty meeting nutrient needs, and there’s a strong chance you’d feel hungry and sluggish if you stick to the plan that’s outlined,” says Cassetty.

Another downside is the fact that they incorporate the idea of cheat moments, meals, or days into the diet. “Eating well isn’t like a hop-on, hop-off bus, where some days you’re on and other days you’re off. This type of diet mentality can be really harmful to your emotional well-being and might lead to yo-yo dieting, the type of weight fluctuations that may lead to poorer health outcomes over time,” adds Cassetty. Indeed, a study found a link between weight cycling and health conditions including obesity and high blood pressure. (5)

Because of its restrictive nature and the focus on appearance, anyone with an eating disorder should not try this diet. “Even if you haven’t been diagnosed with an eating disorder, if you have a turbulent relationship [with] your body or food, you should look elsewhere,” says Cassetty. Pregnant women or people younger than 18 shouldn’t do intermittent fasting, she adds. If you’re older than 65 or have any known medical conditions, talk to your healthcare team first.

First, for success on the Dubrow Diet, you’ll want to purchase the book to understand their methodology as well as get a full picture of the phases of the diet and the recommended foods within, since following multiple levels of rules can get complex. Below, you’ll find the three phases and a brief description of each. (3)

Phase 1 Two to five days of strictly adhering to 16:8 interval eating. Consider this your body’s jump start.

Phase 2 This phase is targeted to your goal weight. “Slow” weight loss involves a 12:12 interval eating and one “cheat moment” (such as a snack or dessert) per week for an estimated ½ to 1 ½ pounds (lbs) of expected weight loss per week. “Medium” weight loss involves 14:10 interval eating, one cheat meal per week, and an estimated 1 to 2 ½ lbs of expected weight loss per week. Finally, “Fast” weight loss is maintaining that 16:8 interval with an entire cheat day for 2 to 4 lbs of weight loss per week.

Phase 3 Maintenance phase. For five days of your choice, you eat a 12:12 interval; two days per week it’s a 16:8 interval for a reset.

While the diet leans heavily on trends and presents its science as iron-clad (when it’s not), the Dubrow Diet does emphasize nutritious foods and does not completely eliminate any food groups. “Overall I think this approach is pretty balanced because it incorporates healthy foods, and many that I recommend to my clients regularly,” says Shapiro. She does point out that women may benefit from choosing a fasting window that is 12- to 14-hours in duration (rather than going the full 16), as she finds anecdotally in her practice that female clientele tend to say they feel better on a shorter fast, whereas she’s observed that her male clients’ bodies are better suited to handle a full 16 hours.

That said, while an intermittent fasting approach might work for some people, it’s not right for everyone. And it’s reassuring to know you don’t have to do it. “When you look at the big picture, intermittent fasting isn’t necessary. Plenty of research shows that people who live long, healthy lives, free of disease and memory problems, enjoy food,” says Cassetty. For example, a 2017 article suggests the Mediterranean diet may help reduce the risk for chronic disease and help you age healthfully. The Mediterranean diet calls for eating whole, fresh foods, such as fish, olive oil, leafy greens, fruits, and whole grains. (6)

Another downside is that The Dubrow Diet really limits complex carbohydrates, which many people would find restrictive. “People need education on how to bring complex carbohydrates back into their diet [after a diet like this], or to know how to come back from an imperfect meal. That piece might be missing with this diet,” says Shapiro.

The Dubrow Diet is a diet developed by reality-star husband-and-wife team Terry and Heather Dubrow. It combines “interval eating” (intermittent fasting) with specific allowed foods in a three-phase plan designed to jump-start weight loss, get you to your goal weight, and help with maintenance. While registered dietitians are happy that the diet emphasizes a fresh, whole foods-focused diet, they note that it’s lower in calories and carbohydrates than a standard healthy eating plan. While you might lose weight on this diet, it may also be tough to follow long-term.