Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers – there are so many weight loss plans available these days, it’s difficult enough just to choose which one to try. For the kosher consumer, there is an added challenge: how to keep the diet and the laws of Kashrut at the same time. A look at just a few of these diets will show how almost any diet can be made kosher.
Weight Watchers, a favorite of dieters for many years, is easy to follow and still keep kosher. This diet does not require the purchase of special foods or Weight Watchers products, although many of them are kosher; it only requires that the dieter keep track of the amount of “points” that the diet assigns to different foods in set amounts. Also, with many Weight Watchers cookbooks and recipe websites available, the kosher dieter should have no problem finding recipes with no non-kosher ingredients.
Several popular diet pills are also available, but the kosher consumer should check these out very carefully before taking them – they may have non-kosher ingredients. (For example, the TrimSpa X32 product carries a warning for those who are allergic to shellfish – a decidedly non-kosher ingredient.) If the product does not carry a hechsher (kosher certification), check with an Orthodox rabbi or a Kashrut agency to find out if any of its ingredients come from non-kosher sources.
Low carbohydrate diet programs like the Atkins Diet and the South Beach Diet can easily be made to conform to Kashrus, the body of Jewish dietary laws. These diets rely on Ketosis, the metabolic process that burns stored fat for energy in the absence of quick energy that is produced from consuming carbohydrates. Low-carb diets are favored by many people these days.
The first step to making any diet kosher should be to ensure that all the foods consumed are kosher – and meats are often the cornerstone of a diet (especially the low-carb diets), so it is important to know what makes meat kosher or non-kosher. Biblically speaking, the basic guidelines for kosher animals are that they should have split hooves and chew their cud. Beef and lamb are the commonly available kosher red meats, but in some communities with larger Orthodox communities, more exotic meats such as venison and buffalo are also available. An Orthodox rabbi can tell you which brands of meat are kosher and where to purchase them locally.
The most commonly available kosher poultry meats are chicken and turkey, and in larger communities, sometimes even duck is available. Kosher poultry, like kosher beef, has to be certified by a responsible Kashrut agency to assure that the animal was slaughtered and salted properly according to Jewish law. For advice, or a list of responsible Kashrut certifiers, contact the local Orthodox Jewish rabbi or synagogue.
As for kosher fish products, as long as the fish has fins and scales, it is considered kosher under biblical law. Kosher fish include salmon, trout, and tuna – some of the healthiest and most popular fish. Under the best of circumstances, you should be able to get a wide selection of fish at your local kosher market. However, if there is not a kosher market in the area, it is always permissible to buy a whole fish and prepare it at home with your own knives. Some lenient Orthodox authorities permit the purchase of pre-cut fish from a fish market as long as it is thoroughly washed with cold water before cooking.
Dairy products are also a staple of low-carb diets, and also need to be certified as kosher. Many people take advantage of a leniency in kosher law and purchase milk without a kosher certification, due to the high standards set by the USDA for milk purity. Cheeses, however, do need to be kosher-certified, due to the many different additives that are used in producing various cheese products.
Jewish law forbids the mixing of meat and dairy products, but many recipes that are typical to popular diets do mix them. These recipes are not compatible with kosher law. The kosher dieter should look for recipes that are only dairy or only meat in nature. In addition, the kosher dieter should be aware that there is a period of time that one is required to wait between eating meat and milk products. In most communities this period is six hours, but there are different customs concerning this matter. Again, your local Orthodox rabbi can provide guidance as to what the standard is in your community.
Weekday eating is not as difficult for the kosher dieter as the high-fat and carbohydrate-rich traditional Sabbath foods. It is very difficult to have a Sabbath meal that conforms to any diet and still fulfills religious requirements. The meals start with the benediction over a sugar-laden cup of wine or grape juice, then moves to the benediction over bread. In addition, many traditional foods are made from potatoes, which are also loaded with carbohydrates.
The best bet for reducing the carb and calorie count of your Sabbath meal is to cut the grape juice with a bit of water to thin it out a bit and lessen the sugar content per cup, and to take the smallest possible piece of bread that you can. Contact your local Orthodox rabbi for guidance as to the minimum measures of grape juice and bread that you can take and still fulfill the Sabbath meal rituals. Also, there are several websites devoted to kosher cooking for dieters (of all the popular diets) and diabetics that are a valuable source of advice and ideas.
Many popular diets allow the dieter to consume a satisfying meal and still be able to drop pounds. With a little knowledge of the basics of kashrus, these diets can be made kosher, too.
