What types of diets and 3R protocols exist?

When it comes to your type of diet, there are no universal truths. Everyone has individual needs, and not all foods work well for everyone. That’s why, when you tried your friend’s “healthy diet” to lose weight, you might not have seen the best results. And when we talk about results in Immuno-nutrition, we refer not only to changes in body weight but also to changes in your inflammation levels and improvements in your gut health, where 70% of your immune system is located. That’s why at NutriWhite we developed the 3R Immuno-nutrition Protocol. Here’s how to personalize it.

Low-histamine 3R Protocol

Histamines are molecules your body naturally produces to help with:

• Releasing stomach acid during digestion
• Signaling injury sites for antibody response
• Keeping you alert or awake

When you have excess histamines, you may experience symptoms such as:

• Skin allergies
• Migraines
• Anxiety and insomnia
• Allergic rhinitis, asthma, etc.

There are three factors that can lead to histamine buildup:

• You have leaky gut due to enemy foods, and lack the DAO enzyme to metabolize histamines
• You have leaky gut with an overgrowth of harmful microbiota that also produce histamines
• You consume too many histamine-rich foods

We help you identify the root cause so you can personalize your diet and adjust supplementation if necessary through your Low-histamine 3R Protocol.

Low-FODMAP 3R Protocol

FODMAPs are foods that ferment in the gut when your microbiota is imbalanced, causing symptoms like:

• Bloating
• Diarrhea
• Constipation
• Pencil-shaped stool ends
• Gas

Grains and dairy, which we recommend removing in the basic 3R Protocol, are high in FODMAPs. In your personalized NutriWhite online consultation, our team will help you adapt your Low-FODMAP 3R Protocol based on your tolerance.

For example, you can start with:

• Cooked vegetables
• Proteins and fats
• Removing legumes, and when reintroducing them, try sprouting or blending into hummus to test tolerance

Autoimmune 3R Protocol (AIP)

This protocol removes foods that are hard to digest and contain proteins that may be inflammatory, acting as anti-nutrients.

Examples include:

• Nightshades (potato, tomato, eggplant)
• Eggs, dairy, and nuts

At NutriWhite, we offer a personalized Autoimmune 3R Protocol for you.

Low-oxalate 3R Protocol

Oxalates are highly reactive molecules that bind to minerals (especially calcium, iron, zinc, magnesium), forming salts or crystals that can accumulate in the body, causing health problems. Their origin may be:

• External: from plant-based foods like seeds, nuts, colorful fruits and vegetables
• Internal: microbiota imbalance, fungal overgrowth (e.g., Candida Albicans, Aspergillus)
• Metabolic issues: B-vitamin deficiencies, issues with histamine or sulfate metabolism

When leaky gut and fungal overgrowth are present, especially Candida, oxalates can be excessively absorbed and accumulate in organs like kidneys, gallbladder, liver, joints, gut, and even eyes, causing inflammation, discomfort, pain, and kidney stones. NutriWhite can help personalize your Low-oxalate 3R Protocol.

Keto 3R Protocol

The ketogenic diet is for those wanting to train their body to use ketones as energy and to improve cognitive function, endurance performance, appetite control, insulin levels, longevity, etc.

Used to treat conditions such as:

• Refractory epilepsy
• Cancer
• Overweight/obesity
• Type 2 diabetes
• Neurodegenerative diseases
• Gut dysbiosis
• Anti-aging
• Autism spectrum disorder

This diet includes good fats and saturated fats like red meats, aiming to reduce carbohydrate intake. Despite its benefits, we recommend personalizing it as your ketogenic 3R Protocol under the guidance of your NutriWhite Ambassadors during your NutriWhite Consultation.

3R Protocol for starting and breaking fasts

Fasting is defined as the voluntary or imposed act of abstaining from food or drink for a period of time. There are two main types:

• Intermittent fasting: 14–18 hours of fasting with a 6–10 hour eating window. It can be done regularly but must be done correctly to see benefits.
• Prolonged fasting: continuous periods of 24, 48, or 72 hours without food, allowing the body to use fat as energy and enter ketosis. Depending on your goal, you may include bone broth, collagen, tea, coffee, or just water. This must be supervised and requires metabolic training. The 3R Protocol can also be adapted to support fasting.

Paleo 3R Protocol

The paleo diet, like the 3R Protocol, removes hard-to-digest foods like grains, dairy, and sugar, and prioritizes natural, minimally processed foods. Though often associated with weight loss, its long-term benefits go beyond just weight. It mimics how paleolithic humans would have eaten.

Basic 3R Protocol

This three-step method forms the foundation to heal the gut, the entry point for all disease. It removes the three main groups of enemy foods:

1. Gluten and grains
2. Refined sugar
3. Cow’s dairy

If you don’t know where to start, this is a good place to begin reducing inflammation.

High-calorie and low-calorie diets

These diets focus on calorie counting, either to replenish energy and weight or to reduce it. At NutriWhite, we find these diets often overlook food-induced inflammation, which can hinder any goal. The volumetric diet applies a similar idea—eating larger volumes of low-calorie foods. An example is bone broth: rich in minerals and amino acids for gut health and low in calories.

High-protein diet

Common in sports and bodybuilding, the assumption is that higher protein intake builds more muscle. While muscles are made of protein, they need energy to contract and must digest and absorb protein without inflammation. Many protein supplements contain hard-to-digest proteins like casein or whey from cow’s milk, which may inflame your gut and have the opposite effect.

Mediterranean diet

Famous for its anti-inflammatory foods such as:

• Fatty fish
• Vegetables and fruits
• Nuts
• Extra virgin olive oil and olives

And limits foods like:

• Dairy
• Sugar
• Refined grains

At NutriWhite, we help personalize it to your individual tolerance.

Vegetarian and vegan diets

Both exclude animal protein. The vegetarian diet includes dairy and eggs, while vegan excludes all animal-derived products. A variant, the Ornish diet, is also low-fat and restricts caffeine, nuts, seeds, egg yolks, and dairy (except for one cup of skim milk or yogurt).

At NutriWhite, we help you evaluate whether plant-based protein substitutes are suitable for you. For example:

• Soy is hard to digest and genetically modified, so we don’t recommend soy milk or tofu
• Cereal-based plant milks may contain gluten and are not gut-friendly
• Seitan, a gluten-based protein, is not recommended for an anti-inflammatory diet

Flexitarian diet

This diet reduces but doesn’t eliminate animal protein, focusing mainly on vegetables and legumes, while occasionally including animal protein.

Which is the most recommended diet?

If you’ve read this far, you won’t be surprised that the answer is: it depends.

It depends on:

• Your condition
• Your lifestyle
• Your preferences
• Your country of residence
• Your willingness to make dietary changes and choose to live better

These are the things we work on with you during your personalized NutriWhite online consultation with our NutriWhite Ambassadors. If one of these diets resonates with you, you can try the corresponding recipes in our OkNutriWhite recipe section.

 References:

• Nurse’s Handbook of Alternative & Complementary Therapies, 2nd edition, Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2003.
• Molecular mimicry as a mechanism for food immune reactivities and autoimmunity. Aristo Vojdani. Altern Ther Health Med. 2015.
• Schink M, Konturek PC, Tietz E, Dieterich W, Pinzer TC, Wirtz S, Neurath MF, Zopf Y. Microbial patterns in patients with histamine intolerance. J Physiol Pharmacol. 2018 Aug;69(4). doi: 10.26402/jpp.2018.4.09. Epub 2018 Dec 9. PMID: 30552302
• Enko D, Meinitzer A, Mangge H, Kriegshäuser G, Halwachs-Baumann G, Reininghaus EZ, Bengesser SA, Schnedl WJ. Concomitant Prevalence of Low Serum Diamine Oxidase Activity and Carbohydrate Malabsorption. Can J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2016;2016:4893501. doi: 10.1155/2016/4893501. Epub 2016 Nov 30. PMID: 28042564
• Starting the FODMAP diet. What to expect from the 3-Step FODMAP Diethttp://www.monashfodmap.com/ibs-central/i-have-ibs/starting-the-low-fodmap-diet/ 
• Grez, Catalina, Vega, Álvaro, & Araya, Magdalena. (2019). Consumo de mono, di, oligo sacáridos y polioles fermentables (FODMAPs), una nueva fuente de sintomatología gastrointestinal. Revista médica de Chile, 147(9), 1167-1175. https://dx.doi.org/10.4067/s0034-98872019000901167
• Histamine: The Brain's 'Other' Sleep-Wake Neurotransmitter. Scientific American Custom Media. 2021.