Outside of the niche community of serious strength athletes, The Vertical Diet is not commonly talked about. But due to quite a few elite-level athletes following the diet (including Hafthor “The Mountain” Bjornsson), this diet has a large reputation.
Another massive influence on this is that the founder Stan Efferding is both charismatic and jacked. He is also clearly intelligent when it comes to nutrition. He makes compelling arguments as to why many aspects of this diet are beneficial for health and performance.
As a dietitian who specialises in working with strength athletes, with a focus on powerlifting specifically, I get quite a few questions about The Vertical Diet. Due to that, I thought I would go through some of the pros and cons.
What is The Vertical Diet?
The Vertical Diet is a diet that is based on whole foods that are high in nutrients. It is promoted through claims to optimise gut health and improve performance.
A “horizontal” diet would be described as one that emphasises various foods. The Vertical Diet, therefore, focuses on a limited number of foods that Stan Efferding has chosen for specific reasons.
Part of the rationale behind this is that it is hypothesised that limiting variety can help the body become more efficient at digesting the consumed foods. This would allow for better absorption of nutrients, while also making it easier to eat more total food volume across the day.
According to Efferding, this limited variety and improved digestive efficiency should improve muscle growth, recovery, gut health, and metabolism.
The vertical component of the diet includes red meat and white rice. These are designed to make up the majority of the calories.
Red meat is chosen because it is a quality protein source that is also higher in iron, B vitamins and zinc than other options.
White rice is chosen as the main carbohydrate source because it is easy to consume a lot of carbohydrates and it doesn’t take long to digest. This makes it easier for heavier-strength athletes to consume more carbohydrates and calories.
The horizontal component of the diet, has more variety as these foods are chosen to meet micronutrient needs. They are nutrient-dense; however, the goal is to consume them in an appropriate amount and no more than that. They are designed to reach the optimal targets for micronutrient needs and no more.
Adding more micronutrients than this level typically does not provide any additional benefit, so the preference is to focus on the vertical component of the diet once these needs are met.
The foods chosen are generally low-FODMAP as well. They are designed to limit gas build-up and bloating or other gastrointestinal issues related to that.
Foods Allowed on the Diet
Rice: white rice only.
Red meat: beef, lamb, bison, and venison/
Low-FODMAP vegetables: carrots, celery, zucchini, cucumber, capsicum, eggplant, spinach, butternut squash, etc.
Fruits: mostly oranges, 100% orange juice, cranberries, and 100% cranberry juice — technically all fruits are allowed but these ones mentioned are the encouraged options.
Potatoes: white and sweet potatoes.
Oils and fats: extra-virgin olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, butter and nuts.
Fatty fish: salmon.
Poultry: chicken, turkey.
Eggs: whole eggs.
Dairy: full-fat yogurt, full-cream milk, cheese.
Sodium: bone broth, chicken stock, iodised table salt.
Oats: only if soaked and fermented.
Legumes: beans and other legumes, only if soaked and fermented.
The Monster Mash
To give an example of what a common meal would look like, see the below video of Stan Efferding making his well-known “Monster Mash” meal. This is made from Bison Burger (intentionally choosing meat that is tender and easy to consume), rice and chicken stock.
Some people also add some of the approved vegetables such as baby carrots, spinach and capsicum into the mix to add help add some more micronutrients too.
Pros of The Vertical Diet
There is no doubt that The Vertical Diet can be an option to help fuel elite performance. There are a lot of people taking their performance to the next level while utilising the diet, so it is worthwhile looking at the positives.
Less Bloating
Due to the emphasis on low-FODMAP foods and avoiding any foods that are difficult to digest, The Vertical Diet can reduce bloating, constipation and diarrhoea in a lot of individuals. This alone can help people feel better.
Easier Way to Eat More Food
Due to the focus on easily digestible foods, it allows people to eat more total food. Generally, when strength athletes focus on high-quality, nutrient-dense foods, they struggle to consume enough calories to maintain or gain weight. This can harm strength and performance, which in turn limits their potential as an athlete.
Emphasising the foods in The Vertical Diet can overcome this barrier. The meal plans are also laid out in a way that makes it easier to consume large amounts of food. There is also a strategic way laid out to increase food intake.
It Can Be an Easy Way to Adjust Intake Since It Is So Consistent
The diet can be great from the perspective of keeping it simple. When there is a lot of variety, it can be harder to consistently get an appropriate range of calories and macros for your specific goals unless you are tracking your intake.
With The Vertical Diet, you will generally have pretty much the same 4-5 meals per day every day. If you wanted to gain size but weren’t in a calorie surplus, you have the option to either make the meals larger or add an additional meal.
Vice-versa, if somebody wanted to be in a calorie deficit, they could do the opposite. This makes it really easy to adjust your calories based on your needs.
Good Focus on Micronutrients and Performance
Sometimes, concepts like flexible dieting can be taken too far, undervaluing the importance of micronutrients. The Vertical Diet emphasizes meeting all micronutrient needs, which can positively impact performance.
While exceeding these levels might not offer additional benefits, avoiding deficiencies or inadequacies is crucial. For example, an iron deficiency can cause fatigue and reduce the effectiveness of training.
Performance is also optimised from a macronutrient perspective. The diet can be structured to meet appropriate ranges for protein, fats, and carbohydrates while distributing protein evenly throughout the day.
Focus on Non-Dietary Details
Not only is there a focus on the dietary aspects, but there is also a focus on lifestyle overall. In the book, there is a lot of time dedicated to things such as sleep, short walks and regular blood tests.
There is substantial evidence suggesting that sufficient quality sleep enhances performance, yet it is often overlooked.
Short walks directly after a meal can help reduce blood glucose levels (mostly relevant for people at risk of type 2 diabetes, but it can be particularly important for people with very high BMI’s in general).
Getting regular comprehensive blood tests can help identify any issues early on that can be addressed which can help improve health and performance.
Cons of The Vertical Diet
Red Meat Is Expensive
Red meat is more expensive than other protein sources. While red meat is not the only protein source on the diet, it is the main form that is emphasised. The main reason red meat is chosen over white meat such as chicken is that it is slightly higher in nutrients.
Switching some of the red meat for white meat really would have no negatives though.
Once targets for micronutrients such as iron, zinc, and B vitamins are met, there is no noticeable benefit to exceeding them. Given the food volumes consumed, those targets would undoubtedly be met, even if white meat were the preferred choice.
This switch alone can make the diet a lot cheaper without sacrificing anything from a performance perspective.
Caution Regarding Red Meat and Health
While there are recent guidelines suggesting that we do not need to reduce our current intake of red meat for health purposes, I’m of the opinion that it would be wise to be mildly cautious of going anywhere near as high as what the vertical diet proposes.
The majority of organisations have guidelines that recommend limiting red meat intake, with a particular emphasis on the linkage with bowel cancer.
There is a reason they have those guidelines in place.
There is a wealth of research out on this topic but due to the variables involved it is hard to make a clear conclusion, which is part of why I’m choosing not to discuss the research here as I think that should be a separate article by itself.
Healthy user bias can mask what is really going on. For example, people who eat red meat are more likely to partake in behaviours with negative effects on health, whereas those who follow plant-based diets tend to do the opposite.
With that being said, while I believe I am more comfortable with higher intakes of red meat than most dietitians, I still stand in the camp of caution and wouldn’t take red meat intake to an extreme.
Staying on a Low-Fodmap Diet Indefinitely is not Ideal for Gut-Health
While The Vertical Diet is not specifically a low-FODMAP diet, it comes very close. It eliminates the most prominent gas-producing foods, which often overlap with high-FODMAP foods.
Since a lot of high-FODMAP foods are also great prebiotics, it appears as though staying low-FODMAP reduces microbial diversity in the gut. It also reduces the amount of Bifidobacterium and Lactobacillus which are associated with positive health outcomes.
Variety Can Be Beneficial for Gut Health
While The Vertical Diet reduces IBS type symptoms off the bat, claiming it optimises gut health is a stretch. There is research indicating that consuming >30 plant-based foods is linked with greater microbial diversity and associated with more health-promoting groups of bacteria when compared to <10 per week.
Gut health is complex and it is hard to make bold claims, but variety appears to be beneficial. Limiting to only a small number of foods like The Vertical Diet recommends could have negative effects due to this.
Needlessly Restrictive
In addition to a lot of the pitfalls associated with the restriction, there really is not much evidence to support the idea that digestion is improved by limiting the foods you eat. You can get the same results without restricting to this level.
Summary
Due to the cons I’ve mentioned, The Vertical Diet is not a diet I recommend to my athletes. It has a lot of rules that aren’t necessary to achieve the desired outcomes. I believe there are equally effective methods to achieve optimal performance without these drawbacks.
From another perspective, it has no drawbacks when it comes to physical performance. Once you establish a routine, it’s very straightforward to follow. Plus if you switch to it from a sub-optimal diet you will certainly notice improvements in performance and how you feel. For people who like simplicity, it could be a solid option in comparison to alternative approaches.
