The Sonoma diet is a weight-loss plan modelled on the Mediterranean diet with added portion control, named for California’s wine country. It prescribes ten power foods, whole grains, almonds, olive oil, tomatoes, spinach, blueberries, broccoli, grapes, and peppers, served on specific plate proportions: vegetables filling half the plate, lean protein and grains the rest. Waves of increasing variety structure the programme, starting restrictively and broadening. The diet’s strengths are real: Mediterranean-style eating has the best evidence of any dietary pattern for heart health, and the portion guidance addresses the calorie creep that defeats good intentions. Like all branded diets it repackages sound principles, but the principles themselves are among nutrition’s most solid.