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Don't Be Confused About Low Carb Diets - 7 Key Points Explained

2010-11-13T06:59:00.000+08:00

With all of the conflicting studies and fuzzy interpretation of
information, it's no wonder that confusion reigns when it comes
to the value and safety of low-carb diets. It seems like heated
debates are raging everywhere!

Whether it's Atkins, the South Beach or some other low-carb plan,
as many as 30 million Americans are following a low-carb diet.

Advocates contend that the high amount of carbohydrates in our
diet has led to increasing problems with obesity, diabetes, and
other health problems. Critics, on the other hand, attribute
obesity and related health problems to over-consumption of
calories from any source, and lack of physical activity. Critics
also express concern that the lack of grains, fruits, and
vegetables in low-carbohydrate diets may lead to deficiencies of
some key nutrients, including fiber, vitamin C, folic acid, and
several minerals.

Any diet, weather low or high in carbohydrate, can produce
significant weight loss during the initial stages of the diet.
But remember, the key to successful dieting is in being able to
lose the weight permanently. Put another way, what does the scale
show a year after going off the diet?

Let's see if we can debunk some of the mystery about low-carb
diets. Below, is a listing of some relevant points taken from
recent studies and scientific literature. Please note there may
be insufficient information available to answer all questions.

- Differences Between Low-Carb Diets

There are many popular diets designed to lower carbohydrate
consumption. Reducing total carbohydrate in the diet means that
protein and fat will represent a proportionately greater amount
of the total caloric intake.

Atkins and Protein Power diets restrict carbohydrate to a point
where the body becomes ketogenic. Other low-carb diets like the
Zone and Life Without Bread are less restrictive. Some, like
Sugar Busters claim to eliminate only sugars and foods that
elevate blood sugar levels excessively.

- What We Know about Low-Carb Diets

Almost all of the studies to date have been small with a wide
variety of research objectives. Carbohydrate, caloric intake,
diet duration and participant characteristics varied greatly.
Most of the studies to date have two things in common: None of
the studies had participants with a mean age over 53 and none of
the controlled studies lasted longer than 90 days.

Information on older adults and long-term results are scarce.
Many diet studies fail to monitor the amount of exercise, and
therefore caloric expenditure, while participants are dieting.
This helps to explain discrepancies between studies.

The weight loss on low-carb diets is a function of caloric
restriction and diet duration, and not with reduced carbohydrate
intake. This finding suggests that if you want to lose weight,
you should eat fewer calories and do so over a long time period.

Little evidence exists on the long-range safety of low-carb
diets. Despite the medical community concerns, no short-term
adverse effects have been found on cholesterol, glucose, insulin
and blood-pressure levels among participants on the diets. But,
adverse effects may not show up because of the short period of
the studies. Researchers note that losing weight typically leads
to an improvement in these levels anyway, and this may offset an
increase caused by a high fat diet. The long range weight change
for low-carb and other types of diets is similar.

Most low-carb diets cause ketosis. Some of the potential
consequences are nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and confusion.
During the initial phase of low-carb dieting some fatigue and
constipation may be encountered. Generally, these symptoms
dissipate quickly. Ketosis may also give the breath a fruity
odor, somewhat like nail-polish remover (acetone).

Low-carb diets do not enable the consumption of more calories
than other kinds of diets, as has been often reported. A calorie
is a calorie and it doesn't matter weather they come from
carbohydrates or fat. Study discrepancies are likely the result
of uncontrolled circumstances; i.e. diet participants that cheat
on calorie consumption, calories burned during exercise, or any
number of other factors. The drop-out rate for strict (i.e. less
than 40 grams of CHO/day) low-carb diets is relatively high.

What Should You Do? - There are 3 important points I would like
to re-emphasize:

- The long-range success rate for low-carb and other types of
diets is similar.

- Despite their popularity, little information exists on the
long-term efficacy and safety of low-carbohydrate diets.

- Strict low-carb diets are usually not sustainable as a normal
way of eating. Boredom usually overcomes willpower.

It is obvious after reviewing the topic, that more, well-designed
and controlled studies are needed. There just isn't a lot of good
information available, especially concerning long-range effects.
Strict low-carb diets produce ketosis which is an abnormal and
potentially stressful metabolic state. Under some circumstances
this might cause health related complications.

The diet you choose should be a blueprint for a lifetime of
better eating, not just a quick weight loss plan to reach your
weight goal. If you can't see yourself eating the prescribed
foods longer than a few days or a week, then chances are it's not
the right diet. To this end, following a moderately low fat diet
with a healthy balance of fat, protein, carbohydrate and other
nutrients is beneficial.

If you do decide to follow a low-carb plan, remember that certain
dietary fats are associated with reduction of disease. Foods high
in unsaturated fats that are free of trans-fatty acids such as
olive oil, fish, flaxseeds, and nuts are preferred to fats from
animal origins.

Even promoters of the Atkins diet now say people on their plan
should limit the amount of red meat and saturated fat they eat.
Atkins representatives are telling health professionals that only
20 percent of a dieter's calories should come from saturated fat
(i.e. meat, cheese, butter). This change comes as Atkins faces
competition from other popular low-carb diets that call for less
saturated fat, such as the South Beach diet plan. Low-carb
dieting should not be considered as a license to gorge on red
meat!

Another alternative to "strict" low-carb dieting would be to give
up some of the bad carbohydrate foods but not "throw out the baby
with the bath water". In other words, foods high in processed
sugar, snacks, and white bread would be avoided, but foods high
in complex carbohydrates such as fruit, potatoes and whole
grains, retained.

The information contained in this article is for educational purposes
only and is not intended to medically diagnose, treat or cure any
disease. Consult a health care practitioner before beginning any
health care program.

In Search of The Perfect Cleansing Diet

2010-11-12T19:41:00.000+08:00

My friend was in her mid fifties as she rambled on about cleansing diets and detoxification. Out of respect for the fact she was older than I, my initial ridicule was stuffed back down my throat and I politely listened. She began to talk about these cleansing processes that initially I thought sounded rather barbaric. Milk thistle just sounded like something prickly to drink. But apparently it was part of this cleansing diet she was speaking about, so again, I nodded politely.

I think she knew that I found the notion of cleansing diets a bit silly. I left that day rolling my eyes and reminding myself that Kate does those things, she's so ready to try something new and different just to try to gain an ounce of good health. Less than a week later there was milk thistle and some sort of colon cleansing drink in our pantry. Knowing full well this did not belong to anyone in my family, I questioned my room mate about it, and was told all about the benefits of colon cleansing. This would have made sense to me if Kate and my room mate were friends, but in reality they had only met once for less than three minutes. Not to mention that the room mate was not one to try new things and to go out of her way to discover the latest and greatest health fad the way Kate did.

I allowed the room mate to take me through these websites that had nasty, graphic photographs of the results of colon cleansing. If anything like that ever came out of my body I suppose I would have to call an ambulance, considering that about half of it looked bigger than my entire body. Despite the fact that we mocked her daily, the room mate insisted on her colon cleansing routine everyday for several weeks. Somewhere in the middle of it there was a huge commotion as people were charging in and out of her bedroom. Apparently something resembling those pictures she showed me on the internet came out of her body, and the plumbing couldn't handle it. She had cleansed her colon right into a plumbing crisis. Despite her best efforts to get me to go into her bathroom and look at it, I just watched the parade of people coming out of her bedroom, shaking their heads.

Out of concern for her health and ignorance over the colon cleansing process, I looked up some information on the internet, and sure enough, whatever she produced was considered quite normal for colon cleansing. Apparently colon cleansing really cleans out everything that has been stored in the intestines for twenty years or so.

After the commotion died down, the room mate carried on for awhile about how wonderful she felt. Her colon cleansing had apparently solved her chronic back ache she'd been complaining of for several years. Ironically, a few days later I saw my friend Kate again, and she looked really good. In fact, she looked better than I had ever seen her before. When I complimented her on this, she launched into a full scale explanation of the cleansing diet. She explained how it cleansed everything she felt like she had been carrying around in her body for nearly 60 years and just washed it away. She told me that the cleansing diet made her feel like she was 20 again.

By now I am realizing that there's something about this cleansing diet that I just didn't get. At home I had seen the results of what appeared to be a very successful colon cleansing while right in front of me was the very obvious results from the cleansing diet.

I would have to be blind not to be able to notice the benefits of both the colon cleansing and the cleansing diet. What I really didn't seem to understand was how this was all so necessary. Wasn't our body supposed to be able to provide its own colon cleansing? I was also well aware of how careful Kate was about what she stuck in her body. So how could someone so health conscious have all of these toxins stored up in their body?

When I got home I realized that it was time for some serious research on both colon cleansing and the cleansing diet. I actually have very few health complaints, but who doesn't want to feel better if they can? So I looked up the colon cleansing and the cleansing diet. I have access to some extraordinary research tools through a University, and I was thoroughly surprised by what the research revealed. For starters, the cleansing diet, provided it is performed correctly, really does remove approximately 60-75% of your body's toxins. This really set my wheels thinking, and I continued on with some more research. There are a few parameters to the appropriate diet. 80% of the cleansing diets out there are more scam than research based cleansing diet information. Finding a safe and effective cleansing diet could prove to be a challenge. The wrong cleansing diet would simply allow a person to shed a few pounds, but other than that, it won't get rid of the real toxicity levels in the body.

So how does one determine the right cleansing diet from the wrong cleansing diet? The first question I asked was how does the cleansing diet offered educate me? Apparently we run around ingesting toxins every day. There are the common types that most people are aware of and then are the uncommon types. So any really good cleansing diet is going to educate me on which foods and drinks contain which toxins so that I can avoid them. I don't just want an outline of a cleansing diet. I'm going to want to know why I am eating some things and not eating other things. I am going to want my cleansing diet to work, but I am also going to want to keep the toxins out of my body.

It turns out the cleansing diets are really inappropriate for some people. There are people who should avoid cleansing diets altogether. So I don't want a cleansing diet sales person who is willing to just sell their version of the cleansing diet to just anyone without warning them that there are people who should avoid the cleansing diet. I certainly didn't know that some people actually become addicted to cleansing diets. This definitely concerned me. I was relieved to know that there are a couple of cleansing diet programs out there that do tell you how to avoid this and why cleansing diet addiction happens.

I did know that it is possible to overdose on vitamins, and while vitamins are an important part of ridding the body of toxins, there has to be a way to know when you are abusing the benefits of vitamins. I found a few more cleansing diets that offered information on avoiding vitamin overdosing. Although most of the information on cleansing diets that offered information on avoiding vitamin overdosing didn't offer information on cleansing diet addiction, and only one offered information on vitamin overdosing, cleansing diet addiction, and informed me on how to avoid the toxins altogether.

I dug a little deeper. There are ample people out there selling information on cleansing diets, some which include information on cleansing diet addiction, vitamin overdosing, and avoiding toxins. However these people aren't offering a cleansing diet plan! So now I have to go purchase a cleansing diet plan from one organization and then turn around and try to find comprehensive information on cleansing diet addiction, vitamin overdosing, and avoiding toxins. Why doesn't everyone just include it all in one package?

Well, it turns out that someone does. The package includes everything I wanted to know plus a few things that I didn't know that I wanted to know. The package included information on being aware of the potential to overdose on vitamins, a section on cleansing diet addiction, and even a section on avoiding toxins. Apparently there are 84 common toxins that I needed to be aware of. That's quite a few things I come in daily contact with that contain toxins. On top of all this information that I wanted, the package also included actual recipes for following a highly effective cleansing diet. I was so excited to find this.

I got hold of the, detox manual and found out that there is so much more information, despite my research, that I still needed to know. There are the common toxins, which everyone knows about and includes in their cleansing diet plans, but there are also some that most people are unfamiliar with that are still easy to avoid. But since most people are unfamiliar with them, they aren't included in every cleansing diet plan.

The package offered in detox manual contained everything I ever wanted to know about an effective cleansing diet. In fact, I haven't found a more comprehensively covered cleansing diet plan out there on the internet as of yet, and truthfully I doubt that I ever will.

The Atkins Diet Pros And Cons - What The Experts Don't Tell You About The Atkins Diet!

2010-11-12T09:05:00.000+08:00

No one would participate in any dieting plan without seeing the potential pros and cons of it. The Atkins diet is no exception to this and one should carefully research the Atkins diet pros and cons before proceeding with it. Atkins diet pros include rapid weight loss, improved health, reduced risk of disease and methods to maintain weight. But the most popular in the list of Atkins diet benefits is that of rapid initial weight loss, which mainly depends on a high-fat and high-protein diet that may lead to cons and may compromise a good cardiac and other organ health.

Atkins Diet Pros

Atkins diet pros are realized through the cutting down of the intake of bad carbohydrates into your body. By significantly reducing the bad carbohydrates that you introduce into your body, it will start to burn the stored fat triggered by a processed named Ketosis. In fact, initially, practically all carbohydrates will be removed from the diet--not just those found in junk food. You are basically consuming mostly fats and oils during the first phase. For most of us, eating high levels of fat is satisfying for us and causes us to lose weight faster. Don't just eat any type of fatty food however. Limit the intake of trans-fats such as what is found in margarine and shortening. Stick to the good fats such as real butter, oils in nuts, canola oil, flax seed, and olive oil. Try to also stay away from the polyunsaturated fats other then those containing omega-3 fatty acids (like what is in fish).

Another of the Atkins diet benefits is the plan within its program to maintain the weight levels achieved. The idea behind weight maintenance is that each individual has a particular level of carbohydrate intake in which they will neither lose nor gain weight. So after the initial phase of rapid weight loss, some carbohydrates are gradually introduced back into the body in order to determine what that level of balance is.

Another of the Atkins diet pros is the prevention of diseases such as Type 2 Diabetes. In simple terms, a high-protein and high-fat diet does not convert into sugar resulting in a stabilization of the blood sugar and insulin levels within the bloodstream. Patients who are pre-diabetic can possibly avoid having to take insulin shots in the future by losing weight through the Atkins diet now.

One of the most pleasant Atkins diet benefits is the fact that you start to look better and feel better not only in your self-esteem but physically as well. Patients who had chronic acid reflux and bloating from gas report that these symptoms begin to disappear once going on the Atkins diet. This is just because you are eating healthier and you weight is going down resulting in less pressure on your gastrointestinal system.

Atkins Diet Cons

The Atkins Diet is a popular and fast way to lose a lot of weight fast - there're many who give positive testimonials as to how much they did lose and how much better they feel. However one should be aware of the Atkins diet pros and cons before pursuing this diet. This is why knowing the Atkins Diet pros and cons are so important! Of the Atkins diet cons, the often asked about is the danger of a high-fat and high-protein diet in relation to good cardiac and other organ health.

Affecting the proper functioning of kidneys is one of the Atkins diet cons not too often discussed. A measure of good kidney function is the level of creatinine in the bloodstream. A high creatinine level means that the kidneys are not functioning as well. It has been determined that creatinine levels increase as a person is on the Atkins diet. Recommendations indicate that creatinine levels should be below 3.0. Any creatinine levels higher than that should be managed by a physician.

There is also the risk of calcium loss that is one of the Atkins diet cons. Calcium loss can result in the weakening of the bones or what is known as Osteoporosis. Osteoporosis is a loss of the healthy density in the bones and the bones become brittle and break easily. If the protein intake remains high as in the Atkins diet, the calcium intake will be low. Reductions in bone loss can also be attributed to the ratio of animal to vegetable protein intake.

Another of the Atkins diet cons is the effect it has on persons suffering from gout. Gout is a form of arthritis and it is triggered by elevated levels of uric acid in the blood. The condition in the Atkins diet known as ketosis is where the body starts burning stored fat. You want to go into ketosis or else the initial fast weight loss characteristic of the Atkins diet. As Ketones increase in your system, uric acid levels also increase and this is what complicates the gout.

Another common complaint from those on the Atkins diet is constipation. This is because there is a lack of fiber in this type of diet and fiber is what you need in order to give substance to a stool for passing. You might need to take some fiber supplements to help prevent this condition. There is also the increase of the risk of heart disease because of higher cholesterol and saturated fat intake.

The Atkins Diet pros and cons should be carefully considered before determining if this is the right diet for you. It can be a very effective diet but just make sure it will not put you at unnecessary risk.

Here's to your weight-loss regime that loves you!

Low Carbohydrate Diet Revolution -- A History

2010-11-11T22:09:00.000+08:00

Most people think of the Atkins diet when they hear the phrase low-carb. Indeed, Dr. Robert C. Atkins is the author of a number of low carbohydrate ketogenic diet books. The first one was published in 1972, and his pioneering efforts revolutionized the dieting world we see today. For everything that you hear; however, Dr. Atkins did not create low-carb dieting.

William Banting published pamphlets in the 1860s extolling the health benefits of the low carbohydrate diet he was put on by his medical advisor, Mr. William Harvey, F.R.C.S. The basic tenet of his diet was to consume as little as possible bread, butter, milk, sugar, beer, and potatoes due to his belief that these contained starch and saccharine matter, which tended to create fat. Mr. Banting found that his indigestion disappeared, his umbilical rupture was cured, he lost 50 lbs, his sight and hearing were surprising for a man in his 70s, he slept better at night, and he basically felt in better health than he had for the previous 26 years of his life. Mr. Banting revolutionized dieting in his time, and he received thousands of letters from readers thanking him and telling him how his low carbohydrate diet had changed their lives for the better.

The Johns Hopkins University and Mayo Clinic devised a diet to treat epilepsy in the 1920s. The diet requires high fat consumption and a low intake of carbohydrates in order to induce ketosis. They studied how the diet worked with children who were unsuccessful in treating their epilepsy with medication, and they found that 55 percent of the original patients remained on the diet and 27 percent had a greater than 90 percent decrease in their seizures. There were some children who had no seizures for two years while on the diet, and they appeared to be cured of the epilepsy even after stopping their low-carb ketogenic diet.

Walter Lyons Bloom and Gordon Azar did a study in 1963 comparing carbohydrate restrictive diets to fasting diets. They concluded that eating a diet adequate in calories, protein and fat, but deficient in carbohydrate, resulted in weight loss similar to that of fasting patients.

The first truly popular low-carb diet was popularized in the book The Doctor's Quick Weight Loss Diet by Dr. Irwin Maxwell Stillman in 1967, and the low carbohydrate revolution began. The diet consisted primarily of protein sources like meat, fowl, fish and eggs while curtailing the consumption of carbohydrates to close to nothing. The book sold 2.5 million copies from 1967-69 and large numbers of people lost a lot of weight on this controlled carbohydrate diet.

Dr. Robert C. Atkins opened his practice as a cardiologist in New York City in 1960. When he was in his 30s and overweight, he ran across a 1963 article by Bloom and Azar. Their article said you do not have to go hungry to lose weight; instead, you can lose weight by cutting back on carbohydrates. This convinced Dr. Atkins to try the diet, and to his amazement it worked very well. After his success with the diet, he began recommending it to his patients and found that not only did they lose weight; other health problems they were fighting with either had greatly improved symptoms or went away completely. These included high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol levels, heartburn, diabetes, acid reflux, and arthritis. The vast majority of his patients also reported that they slept better, had more energy, got sick less often, and basically felt better overall.

Dr. Atkins published his original book, Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution, in 1972; however, the revolution was off to a slow start. His low carbohydrate diet countervailed what had been taught in the mainstream medical institutions and was attacked by the likes of nutritionists, dieticians, physicians, and the Journal of the American Medical Association; however, other doctors were also now aware of the connection between carbohydrates, disease and obesity.

In 1983 Dr. Richard Bernstein, a type 1 diabetic since the age of nine, opened his highly controversial clinic to treat diabetics with a very strict low carbohydrate approach to the disease. Bernstein's ideas were ridiculed at first by the medical establishment, but the low-carb revolution picked up steam.

In 1992, Dr. Richard Heller wrote his first diet program called The Carbohydrates Addict's Program for Success: Taking Control of Your Life and Your Weight, which blamed high carbohydrate consumption for the increased obesity being found throughout the USA. He found a fast growing audience for his ideas as the revolution continued to grow.

The first edition of Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution was published in 1992, and another came in 1999. These two editions sold over 10 million copies and the editions combined to become one of the 50 top selling books of all time.

The year 1999 was a breakthrough year for low-carb practitioners and the low-carb revolution steamed full speed ahead. Dr. Richard Bernstein published his book Diabetes Solution, and it was an instant hit selling upwards of a million copies. Today the latest 2003 Edition has a preface by none other than the president of the American Diabetic Society, quite a victory for a man who when he first preached his controlled carbohydrate approach to the disease was regarded as a crackpot and eccentric by the American Medical Association.

Also in 1999, Dr. Richard Heller teamed up with his wife, Dr. Rachel Heller and Dr. Frederic Vagnini to publish The Carbohydrate Addict's Healthy Heart Program: Break Your Carbo-Insulin Connection to Heart Disease, a newer version of his first book that documented very clearly the relationship between high carbohydrate consumption and the plethora of Syndrome X diseases as well as, of course, obesity. This book and several related ones by this group of authors sold and continue to sell millions of copies.

One low-carb diet; however, was much more successful and popular with the public than the others; that was Dr. Robert Atkins' diet. Literally millions of people succeeded in losing weight and improving their overall health by following the programs put forth in Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution.

Dr. Atkins nutritional approach spread primarily by word of mouth as people successful on the diet introduced it to others. The medical establishment was stubbornly against the Atkins approach and tried their best to discredit it. The debate over the Atkins nutritional plan grew into a roar as millions tried and succeeded losing weight and improving their health while the experts claimed it was wrong and could not be done. The real testament as to the validity of Dr. Atkins' program is that while a large majority of the medical & nutritional establishment claimed his diet was just plain wrong, the number of people following the program continued to grow at a faster and faster pace as successful individuals motivated and encouraged their friends and others to try the Atkins Nutritional Plan.

As more and more people found the diet worked for them, other successful low carbohydrate diets quickly followed such as The Zone, Sugar Busters!, The No-Grain Diet, and The South Beach Diet, to name a few.

The revolution took off at amazing speed when Dr. Atkins published an updated version of his book, Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution, in 2002. The new edition incorporated slight changes in his program based on his last 30 years of research. This edition of his book was soon followed by a plethora of published research findings validating the weight loss and health benefits of a low carbohydrate diet. Some people in the groups that previously attacked his diet were now considering the possibility that low carbohydrate consumption was a safe, effective way to lose weight and eat for life.

Now millions of people are doing Atkins, and the revolution has skyrocketed. Companies have begun putting out a myriad of low carbohydrate foods, which have quite literally flown off the shelves. More and more restaurants are providing low carbohydrate menus or net carbohydrate counts on their existing menu items. Even fast food companies have jumped on the bandwagon with low carbohydrate hamburgers, wraps, and breakfast bowls.

What the future holds for low carbohydrate diets is anyone's guess. They have entered the mainstream, and the results of current research will certainly have a major impact on the continued acceptance of low carbohydrate diets. I am certain that Mr. Banting would be pleased to see the low-carb revolutionized world of today.

Elleth Faewen and Frank Arnade, co-authors, both began the Atkins diet in 2003, and they made low-carbohydrate dieting a way of life. They provide support for those interested in low-carb dieting at http://www.lowcarbbulletinboard.com

Elleth Faewen also provides support for women at http://www.babytalkzone.com, an Internet company dedicated to helping women who are trying to conceive, pregnant, or adopting.

Low Carb Dieting the Truth: Part One

2010-11-11T10:58:00.000+08:00

Almost everyone knows someone who has used a low carb diet. They have used it themselves had a friend use it or are getting ready to use it . Are these diets magic? Are they safe? Can I really eat all of the cheese and meat I want ? Will I die if I go into ketosis?

These are just a few common questions I hear in regards to questions that concern low carb diets. In this series of articles I will present readers with scientific facts and my practical observations for implications concerning low carb diets. Some low carb supporters will not like what I will have to say. Some low carb haters will not like what I have to say. The objective of these articles are to educate readers on the practical implications of low carb dieting. Some will be offended and some will say how can that be. Either way sit back and enjoy as I attempt to shed light on the highly talked about topic - low carb diets (ketogenic diets)

I have provided a brief overview of some the topics that will be discussed in this series of articles.

What type of changes occur while using low carb diets

Do low carb diets make me mean

Do low carb diets spare muscle

Can I gain weight on a low carb diet

How much weight can I expect to lose

Can this diet help my medical condition

Different types of low carb diets

Why you need to cycle higher days of carbs

Who needs low carb diets

Are they safe for children

Are they beneficial for athletes

The topics mentioned above are just a few that will be addressed in Low Carb Dieting.

Before we move any further let me introduce the word ketogenic. Must of you reading this article are probably familiar with the world as it implies low carb or restriction of carb intake. Simply put for our purposes the words ketogenic and low carb are synonymous. A couple of other comments I would like to make before we move on. This comment is for Low Carb supporters that swear of all vegetables and fruits. Get on medline.com and do some research. Go to the library and look through some journals. A complete diet for long term use needs to incorporate greens and some fruits to be healthy. A short term diet devoid of fruits and vegetables might not be that bad, but rejecting greens and any fruits for life is a bad idea.

This comment is for the low carb haters. One of the number one reasons most of America is fat is because of chronically high insulin levels. Which is primarily contributed to excessive carb intake. Don't get me wrong I am not blaming high carbohydrate intake on all of our obesity problems. I should probably say excessive and the wrong types of carbohydrate at the wrong times are the problem. At the same time the answer is not to eat all of the saturated fat we can find : which can contribute to insulin insensitivity, elevated TG's, increased lipogenesis and digestive problems.

What is a ketogenic diet? A diet that causes ketone bodies to be produced by the liver, and shifts the body's metabolism away from glucose in favor of fat burning. A ketogenic diet restricts carbohydrates below a certain level (generally 100 per day). The ultimate determinant of whether a diet is ketogenic or not is the presence or absence of carbohydrate. Protein and fat intake vary. Contrary to poplar belief eating fat is not what causes ketosis. In the past starvation diets were used often to induce ketosis. I will repeat myself again and say lack of carbohydrate or presence of ultimately determines if the diet is ketogenic.

In most eating plans the body runs on a mixture of protein, fats and carbohydrates. When carbohydrates are severely restricted and glycogen storage (glucose in muscle and liver) is depleted the body begins to utilize other means to provide energy. FFA (free fatty acids) can be used to provide energy, but the brain and nervous system are unable to use FFA's. Although the brain can use ketone bodies for energy.

Ketone bodies are by products of incomplete FFA breakdown in the liver. Once they begin to accumulate fast and reach a certain level they are released , accumulated in the bloodstream and cause a state called ketosis. As this occurs there is a decrease in glucose production and utilization. There is also less reliance on protein to meet energy requirements by the body. Ketogenic diets are often referred to as protein sparing as they help to spare LBM whiled dropping body fat.

In regards to ketogenic diets there are two primary hormones- insulin, glucagon that need to be considered. Insulin can be described as a storage hormone as it's job is to take nutrients out of the bloodstream and carry them to target tissues. Insulin carries glucose from the blood to the liver and muscles, and it carries FFA from the blood into adipose tissue (stored fat triglyceride). On the other hand glucagon breaks down glycogen stores (especially in the liver) and releases them into the blood.

When carbs are restricted or removed insulin levels drop while glucagon levels rise. This causes enhanced FFA release from fat cells, and increased FFA burning in the liver. This accelerated burning of FFA in the liver is what leads to ketosis. There are a number of other hormones involved with this process as well.

In general we refer to three different types of ketogenic diets.
1) STANDARD KETOGENIC DIET- A diet containing l00 or less grams of carbohydrates is referred to as STANDARD KETOGENIC DIET

2)TARGETED KETOGENIC DIET- consuming carbohydrates around exercise, to sustain performance without affecting ketosis.

3)CYCLICAL KETOGENIC DIET- alternates periods of ketogenic dieting with periods of high carbohydrate intake

The Beginning of Ketogenic diets
Originally ketogenic diets were used to treat obesity and epilepsy. In general ketogenic diets are similar to starvation diets in the responses that occur in the body. More specifically these two states can be referred to as starvation ketosis and dietary ketosis. These similarities have led to the development of modern day ketogenic diets.

Ketogenic dieting has been used for years in the treatment of childhood epilepsy. In the early 1900's times of total fasting was used to treat seizures. This caused numerous health problems and could not be sustained indefinitely.

Due to the impracticalities and health problems occurring with starvation ketogenic diets researchers began to look for a way to mimic starvation ketosis while consuming food. They determined that a diet consisting of high fat, low carb and minimal protein could sustain growth and maintain ketosis for a long period of time. This led to the birth of the original ketogenic diet in 1921 by Dr. Wilder. Dr Wilder's diet controlled pediatric epilepsy in many cases where drugs and other treatments failed.

New epilepsy drugs were invented during the 30's, 40's and 50's and ketogenic diets fell to the wayside. These new drugs lead to almost disappearance of ketogenic diets during this time. A few modified ketogenic diets were tried during this time such as the MCT (medium chain triglycerides) diets, but they were not welly accepted.

In 1994 the ketogenic diet as a treatment for epilepsy was re-discovered. This came about in the story of Charlie a 2yr old with seizures that could not be controlled with mediacions or other treatment including brain surgery. Charlie's father had found reference to the diet through his research and ended up at John Hopkins medical center.

Charlie's seizures were completely controlled as long as he was on the diet. The huge success of the diet prompted Charlie's father to start the Charlie foundation. The foundation has produced several videos, and published the book The Epilepsy Diet Treatment: An Introduction to the Ketogenic diet. The foundation has sponsored conferences to train physicians and dietians to implement the diet. The exact mechanisms of how the ketogenic diet works to control epilepsy are still unknown, the diet continues to gain acceptance as an alternative to drug therapy.

Obesity
Ketogenic diets have been used for at least a century for weight loss. Complete starvation was studied often including the research of Hill, who fasted a subject for 60 days to examine the effects. The effects of starvation were very successful in regards to treatment of the morbidly obese as rapid weight loss occurred. Other characteristics attributed to ketosis, such as appetite suppression and sense of well being, made fasting even more attractive for weight loss. Extremely obese patients have been fasted for up to one year and given nothing but vitamins and minerals.

The major problem with complete starvation diets is the loss of body protein, primarily from muscle tissue. Protein losses decrease as starvation contines, but up to one half of the total weight loss can be contributed to muscle and water loss.

In the early 1970's Protein Sparing Modified Fasts were introduced. These diets
allowed the benefits of ketosis to continue while preventing losses of bodily proteins.
They are still used today under medical supervision

In the early 70's Dr. Atkins introduced Dr. Atkins Diet Revolution With millions of
copies Sold the diet generated a great deal of interest. Dr. Atkins suggested a diet limited
in carbohydrate but unlimited in protein and fat. He promoted the diet as it would allow
rapid weight loss, no hunger and unlimited amounts of protein and fat. He offered just
enough research to allow the diet recognition. Although most of the evidence

supporting the diet was questionable.

During the 1980's Michael Zumpano and Dan Duchaine introduced two of the earliest
CKD's THE REBOUND DIET for muscle gain and then the modified version called
THE ULTIMATE DIET for fat loss. Neither diet became very popular. This was likely
due to the difficulty of the diet and the taboo of eating high fat.

In the early 90's Dr. Dipasquale introduced the ANABOLIC DIET . This diet promoted 5
days of high- fat-high protein-low carb consumption whle eating high carbs and virtually
anything you wanted for two days. The diet was proposed to induce a metabolic shift
within the five days of eating low carbs (30 or less). The metabolic shift occurred as your
body switched from being a sugar buring machine to a fat-burning machine.

A few years later Dan Duchaine released the book UNDERGROUND BODYOPUS: MILITIANT WEIGHT LOSS AND RECOMPOSITION . The book included his CKD diet which he called BODYOPUS. The diet was more specified than the Anabolic Diet and gave exercise recommendations as well as the basics concerning exercise physiology. Most bodybuilders found the diet very hard to follow. The carb load phase required eating every 2 hrs and certain foods were prescribed. I personally loved the book, but felt the difficulty of the diet made it less popular. In this author's opinion Ducahine's book is a must read for anyone interested in Nutrition.

Ketogenic Diets have been used for years to treat specific conditions such as obesity and childhodd epilepsy. The effects of these diets have proven beneficial in a number of these well documented cases, but for some reason when we mention any type of low carb diet (ketogenic diet) people begin to tell us about how their doctor or friend told them it would kill them or how that diet was shown to damage the liver or kidneys. Keep in mind epileptic children have been in ketosis for up to three years and shown no negative effects; quiet the opposite. The weight loss in morbidly obese patients has been tremendous and the health benefits numerous. Maybe before coming to the conclusion that all types of ketogenic diets are bad other factors need to be considered such as activity levels, type of ketogenic diet, length of ketogenic diet, past eating experience, purpose of ketogeninc diet, individual body type and response to various eating plans, current physical condition, and quality of food while following ketogenic diet. As you can see there are numerous factors that come into play when saying a diet is good or bad. I think people should take the time look at the research and speak with various authorities in regards to low carb diets before drawing conclusions from the they says.

All Diets Types and Their Explanations - How to Navigate and Choose the Best One For You

2010-11-11T00:52:00.000+08:00

Atkins Diet

"The Atkins Diet is a high-protein, low-carbohydrate weight loss diet developed by Robert Atkins, M.D., during the 1960s. In the early 1990s, Dr. Atkins brought his diet back into the nutrition spotlight with the publication of his best-selling book "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution".

The Atkins Diet severely restricts the consumption of carbohydrate-rich foods and encourages the consumption of protein and fat. The diet is divided into four phases: Induction, Ongoing Weight Loss, Pre-maintenance, and Maintenance. During the Induction phase (the first 14 days of the diet), carbohydrate intake is limited to no more than 20 grams per day. No fruit, bread, grains, starchy vegetables, or dairy products (except cheese, cream, and butter) are allowed during this phase. During the Ongoing Weight Loss phase, dieters experiment with various levels of carbohydrate consumption until they determine the most liberal level of carbohydrate intake that allows them to continue to lose weight. Dieters are encouraged to maintain this level of carbohydrate intake until their weight loss goals are met. During the Pre-maintenance and Maintenance phases, dieters determine the level of carbohydrate consumption that allows them to maintain their weight. To prevent weight regain, dieters are told to maintain this level of carbohydrate consumption, perhaps for the rest of their lives. According to Dr. Atkins, most people must limit their carbohydrate intake to no more than 60 grams per day to keep lost weight off. In addition to the dietary restrictions discussed above, Dr. Atkins recommends regular exercise and nutritional supplementation as part of his weight loss program.

Note: The dietary recommendations issued by various organizations, including the United States Department of Agriculture, the National Institutes of Health, and the American Heart Association, encourage a daily carbohydrate intake of approximately 300 grams. To stay healthy, you will need to consume five times more what Atkins prescribes in his diets. Can a human being last long enough on this diet without experiencing any side effects? If the dieter dares to cheat on this program, the result can be detrimental and the weight can be regained easily, twice as much as what has been lost during the diet. The quick weight gain brings about eventual depression and the dieter will eventually reach his original weight before the weight loss.

What is so attractive about the diet that so many individuals have taken the time and effort to apply?

High-protein diets are the fad regimens of the moment. Their theory for weight loss consists of eating lots of animal proteins and skipping carbohydrates such as breads, rice and pasta. The theory behind these diets is that if you load up on animal proteins, you will feel fuller faster, so you'll end up eating less.

The Atkins Diet is attractive to dieters who have tried unsuccessfully to lose weight on low-fat, low-calorie diets. Atkins dieters can eat as many calories as desired from protein and fat, as long as carbohydrate consumption is restricted. Consequently, many Atkins dieters are spared the feelings of hunger and deprivation that accompany other weight loss regimens.

The underlying premise of the Atkins Diet is that diets high in sugar and refined carbohydrates cause weight gain, and ultimately lead to obesity. Such diets increase the production of insulin (a hormone secreted by the pancreas). When insulin levels are high, the food we eat is quickly and easily converted into fat, and stored in our cells. By restricting the consumption of carbohydrates, the production of insulin is moderated. In addition, the lack of available carbohydrate (the body's preferred fuel source) forces the body to burn stored fat as energy.

What do the critics say?

Many nutrition experts disagree with the basic premise of the Atkins Diet - the notion that high-carbohydrate, low-fat diets cause obesity. For evidence of the implausibility of the Atkins Diet, some nutritionists point out that the traditional Japanese diet is very high in carbohydrates, low in protein, and very low in fat; however, before the introduction of high-fat and high-protein Western foods, being overweight was rare in Japan. Such findings make sense because ounce for ounce, carbohydrates contain far fewer calories than fats (4 calories from carbohydrates versus 9 calories from fat). These critics blame the over-consumption of calories (from any source) and lack of physical activity as the primary causes of obesity.

One concern about a high-protein diet stems from all the saturated fats one eats - those fats that we're told cause high cholesterol, clogged arteries and, eventually, heart disease. Critics also express concern about the impact of the Atkins Diet on the overall health of the dieter. Depending on the foods chosen by the dieter, the diet may contain a large amount of saturated fat and trans fat, putting those at risk for heart disease in danger. Recent research has found that high-protein diets speed up the progression of arteriosclerosis, the main cause of heart attacks. Moreover, contrary to Atkins' claims, extremely low-fat diets have been found to reverse heart disease. In addition, the lack of grains, fruits, and vegetables in the Atkins Diet may lead to deficiencies of key nutrients, including dietary fiber, vitamin C, folic acid, and several minerals. Finally, high protein diets may increase the risk of osteoporosis and accelerate the rate of deterioration in kidney function associated with aging.

Critics concede that Atkins dieters often experience significant weight loss during the initial stages of the diet. However, these critics argue that the diet has a diuretic effect and that the initial weight loss is due to water loss, not fat loss. Eventually the body restores its water and sodium balance, and the rate of weight loss declines. Critics also note that there is no evidence showing that the Atkins diet leads to greater weight loss than do other diets that provide more carbohydrates, yet the same number of calories.Critics also note high-protein diets can lead to dangerous imbalances - bone loss and kidney problems - because too much protein can overwork the kidneys.

Dr. Atkins was the first person who brought a low-carbohydrates diet to major prominence in the U.S. and I credit him for defying "the system" and offering a weight loss plan that works for some people. He presents scientific fact, but for the most part his recent book provides anecdotal information from many of his patients.

Dr. Atkins claims that some people have a condition of "hyper-insulinism", in which they produce excess amounts of insulin when they eat carbohydrates, which in turn causes fat storage, diabetes, and a craving for more carbohydrates. This theory is scientifically logical but has not been accepted as proven by the medical community.

In Dr. Atkins' "maintenance phase", he advises that persons increase their carbohydrate intake to the point where they do not gain or lose weight.

All that is great, however, how can we understand the whole concept behind his diets and why do people truly believe in it? How does it actually work?

Insulin is a hormone, which is a substance that travels through the body and stimulates chemical reactions. The human body has mechanisms to regulate how much of each hormone is produced, so that their effects can be controlled. With insulin, however, there is no "shut-off" switch as there is with other hormones. The digestion of carbohydrates produces insulin, and there is no way to stop its activity once it is present in the bloodstream. There is also no way to prevent it from being produced when carbohydrates are consumed, even if these are in excess of what the body needs for fuel.

So, the more carbohydrates you consume, the more insulin the pancreas will produce to help digest the sugars of the carbohydrates. The more insulin that is being produced, the more stored fat will be sent to the cells, especially to those around your waist.
I believe Dr. Atkins' diet may be useful for persons who are very sensitive to carbohydrates and have extremely slow metabolic rates.

Dr. Atkins' diet does not restrict protein intake, which is the correct approach. However, his advice to add carbohydrate grams for the maintenance phase so that continued weight loss does not occur is not scientifically sound. There is no indication that a person will continue to lose weight below his ideal bodyweight, taking in consideration his body type and metabolism. Your body is predisposed to a certain weight, even though you interrupt carbohydrates consumption from your diet, the body will still maintain the same weight. After that phase, you will simply need to maintain it and be happy with it.

Extreme dieters will need to understand that all the information mentioned above and below these lines is to make you realize some facts that you've never taken the time to research. When a diet becomes popular, people jump on it without researching in more detail what it can do for their bodies or if the diet fits their standard. It is not because "John Doe has lost some weight on this specific diet" that you will have a similar result. The same goes for diet pills: be careful with them. If they work temporarily for some people, it doesn't necessarily mean they will have the same effect on you.

As for me, experiencing my own programs enabled me to lose weight, maintain it and still eat as much as I want of the right foods. I eat and exercise plenty.

Remember that moderation is important. If you want to eat something that is not healthy, go ahead and eat it. However, make sure to moderate the rest of the day with the right food. The following information should be helpful when it comes to moderation regarding a well-balanced diet.

Here are some good reasons to avoid high-protein diets:

1. They violate almost every known fact about nutritionally balanced eating. For some dieters, these diets can even be life threatening.
2. Popular high protein diet foods are high in cholesterol and saturated fat, which are now established as major culprits in heart attacks and strokes.
3. They overload you with protein, which results in loss of calcium from your bones, which may lead to osteoporosis. Protein overload also pressurizes your kidneys as they try to eliminate large amounts of urea, a by-product of protein metabolism.
4. They forbid foods known to lower the risk of heart disease and many cancers.
5. They deprive you of carbohydrates, the nutrient group most readily converted to energy. Even moderately active people will notice this lack during exercise.
6. They deprive your brain of glucose, which it needs for normal functioning. The result is a slowdown in thinking and reaction time.
7. They deprive you of the enormous benefits of fiber, which is a form of carbohydrate (cellulose).
8. They are deficient in essential vitamins. Indeed, some high protein diets even require you to take vitamin supplements for the sake of your health.
9. They cause potentially dangerous changes in your body chemistry.

10. They deliver temporary weight loss. However, a large part of it is water weight and lean muscle mass - not fat. (You lose water because your kidneys try to get rid of the excess waste products of protein and fat, called ketones, that your body makes.)

Note: Weight gain is usually rapid when you go off the diet.

11. Finally, it's worth knowing that while your body burns up 23 calories for every 10o carbohydrate calories it digests, it only burns up 3 calories for every 100 "fat" calories it digests. Therefore, a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet makes it easier for you to stay fat!

FYI (For Your Information):
The average Western diet contains TOO MUCH FAT.
That's why an estimated 1 in 3 American children are overweight!
That's why heart disease is the No. 1 killer in America and Europe.
We should be eating less fat, not more.

High protein diets encourage high-fat eating and - for this reason alone - should be avoided.
What are those medical miracles that are being publicized to consumers for their rapid weight loss programs? The magazine Self, in March of 2002 investigated some of the programs that are simply bogus.

"Healthy weight loss" is not a particularly sexy marketing slogan. It is quite impossible to sell these types of slogans to Americans: "Drop pounds by eating fewer calories and increasing physical activity!" Instead, manufacturers of weight loss concoctions resort to selling their products with dubious promises of magically speedy results. Thankfully, separating fact from fiction is easy.

Try to separate bogus slogan from reality:

o "Lose 30 pounds in just 30 days" - Very tempting, isn't it? However, it is physically impossible to lose so much weight in such a short time. Moreover, it is not healthy. You could only hurt your health throughout the process and I can reassure you, you will gain back the weight faster than a speeding bullet.

o "Lose weight while you sleep" - Yeah! Heard that one before. If all you have to do is sip a magical potion or swallow a miracle pill, the product is as likely to be as real as your "wet dreams" at night.

o "Lose weight and keep it off for good" - The only permanent weight loss plan involves changing your diet and exercise regimen. It is all about burning more calories than you are consuming. It's all about simple mathematics. You burn more than what you ingest.

o "John Doe lost 90 pounds in just six weeks". Yes, and I am Superman! As I said previously, it is very dangerous to try to lose that much weight in such a short period. Let's analyze this slogan. We'll have some fun!

One pound equals 3,500 calories. You will need to reduce your diet by over 315,000 calories (90 pounds x 3,500 calories) during that 6-week period. Now how is that going to happen? Let's say your body needs 2,000/day calories to function. That equals 14,000 calories weekly, right? Multiply that by 6 weeks. That equals 84,000 calories for 6 weeks. Now, I am not a rocket scientist, but do you get my point? You will actually need to fast for 6 weeks in a row, and still have to burn an extra 231,000 by exercising. What are these morons thinking when they try to advertise these slogans to the American people? I would suggest that they go back to school and retake elementary math. It seems they can't even do a simple calculation.

Bottom line, ladies and gentlemen. There is NO MIRACLE DIET. Quit being triggered to spend your money by these bogus slogans.

Low Carbohydrate Diets

We all love carbohydrates. Pasta, bread, rice and potato are America favorite foods, to say the least. However, we all know that they contain ingredients that can lead to what we are most afraid of: being overweight. The problem with carbohydrates is that they cause the body to produce insulin. However, insulin turns carbohydrates into sugar, and whatever sugar we don't use right away gets stored in the body as fat.

On the other hand, a lack of carbohydrates tricks the body into thinking it's starving, at which point it flicks on an internal switch that causes the body to burn its own fat. This is called ketosis. We did mention that if the body doesn't use the extra sugar produced by the intake of carbohydrates, it would be stored in fat. Hmmm, now what about exercise? Have we thought about that?

After studying in depth the way the human body's nutritional processes work, and considering the type of diet these processes evolved with, I must conclude that consuming carbohydrates in limited amounts (not eating a whole pizza, loaf of bread, or a pound of french fries) is the most natural and healthy way for us to eat, not just for weight loss but for ongoing weight and health maintenance - even for people who do not have a weight problem. The "low carb diet" has become extremely popular in the United States in the past few years and continues to have a large following despite the frequent criticisms by various diet experts. Although many of them are without scientific validity, some of them are on target, especially when considering the calorie intakes of some of the formulas presented.

There is a major issue here with all of these plans - that is whether the diet is being used merely for weight loss, or for long-term weight maintenance. As a weight loss diet, any of these plans can work. However, if they are then discarded and previous eating habits are restored, it is likely that any weight lost will be regained, as with any short-term diet. Eventually, going off the low carb diet can definitely promote weight gain in excess of that which was lost, due to metabolic changes that occur. The only sensible way to use a low carb diet for weight loss is to remain on this type of diet on an ongoing basis afterward. The question then asked, "Is it safe for weight loss" and "is it safe for ongoing use as an eating plan?"

Americans now eat more carbohydrates than ever - 50 more pounds per person, per year, than a decade ago (ABC.NEWS). Carbohydrate-related diseases have also reached a peak. After decades of being warned away from fats, many people have turned to carbohydrates instead. At the same time, obesity levels in the country are greater than ever.

Is there a connection? Do carbohydrates lead people to become obese? Experts in the field have different opinions.

The Zone

Biochemist Barry Sears, author of the best selling low-carbohydrate diet book The Zone, believes carbohydrates do cause people to gain weight. He has developed a controversial theory that suggests that people who eat a lot of carbohydrates get caught up in a cycle of overeating because carbohydrates can be addictive in a way other foods are not. People who critique Sears' theory have various problems with it, including some of his basic premises that carbohydrates lead to weight gain or that carbohydrates are more addictive than other foods. Zone dieting is designed to avoid ketosis, which the author claims causes one to lose muscle weight even with high protein diets. The author also claims that high levels of protein in a meal cause high insulin levels, which converts the protein into fat.

The concept of The Zone is that food should be treated like a prescription drug that is designed to promote the desired hormonal response throughout the day. The hormones in question are insulin, glucagon, and eicosanoids. Insulin and glucagon are well known hormones, and their functions are described accurately.

Sears says eating lots of carbohydrates triggers a flood of insulin. Because there is so much insulin, sugars are cleared from the blood so quickly that people feel hungry again after a very short period. Therefore, carbohydrates drive the sugar level up and then the insulin drives it down. The obesity crisis in America is a result of "carbohydrate hell." Sears suggests that eating a lot of carbohydrates triggers a biological mechanism that lowers the blood sugar level and leads people to need a sugar boost and therefore to crave more carbohydrates. He says the cycle of eating and craving keeps them hooked on carbohydrates and causes overeating.

"You eat a big carbohydrates meal at 12. By 3 o'clock you're hungry again. You eat more carbohydrates. By 7 you're hungry again," Sears says. His theory accepts some of the basic principles about how the body processes carbohydrates and takes them a step further. The basic principle is that carbohydrates turn into sugars that trigger the release of insulin. The insulin routes the sugars to our muscles for energy and stores the rest as fat.

To reach the "Zone", one must consume foods in a protein-to-carbohydrate ratio of 0.75, which is 3 grams of protein for every 4 grams of carbohydrate, at every meal and snack, and without allowing more than 5 hours between meals or snacks. The author converts grams into blocks of protein and carbohydrate and provides food lists and meal plans for these. He distinguishes between carbohydrates with high versus low glycemic indexes, which is a measure of how fast the carbohydrate is digested for each food type. In addition, he adds fat "blocks" to his meal plans and distinguishes between various types of fats, recommending against saturated fats and favoring monounsaturated fats, due to their effect on eicosanoid production. Protein requirements in the Zone are based on lean body mass and level of physical activity (the same method that is used in Protein Power). Lean body mass is calculated using standardized charts that use height, hip, and abdomen measurements in women and weight, wrist and waist measurements in men.
The calculated protein requirement is not to be exceeded, and is to be spread throughout the day to avoid increased insulin levels caused by protein digestion. Therefore, a person would end up with a calorie limit on their total daily intake, since protein has a maximum value, and carbohydrate and fat intake are measured by protein intake.

The second half of the book is a description of how Zone dieting can improve numerous health conditions, primarily based on the eicosanoid activities.

In this program, the author provides excellent scientific explanations for how too many carbohydrates in a diet cause fat storage. The entire design of the Zone diet is also explained in a very scientific fashion, however, it is greatly lacking in scientific evidence to support it. The concept that providing higher levels of carbohydrates would avoid ketosis, which is a condition that may be hazardous over the long term is correct, however, because of a restriction on the intake of protein, carbohydrates, and fat, it is likely that insufficient calories and carbohydrates will be available for most people to avoid ketosis. In other words, the ketosis that results from starvation - getting too few calories to meet basic needs - can easily occur in many persons based on their calculations for daily intakes. There may also not be enough protein in the diet to prevent loss of muscle mass.

Weight Loss Diet Reviews

2010-11-10T13:20:00.000+08:00

Here's a look at some of the most common diets people are using.

The Atkins Diet

The Atkins diet is based on high protein, low-carbohydrate fare. It allows all of the meat and vegetables you want with no restrictions on fats. Fruits are kept to a minimum. Bread, pasta, and other grain products are restricted. Many people have had weight loss success on the Atkins' Diet because it offers many delicious food options. However, it can be high in fat, possible harmful over long periods of time and low in fiber and calcium.

The Carbohydrate Addict's Diet

This is another reduced carbohydrate diet that allows meats, dairy, vegetables, fruits, and grain products, but restricts all other carbohydrates. It tends to be quite high in fat and saturated fat.

The Choose to Lose Diet

This is a low fat diet that allows you to eat from all of the major food groups. You are only restricted by a "fat budget" that you choose how to spend. Carbohydrates are allowed, as well as lean meat, poultry, seafood, fruits, vegetables, bread and pasta. The Choose to Lose Diet allows an ample amount of fruits and vegetables and it is low in saturated fat and it provides a fairly healthy eating plan for fast weight loss.

The DASH Diet

The DASH diet allows for a high carbohydrate intake, with moderate amounts of fat and protein. It was originally designed as a low-pressure diet. The DASH diet follows the principles of the Food Pyramid, but it suggests more servings of fruits and vegetables (up to nine daily,) and more dairy servings (two to three daily servings of low fat or nonfat dairy.) The DASH diet may require too much food for most people to see weight loss results.

The Eat More Weigh Less Diet

This diet is an extremely low-fat diet that focuses on vegetarian fare. It allows fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, egg whites, and some nonfat dairy products. This is a very restricted diet that limits even healthy foods like lean organic meats, poultry, and low-fat dairy products. This diet is great for vegetarians, but it is low in calcium, and it may be too difficult for most people to follow long enough to see weight loss results.

The Eat Right For Your Blood Type Diet

This diet plan bases you food choices on your blood type. For example, those with Type O blood follow an eating plan that includes lots of meat. Some of the "blood type" diets in this plan are too restricted in calories and they may be poor in nutritional balance. Little proof is offered on basis of the diet, that blood type should affect dietary choices.

The Pritkin Principle Diet

This diet focuses on restricting calories and eating more "watery" foods that fill you up quicker. (It follows the same principle that suggests you should drink a full glass of water before each meal to make your stomach feel full faster. It allows fruits, vegetables, pasta, oatmeal, soups, salads, and low-fat dairy, but limits protein sources to lean meats, poultry and seafood. This is a low-fat diet that offers plenty of fruits and vegetables, but it can be low in calcium.

The Protein Power Diet

This is a very high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet. It allows for lots of meats and fats but limits that consumption of fruits and vegetables. This is a very restrictive diet that limits healthy foods like whole grains and beans. It is very high in fat, especially saturated fat and it is very low in calcium.

Power Busters

This is a low-carbohydrate diet that is high in fat and protein. Fruits and grain products are forbidden, but high-fat meats and dairy products are allowed. Like many other low-carb diets, the Power Busters diet is high in fat, high in saturated fat, and low in calcium.

The Slimirex Diet

I highly recommend the Slimirex diet. I've found use of weight loss product Slimirex combined with moderate exercise at least three times per week and a moderate diet to be an effective method of losting the weight you want.

Volumetrics

The Volumetrics diet is a restricted calorie diet that allows fruits, vegetables, pasta, oatmeal, soups, salads, lean meats, poultry, seafood and dairy. High fat food and "dry" foods like crackers, pretzels, and popcorn are restricted. It is low in saturated fat and provides an ample amount of fruits and vegetables..

Weight Watchers

This diet does not restrict followers to a set meal plan. Dieters are able to plan their own diet every day following a point system that allows the dieter to spend a certain "allowance" in each category. This diet allows moderate fat and protein intake and high carbohydrate consumption. Generally, vegetables and whole grain products have the lowest point value and high fat foods "cost" the most amount of points.

The Zone Diet

This diet is moderately high in protein and low in carbohydrates. It allows low fat foods like chicken and fish and plenty of fruits and vegetables. But whole grains are restricted. This is a healthy eating plan, although it is low in calcium.

Five Reasons Why the Mediterranean Diet is a Healthy Choice in the 21st Century

2010-11-10T02:17:00.000+08:00

If you are a person who has been on the hunt for a solid diet plan, you may feel overwhelmed much of the time. In the 21st century it is nearly impossible for a person to turn on a television set or open a newspaper without being bombarded with advertisements for a variety of different diet plans and products.

With the tremendous array of diet plans, programs, supplements and aids on the market, it can seem nearly impossible to select a diet plan that can and will best meet your needs now and into the future. More importantly, it can be hard to discern if one or another of these various diet schemes actually is a healthy course to pursue. In many instances, fad diets really are not based on the fundamentals of healthy living.

As you go forward considering what type of diet plan or regimen will best serve your interests and improve your health into the future, you will want to take a look at the benefits that can be had through the Mediterranean diet.

While there are multiple reasons why the Mediterranean diet is a healthy approach, there are five primary reasons why the Mediterranean diet is a good choice.

1. The Benefits of Fruits, Vegetable, Fiber and Whole Grains

A major component of the Mediterranean diet includes the regular consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables. Medical experts and nutritionists universally agree that a person should eat between five and six servings of fresh fruits and vegetables (or steamed items) on a daily basis.

People who adhere to the Mediterranean diet actually end up eating more than the minimum recommended allowance of fruits and vegetables. As a result, nutritionists in different parts of the world have taken to recommending a Mediterranean based diet regimen to their clients. Similarly, doctors who consult with their patients about healthy eating practices oftentimes find themselves recommending the Mediterranean diet in this day and age.

Beyond fruits and vegetables, the Mediterranean diet includes healthy amounts of dietary fiber and whole grains. Fiber and whole grains have proven effective in lowering the incidence of heart disease and some types of cancer.

2. The Benefits of Olive Oil -- Avoiding Saturated Fat

Some people have a fundamental misperception about the Mediterranean diet. These people have heard that the Mediterranean diet is high in fat. On some level, there is some truth in the conception that the Mediterranean diet is higher in fat than are some other dieting programs. A person following the Mediterranean diet does take in about thirty percent of his or her daily calories from fat. (Most diets recommended the intake of calories from fat at the rate of about thirteen to fifteen percent per day. However, these diets are contemplating the ingesting of animal fat.)

The vast majority of fat that a person on the Mediterranean diet consumes comes from olive oil. In other words, the fat found in the Mediterranean diet is not the dangerous saturated fat that can cause disease, obesity and other health concerns. In fact, research has demonstrated that there are a number of solid benefits to consuming olive oil, including a reduction of the risk of the incidence of breast cancer in women.

3. Dairy in Moderation

While the consumption of low or non-fat dairy products in moderation can be beneficial in some instances, many people the world over rely on heavy creams, eggs and other fat filled dairy products in their daily diets. The Mediterranean diet is low in dairy. Indeed, any dairy products that actually are included within the diet regimen is low fat. A person is considered an extremely heavy egg eater if he or she consumes four eggs in a week.

4. Red Meat in Moderation

Very little red meat is included within the Mediterranean diet. When it comes to meat items, this diet relies on moderate amounts of lean poultry and fresh fish. As a result, people who follow the Mediterranean diet plan have lower levels of "bad" cholesterol and higher levels of "good: cholesterol.

In addition, because of the inclusion of lean, fresh fish in the diet, adherents to the Mediterranean diet enjoy the anti-oxidant benefits that are found in certain fish oils and products.

5. A Well Balanced Dieting Scheme

In the final analysis, the Mediterranean diet is gaining acclaim from experts and adherents the world over because it is a balanced dieting program. Study after study demonstrate that a balanced diet that is low in fat and that includes fruits, vegetable, whole grains and lean meat works to ensure total health and wellness.

Conclusion

The Mediterranean diet is a comprehensive regimen for healthy living. By following the strictures of the Mediterranean diet, a person can enjoy improved wellness, a reduction of the risk of certain diseases and, in many instances, a longer life.

Weight Loss Diets - A Review Of 4 Popular Diets

2010-11-09T15:33:00.000+08:00

1000 calorie diet

Trying the 1000 calorie diet is only advisable for one week, due to your body entering starvation mode and conserving fat. Overdoing the 1000 calorie diet is counterproductive to your body so try to stay on it for only 1 week. After 1 week you will lose between 3-5 pounds. The 1000 calorie diet can be used as a starter diet for a long term weight loss program. Try to aim for 2-3 pounds of weight loss and a good exercise program to begin with. After 1 week on the 1000 calorie diet, try upping your calorie intake or reverting back to a not so severe diet, this will prevent your body's metabolism from slowing down. Here is a simple 1000 calorie daily menu.

Breakfast

o Banana sandwich made with 2 slices of wholemeal bread and a small banana

o Small glass of orange juice

Snack

o 1 pot of low fat yoghurt (preferably fruit)

Lunch

o 1 wholemeal roll filled with tuna and low fat mayonnaise (use tin tuna in spring water)

o Mixed lettuce salad, red or yellow sweet peppers, spring onions

Snack

o 1 bag of lower fat crisps

Dinner

o Roast chicken breast (without skin)

o Potatoes, mashed with 30ml semi-skimmed milk

o Broccoli (all vegetables steamed or boiled)

o Carrots

o Gravy (made from granules)

Evening

o 1 low calorie hot chocolate drink made with powder and water

Drinks throughout the day

o Diet coke, water, black coffee or tea without sugar

The 1000 calorie diet can be used as a starter diet for a long term weight loss program. Try to aim for 2-3 pounds of weight loss and a good exercise program to begin with. Remember after 1 week on the 1000 calorie diet, try upping your calorie intake or reverting back to a not so severe diet, this will prevent your body's metabolism from slowing down.

Vegetarian Diet

A well balanced vegetarian diet provides many benefits for the body. Some of those benefits include a reduced risk of chronic diseases, such as:

o Obesity

o Coronary artery disease

o Hypertension

o High blood pressure

o Diabetes

o Some types of cancer and more...

Your vegetarian diet, must be planned well. If not your body could end up in need of some vital nutrients. Some of these nutrients essential for the body are:

o Protein

o Minerals (zinc, calcium, iron)

o Vitamin b12

o Vitamin d

Protein sources include, tofu and other soy-based products, legumes, seeds, nuts, grains, and vegetables

Experts say that in order for a balanced vegetarian diet, you should eat nuts and whole grain cereals for good sources amino acids.

Greens such as spinach, kale and broccoli are a good source of calcium.

For sources of vitamin b12 which comes from animals, can be substituted with fortified breakfast cereals and fortified soy drinks.

Sources of iron are red meats, liver and egg yolks which are all high in cholesterol. Spinach, dried beans and dried fruits are all good vegetarian sources of iron.

A vegetarian diet is healthier than a meat diet. However this does not mean that you have the right to stuff your face with crisps, chocolate and chips everyday. Your balanced diet should include all of the above, i.e. Fruit, vegetables, nuts, dairy produce and soy. Below is a table of some calorie controls in a vegetarian diet:

Food Group 1200 Calorie 1500 Calorie 1800 Calorie

Vegetables 5 servings 6 servings 8 servings

Fruits 3 servings 3 servings 5 servings

Grains 2 servings 3 servings 4 servings

Dairy 2 servings 2-3 servings 2-3 servings

Beans, Nuts and Seeds 5oz 6oz 7oz

Total Fat 30-35g 40-50g 50-60g

You can find a massive rage of diets on the internet free of charge! A vegetarian diet is an all round healthier option, and can go a long way to helping you on the road to losing weight.

Abs Diet

The Abs Diet works on the theory that every 1lb of muscle gained, your body intern burns an extra 50 calories per day. So if you can build an extra 10lb of muscle your body will then burn an extra 500 calories per day. Using the Abs Diet your body will burn more energy by eating the correct foods and exercising the correct way. Losing 500 calories per day will loose you 1lb of weight per week. Expect to loose up to 12lb in the first two weeks followed by 5-8lb in the forth coming two.

The Abs Diet allows you to eat 6 meals per day which consist of 12 power foods, such as: chicken, turkey and other lean meat, olive oil, beans and pulses, almonds, low fat dairy products, green vegetables, oats, eggs, wholegrain bread, whole grain cereals, berries, and protein powder. All other food is a not allowed.

For 6 weeks you will eat a series of 12 power foods, which provide the body with all the fibre and minerals you need to stay healthy and build muscle. Along with the diet you will do a 20 min workout three times per week, which will aid in the fat burning.

The Abs diet is mainly aimed at men, however women are encouraged to participate. The range of foods you can eat is still good and you do get an exercise program out of it. Also some very good looking Abs, health and sex life. The full diet book is: The Abs Diet by David Zinczenko from all good on-line book stores.

The Kellogg's Cereal Diet

One of the simplest diets around at the moment is the Kellogg's Cereal Diet. It is not a crash weight loss diet which will lose you pounds upon pounds; however it will allow you to get into those jeans that are 1 size to small.

To start the Kellogg's Diet all you have to do is, eat one bowl of Kellogg's Special K or Cornflakes for breakfast, and also one for a replacement lunch or dinner. That's all! Carry this on for two weeks then you will see the results. Expect to lose around 3-6lb.

Whist on your diet, Kellogg's allow you to have the same drinks and snacks as you usually would, but recommend that you eat a well balanced meal every day, with more fruit and vegetables. Another tip from Kellogg's, is to keep a food diary to monitor and keep you aware of your current eating habits.

10 Reasons Why the Mediterranean Diet is Good For You

2010-11-09T03:39:00.000+08:00

Low in Saturated Fat

Physicians and nutritionists the world over all agree that a diet that is high in saturated fat can have very negative consequences on a person's health and wellbeing. Indeed, a diet that is high in saturated fat can cause a person to suffer heart disease, can lead to cancer and can cause a whole host of other health problems and concern.

The Mediterranean diet is noteworthy because of the fact that it is very low in saturated fat. The typical person who follows the Mediterranean diet intakes less than eight percent of his or her calories from potentially harmful saturated fat. This is significantly below the average of people who do not follow a Mediterranean diet regimen.

Includes Plentiful Amounts of Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

Another reason why the Mediterranean diet is good for you lies in the fact that the diet includes the consumption of a significant amount of fruit and vegetables. Indeed, the diet encompasses more fresh fruits and vegetables than any other dietary program or plan today.

Fresh fruits and vegetables have a significant beneficial effect on a person's health and wellbeing. People who following the Mediterranean diet and consume generous servings of fruits and vegetables each day have a lower incidence of certain diseases including cancer and cardiovascular ailments.

High in Whole Grains and Fiber

A benefit in the Mediterranean diet is found in the fact that it lowers in the incidence of certain types of cancer. One of the reasons that the Mediterranean diet lowers the incidence of cancer is found in the fact that the diet is rich in whole grains and dietary fiber. Both whole grain and fiber have proven to lower the incidence of cancer, including colorectal cancer.

High in Anti-Oxidants

The Mediterranean diet is high in anti-oxidants. Anti-oxidants play a significant role in maintaining the body -- including organs, muscles and skin -- in top condition. A diet high in anti-oxidants is believed to ensure that a person will live a longer, healthier life.

Low in Red Meat

Because the Mediterranean diet is low in red meat, the diet plan works to reduce the amount of "bad cholesterol." A diet low in "bad cholesterol" lessens the incidence of cardiovascular disease, hypertension and stroke.

High in Lean Meats

The Mediterranean diet includes lean meats in moderate portions. The reasonable amount of lean meats -- including fish and certain seafood and fish -- provides a health source of protein and energy for a person.

Low in Dairy

The Mediterranean diet is low in dairy products. In fact, a true adherent to the Mediterranean diet includes almost no dairy products at all. Any dairy that is included in the diet is low fat or non fat. Because the diet is low in dairy, particularly fatty dairy products, the diet encourages a person to obtain or maintain an ideal weight. Additionally, the diet aids in reducing cholesterol and works to prevent heart disease.

Prevents Disease

As mentioned, one of the reasons that the Mediterranean diet is good for you rests in the fact that the diet plan appears to reduce the incidence of certain diseases including:

-- heart and cardiovascular disease

-- cancer

-- diabetes

-- hypertension

-- diabetes

Longevity

The history of the people of the Mediterranean region demonstrates that the Mediterranean diet works to extend a person's life. In addition, while working to extend a person's life, this diet scheme works to ensure that a person's longer life will be healthy as well.

A Convenient Diet Program

Finally, the Mediterranean diet is good for you because it is a convenience diet program. In order to follow the Mediterranean diet you do not need to buy any special products or prepare a unique and hard to manage diet plan. If used with moderate exercise, it is a great way to lose weight while remaining healthy.

Best Fad Diets

2010-11-08T17:33:00.000+08:00

What are the best fad diets? It's a question I'm often asked. Unfortunately, I'm not really in favour of fad diets, so it's a difficult one to answer.

It's not that I'm against all fad diets on principle. But if there's one message I'd like you to take away from my website, Obesity Cures.com, it's that there's no silver bullet. No one shot cure ... no best fad diets.

That's the message I hope you take away from this article.

Your ideal weight loss solution should comprise a basket of cures, each chosen to suit your specific needs. A diet, fad or not, may be one ingredient of that basket. But one size does not fit all.

However, if you are going to choose a fad diet as part of your weightloss basket, you should at least be aware of the advantages and disadvantages of each.

In this article, I'll outline some of the main categories of fad diets and some of the pros and cons of each.

High-Fat, Low-Carbohydrate Diets

Millions of Americans have joined the low-carb craze and started high-fat, low-carb diets such as the Atkins Diet and the Zone Diet. They are made up of about 60% fat, 10% carbohydrate, and 30% protein.
These fad diets say you can eat high amounts of fat and protein while getting very low amounts of carbohydrates in the form of vegetables.

The main premise of the low-carb diet is that a diet low in carbohydrates leads to a reduction in body's production of insulin.

The end result is that fat and protein stores will be used for energy. So you stuff yourself full of unlimited amounts of meat, cheese, and butter, and only eat a small portion of carbohydrates.

But here's the catch...

People who start the diet usually lose a great amount of weight, but it's not permanent weight loss. Instead of burning fat, they lose water and precious muscle tissue.

Furthermore, these diets are low in several nutrients and contain excess amounts of cholesterol and saturated fats, substances that increase the risk of heart disease.

Plus, regardless of what they claim, the enormous amounts of protein put a strain on your kidneys.

Not exactly a promising contender for the best fad diets title!

Moderate Fat Diets

Next, there are the moderate fat diets. Moderate fat diets include diets like Weight Watchers, the USDA Food Guide Pyramid, Herbalife and Jenny Craig.

These diets are made up of about 25% fat, 60% carbohydrate, and 15% protein. They encourage the intake of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, and essential fatty acids found in foods like olive oil and salmon.

These diets are usually nutritionally balanced if the dieter eats a variety of foods from all categories. For example, Weight Watchers operates on a point system where foods get a number of points based on calorie, fiber, and fat content.

Dieters get a specific number of points they can use for the day. While it's not encouraged, they may choose to spend most of their points on carbohydrates instead of balancing it out. This could lead to deficiencies in nutrients such as calcium, iron, and zinc.

Herbalife counters this shortcoming with a range of nutritional shakes and vitamin products.

If followed properly (and backed by judicious supplementation), these diets are probably the most successful for losing weight and keeping it off... A possible contender for the best fad diets title.

Low and Very Low-Fat Diets

Finally, you have your low-fat and very low-fat diets. Fad diets in this category include the Dr. Dean Ornish's Diet and the Pritkin Plan, among others. They are made up of about 13% fat, 70% carbohydrates, and 16% protein.

These diets are mostly vegetarian diets and don't recommend eating a lot of meat. Like the low-carb diets, you can eat unlimited amounts of certain foods. Because you can't eat a lot of meat, these diets are deficient in zinc, vitamin B12, and essential fatty acids.

Also, it is so restrictive that people find a hard time staying on it for life and end up gaining their weight back.

So, that's a brief outline of some of the main fad diet categories. And, yes, you're right I haven't told you definitively what I think are the best fad diets. But read the above carefully and you'll see I've nudged you in a certain direction.

That's as far as I'm prepared to go without knowing more a
bout your specific circumstances.

This is really something you need to decide for yourself. Your needs will be different from others.

While rapid weightloss diets are generaly inadvisible, perhaps you have valid reasons for needing to lose weight fast. In which case, maybe a low-carb diet, despite its many disadvantages, is what you need right now. You can always switch to a different program later.

The choice is yours...

Rating the Fad Diets

2010-11-08T05:48:00.000+08:00

THE 200 POINT SYSTEM

With so many different diets available, how are we to know
what works and what is safe? The only way to be sure is to
discover the author's background and the research behind
the diet's methodology. Every good diet should give a
background about the author and his/her credentials and
experience in the fields of nutrition and biochemistry.
However, even a vast resume does not mean a credible and
safe diet. But it does suggest, at least, that the author has
some knowledge of nutrition. Providing research behind the
diet proves that the diet is not something the author
invented, so long as the research is not self-serving and
altered to fit a hypothesis.

Some diets may not need a great deal of tests and studies
behind them, simply because they are based on
fundamentals. For example, many women's magazines
have articles on dieting and weight loss, but they are
common sense suggestions that most people concerned
about weight should know already: "Eat smaller meals", "cut
down on sugar and fat", etc., are typical philosophies. More
structured diets should give some scientific reasons for its
suggested success, preferably case studies and research
performed on everyday test subjects, as well as athletes.

Since we have established the importance of eating a
balanced diet in accordance to selecting healthy foods and
obtaining RDA minimums, it is possible now to rate the
diets in accordance to those specific criteria. Begin with a
score of 200 and subtract 10 points from the total for each
statement below in which the diet concedes. An ideal diet
should maintain a score of 200, but a score of 160 or
greater is acceptable.

1. The diet does not include the food groups in adequate
amounts. Some fad diets eliminate one or more of the food
groups. Do not deduct 10 points if a food group's nutrients
(e.g., carbs, proteins, fats, fiber, vitamins, and minerals) are
adequately substituted with that of another food group.

2. The diet does not provide at least 45% of its calories from
carbohydrate sources. In order to prevent ketosis, at least
150g of glucose/day is required. That's 33-50% of total
calorie intake on a 1200-calorie diet. Keep in mind that is
the minimum. For highly active individuals, that amount
should increase to 60% at times, i.e., immediately after
exercise.

3. The carbohydrate content exceeds 20% concentrated
sugars. At least 80% of carbohydrate sources should be
complex, and preferably in the form of vegetables, seeds,
and legumes.

4. The protein content exceeds 30%. A very high protein
intake is unnecessary, it places additional strain on the
urinary system, and it is a poor source of energy. Thirty
percent is more than adequate, even for growing children
and teenagers. The only group that requires higher protein
intake are those who recently suffered a severe injury (e.g.,
leg amputation), infection, or surgery. However, these
individuals will be under the care of a physician with a
special high protein diet.

5. Protein content accounts for 15% or less of total calories.
Although unnecessary in large amounts, protein still has
many vital functions, including tissue repair and the
formation of enzymes.

6. Fats exceed 30% of total intake. Besides increasing the
risk of cardiovascular disease, high fat diets have not been
demonstrated to decrease weight better than other methods
of 'proper' eating.

7. Total fat consumption is less than 15% of total calories.
Fat in moderate amounts is essential for a healthy diet, and
such a diet provides taste to many foods. Fat intake below
15% for long periods, for most individuals, is unrealistic.
Fat intake that is too low can also be detrimental to children
and teenagers who require ample kcalories for continued
growth.

8. Total fat consumption is less than 25% essential fatty
acids, and saturated fat is more than 30% of total fat
consumption. Deduct 10 for each.

9. The diet does not suggest common foods, meaning
foods you should be able to obtain at any grocery store or
market.

10. The foods for the diet are expensive or monotonous.
Some diets require the purchase of 'their' foods or
expensive 'organic' foods only obtained through health food
stores. Some foods taste so bad they are difficult to
tolerate repeatedly (e.g., seaweed). Deduct 10 for each.

11. The diet consists of an inflexible meal plan. The diet
does not allow for substitutions or deviations, requiring a
person to live under 'house arrest' with the same food
selections every day.

12. The diet provides less than 1200 kcalories per day.
Less than that and the body's basic functions may not be
getting the energy, vitamins and minerals needed to work
properly, and the dieter almost is certain to feel hungry all
the time. Diets below 1200 kcalories should be reserved for
those under the supervision of a dietitian or licensed
physician.

13. The diet requires the use of supplements. If the diet
provides adequate energy and it is well balanced,
supplements are unnecessary. 'Fat accelerators,' such as
ephedrine, may increase the rate of weight loss, but the diet
should be able to stand on its own merit. Some diet clinics
promote a vast array of herbal preparations and fat
accelerators, and this is where these clinics make their
money - not in their knowledge and ability as nutritionists.

14. The diet does not recommend a realistic weight goal.
Diets should not be promoting the body of a Greek god or a
supermodel. They should not be suggesting that a person
lose 100 pounds (even if 100 pounds overweight). Nor
should diets recommend weight loss below an ideal
weight.

15. The diet recommends or promotes more than 1-2
lbs/week weight loss. Do not expect to lose more than 1-2
pounds of fat a week - it is physically impossible unless
chronically obese, at which point 3 pounds may be
possible. If more than two pounds is lost per week, the
body change is due to a loss of water and/or muscle tissue.
Gimmicks that promise 10 pounds in 2 weeks are either
simply not true or else something other than fat is being
lost. Also keep in mind that the more fat a person wishes to
lose, and the less a person has, the more difficult and
slower it will be to lose additional fat.

16. The diet does not include an evaluation of food habits.
Dieting should be a slow process by which a person
changes normal eating habits. It should not include looking
for quick fixes and quick plans promising short cuts and
extreme changes - a person would never stay with these
programs and such diets do not work long-term. The
number of kcalories eaten, and the food selections and their
amounts, should be reevaluated on a regular basis...
perhaps once every 1-2 months to determine the program's
effectiveness.

17. Regular exercise is not recommended as part of the
plan for proper weight loss. Weight loss occurs twice as
fast with exercise, and without exercise there is a greater
tendency to lose lean muscle tissue as well as fat. This is
not ideal.

OVERVIEW OF VARIOUS DIETS

Low Carbohydrate Diets: Ketosis occurs, and this presents
the same problems as fasting. Once glycogen stores are
spent (which happens quickly with athletes and those who
exercise regularly), glucose must be made from protein
sources, and there is greater wear on the kidneys as a
result. Even on a high protein diet, some protein will be
taken from body tissues in order to produce enough energy
for the nervous system and regular activity. The onset of
ketosis is an indication that this process has begun and it is
not a positive aspect, regardless of what pro-high-fat
authorities indicate.

Great weight loss on a low-carb diet is evident because of
the fact that carbs hold water in the muscles at a ratio of 1:3.
As carb intake decreases then so, too, does water retention.
Much water flushes as a result of lack of glycogen to hold
water molecules. Moreover, by increasing protein intake,
excess nitrogen flushes with even more water since the
kidneys use water to dilute the concentration of nitrogen.
Once leaving a low-carb diet and the muscles refill with
glycogen, fluid concentrations increase and the dieter
regains some of the weight.

Low calorie diets of 400-600 kcalories that consist primarily
of protein have the same problems as fasting and
low-carbohydrate diets: proteins are used for energy and
weight loss comes largely from water. Low-cal diets must
be supervised properly by a medical professional and only
as a last resort for those who cannot seem to lose weight by
other methods. However, even those individuals tend to
regain most of their weight back once they return to a
balanced diet.

Beverly Hills Diet - a diet consisting of grapefruit, eggs, rice,
and kelp; it is deficient in minerals and vitamins.

Cambridge Diet - a very low kcalorie (300-600 kcal/day);
protein/carb mixture with mineral imbalances; the dieter is
close to fasting.

Complete Scarsdale Diet - this diet is unbalanced
nutritionally; some days are calorically restricted; the dieter
alters portions of carbohydrate, protein, and fat; the diet
consists of low carbs (20-50 g/day), and high fat and
protein; the diet has a high meat (saturated fat and
cholesterol) content.

Dr. Atkin's Diet Revolution - this diet is unbalanced
nutritionally; some days are calorically restricted; the dieter
alters portions of carbohydrate, protein, and fat; carbs are
very low (20-50 g/day), whereas fat and protein are high;
there is high meat (saturated fat and cholesterol)
consumption.

Dr. Linn's Last Chance Diet - this diet has a very low
kcalorie intake (300-600 kcal/day); it consists of a
protein/carb mixture with a mineral imbalance; the dieter is
close to fasting.

Dr. Reuben's The Save Your Life Diet - this is a calorically
dilute diet consisting of high fiber (30-35g/day); the diet is
low in fat and animal products; there is poor absorption of
minerals because of too much high fiber.

"Fake" Mayo Diet - this diet consists of grapefruits, eggs,
rice, and kelp; it is deficient in minerals and vitamins.

F-Plan Diet - this is a calorically dilute diet consisting of
high fiber (30-35g/day); it is low in fat and animal products;
there is poor absorption of minerals because of too much
fiber.

LA Costa Spa Diet - this diet promotes weight loss of 1-1_
lbs/day; there are various plans of 800, 1000, and 1200
kcal/day composed of 25% protein, 30% fat (mostly
polyunsaturates), and 45% carbohydrate; the diets includes
the four food groups.

Medifast Diet - this diet is balanced nutritionally, but
provides only 900 kcal/day; use of liquid formulas makes
this diet monotonous and expensive.

Nutrimed Diet/Medifast Diet - this is a nutritionally balanced
diet, but it supplies only 900 kcal/day; the use of liquid
formulas makes this diet monotonous and expensive.

Optifast Diet - this diet is nutritionally balanced, but
supplies only 900 kcal/day; use of liquid formulas makes
this diet monotonous and expensive.

Pritikin Permanent Weight-Loss Diet - this is a nutritionally
unbalanced diet; some days are calorically restricted; the
dieter alters portions of carbohydrate, protein, and fat; the
diet consists of high protein (100 g/day); unless the foods
properly chosen, it may be low in vitamin B12.

Prudent Diet - this is a balanced, low kcalorie (2400
kcal/day) diet for men; it is low in cholesterol and saturated
fats; a maximum of 20-35% calories are derived from fat
with an emphasis on protein, carbohydrates, and salt; there
is ample consumption of fish and shellfish, and saturated
fats are substituted with polyunsaturated fats.

Quick Weight Loss Diet - this diet is unbalanced
nutritionally; some days are calorically restricted; the dieter
alters portions of carbohydrate, protein, and fat, although
there is low carbs (20-50 g/day), and high fat and protein;
there is high meat consumption (saturated fat and
cholesterol) with this diet.

San Francisco Diet - this diet begins at 500 kcal/day,
consisting of two meals per day of one fruit, one vegetable,
one slice of bread, and two meat exchanges; the second
week limits carbohydrates, with most food coming from the
meat group and with some eggs and cheese, and a few
vegetables; week three includes fruit; in week four there is
an increase in vegetables; week five the dieter add
fat-containing foods (e.g., nuts, avocados); week six
includes milk; week seven includes pastas and bread,
where the diet is maintained at about 1300 kcal/day; this
diet avoids the issue of saturated fats and cholesterol.

Slendernow Diet - this diet is unbalanced nutritionally;
some days are calorically restricted; the dieter alters
portions of carbohydrate, protein, and fat; the protein is
generally high (100 g/day); unless foods are properly
chosen, there may be a deficiency in vitamin B12.

Weight-Watchers Diet - this diet is balanced nutritionally, at
about 1000-1200 kcal; use of high nutrient-dense foods are
consumed; economic and palatable food makes it one of
the most successful diets with no real health risks.

Wine Diet - this diet is about 1200 kcal/day, containing 28
menus together with a glass of dry table wine at dinner;
besides the medicinal components of wine, it is believed
that individuals reduce portion sizes when wine is
consumed with a meal; the diet is low in cholesterol and
saturated fats; there is a focus on fish, poultry, and veal with
moderate amounts of red meat.

Yogurt Diet - this diet consists of two versions, being
900-1000 kcal/day, and 1200-1500 kcal/day; plain low-fat
yogurt is the main dairy dish, consumed at breakfast, lunch,
and as a bedtime snack; the diet is high in protein, and it is
low in cholesterol, saturated fat, and refined carbohydrates.

Diets that do not provide 100% of the U.S. RDA for 13
vitamins and minerals:

Atkins

Beverly Hills

Carbohydrate Craver's Basic

Carbohydrate Craver's Dense

California (1200 kcal) California (2000 kcal)

F-Plan

I Love America

I Love New York

Pritikin (700 kcal) Pritikin (1200 kcal)

Richard Simmons

Scarsdale

Stillman

Life Is One Damn Diet After Another

2010-11-07T17:52:00.000+08:00

A common expression is that we're "going on a diet." The phrase suggests that, like a vacation trip, there is a beginning and an end. We dream of the day we will reach our weight goal and how wonderful it will be when we don't have to lead a life of painful deprivation.

In the back of our minds, there is a comforting little tape playing, promising us that when our weight loss campaign is over, we'll be able to stop counting calories, carbohydrates, or fats. We long for the day when we no longer have to clench our teeth as we refuse a favorite dish that always causes us to salivate in our sleep. We reach for the carrot and celery sticks without anticipation or enthusiasm while torturing ourselves with visions of the special treats we'll enjoy when the diet is over.

Uh, hello?

Allowing ourselves to think of a diet as a delineated, restricted period within our total life span is a sure avenue back to tent city (that refers to what we wear, not where we live). To have any hope of attaining permanent weight control, we must approach it as a lifelong effort, watching our intake day after day, week after week, year after year.

You feel your heart sinking in your chest. You think "If I have to live like this all the time, it's just not worth it!" That little voice promises you that you are different. You can relax because now you know how to lose weight, you can do it anytime you want. Gain five pounds and you'll go back on your diet and be back to goal in no time at all.

But you won't! Think back over your chequered weight history. We all believe that once our weight is down, it will be so easy to go on a short diet if we gain back a few pounds. It doesn't work that way, though, does it? We start gaining a pound here and a pound there, but then there are some special events coming up and a diet would be so inconvenient. We don't go back "on" our diet until we've gained enough weight to develop the self-disgust that warrants a new period of serious deprivation. We have become a full-fledged member of the yo-yo club, that vast majority of dieters who cannot keep the weight off for more than a few weeks.

The reasons we go "on" and "off" diets are numerous: they are boring, depressing, and very uncomfortable. They set us apart from friends, family, and coworkers who continue to snack, to feast, and to celebrate. We resent how diets make us feel and how they impact our daily lives.

Let's look at the whole picture from a different perspective for a minute.

Instead of "a diet" envision a way of eating that involves living on a diet for the rest of your life. While the prospect may appall you, don't say you can't do it just yet.

First, consider another wide-spread concept many of us accept. To lose substantial weight in a relatively short time, we need to select the diet that seems to fit us and then stay with it, religiously, until we've reached our goal.

Let's now take these two concepts, squish them together, and then turn them upside down.

We are not "going on a diet." We are starting our diet-for-life. We then pick a diet, any diet at all, and make the commitment to stick with that diet for one week, and one week only. At the end of the week, we are going to pick an entirely different diet to which again we only commit for a one week period. This continues for virtually the rest of our lives with selected diets changing on a weekly basis.

What does this accomplish? A whole bunch of things:

1. By selecting a different diet each week, it removes those common misgivings that maybe we should have gone in a different direction. We worry that we're not getting the right nutrients or that we're going to get sick or develop a rare disease. We read the diet ratings and panic at the warnings posted for all the popular programs. With our new approach, you don't have to fret about if you made a good or bad choice because you'll be making a new choice in a week.

2. If there are particularly painful "No-Nos" in this week's diet, resolve to try something next week that allows a currently forbidden fruit. For example, a primarily protein regimen has been found successful for many participants who often lose five or ten pounds in a week. However, they miss the vegetables and salad they enjoy. The next week could then be a vegetables and salad only routine, also successful for rapid weight loss but a bit lean on the protein your body needs for self-repair.

You may then find yourself craving some good bread so you switch to the Subway diet for a week until your craving is satisfied. Move on to something completely different - the cabbage soup diet or liquid shakes. Since there are literally thousands of diets, a few are bound to include the food you crave.

You are never more than a week away from having what you feel you absolutely must have in order to keep going. You can include spartan fad diets that move fat quickly and you can include calorie counting or Weight Watcher diets that allow almost anything so long as you adjust your intake to stay within the totals specified.

3. The frequent changes in your eating patterns keep your body off-balance. Give the body enough time and advance notice and it will adapt to anything, turning protein into carbohydrates and storing even low calorie carbohydrates as little pockets of fat. By totally changing what you eat on a regular basis, the body gives up trying to figure out how to thwart you and spends its time efficiently processing what you give it. You are effectively using your smart little mind to outmaneuver your smart not-so-little body.

4. The constant changes force you to buy food in smaller packages. It's pointless and wasteful to buy those family packs of anything. That will help you with overall portion reduction, a must for any serious dieter. Your shopping goal is only to purchase items that you can consume within a week. If you see something that you particularly want but is not on your allowed list, make a mental note to find a diet for next week that can accommodate it.

5. The need for a new diet each week requires that you read and research a lot of diets. The reading acts as reinforcement for your goals and will assure your continuing education on nutrition and fitness. When you see something that intrigues you or just makes a lot of sense, try it out. Perhaps one week will involve barely restricted eating but require a lot of exercise. Go for it - it's only a week.

6. You are in the happy position of having wide choices available but also the needed structure of an organized plan to follow. The regimented eating is within each week's diet; the power of choice is operative when you decide what the next week's program will be.

7. Can you stay on a diet permanently? Yes, you can, because you're not restricting yourself from anything for life, just for a week at a time. Should you stay on a diet for the rest of your life? Yes, you probably should as long as you are getting a balance of foods from an intelligent mixing of alternative diet plans. If you like one diet more than another, or if one particular program works exceptionally well for you, by all means cycle that diet into your routine on a regular basis. Just make sure you don't use the same plan more than once a month or your body is going to be ready for it and Zap! you find it no longer works so well.

8. Can you over-diet? We have all seen (although they seem to be harder to find these days) overly thin, cadaverous dieters with sunken cheeks and loose skin. That can be avoided by making your selected diets very diverse so you are never without needed nutrients for very long. For example, many retirement homes and assisted living co-ops produce thin seniors with pallid skin and protruding abdomens. Replace their mushy, high starch meals with any of the myriad high protein and vegetable-fruit diets and their color will improve, their energy increase, and their tummies fade.

9. Can you ever be too thin? Visit an eating disorder facility and you will see the results of anorexia nervosa, not a pretty sight and highly dangerous from a medical standpoint. If you have a history of overweight, you may tell yourself that being too thin will never be in the cards for you. However, there are not infrequent cases of the perennial heavy who becomes anorexic through dieting too much with resulting anxiety about gaining back even an ounce of the flesh so painfully discarded. If you have a distorted body image, and reliable friends are concerned about your being too thin, get professional help.

10. It all comes down to using your brain intelligently. When you are at your heaviest, with the most to lose, the logical choice is a rather spartan program that will get the fat moving quickly. As you lose, more moderate programs can be interspersed so that your skin and cheeks have a chance to adjust and fill in as your weight stores become redistributed. If a particular part of your body is resistant to reduction, exercise may become a more important part of your plan than simply a dietary approach. Once you are hovering at your ideal weight, simple calorie counting or support group involvement may be all you need.

The secret is to be rational about it all and use that wonderful mind of yours to set the program for your not-so-intelligent body with its insatiable appetite and poundage conservation cravings. Don't try to cheat unless you want to cheat yourself and then be honest and admit that, for whatever reason there is, you want to avoid further weight loss. When you want and need to lose fifty pounds, an ice cream and chocolate diet is not rational. When you are at ideal weight or below, a stringent fad diet makes no sense.

Will all this mixing of diets result in consistent weight loss? There is never consistency in weight loss because there are just too many factors involved: water retention, digestive inefficiencies, the amount of energy expended, and individual body quirks. Over time, you will lose steadily but there will always be some ups and downs along the way.

Once the concept of "going on a diet" has been discarded, a lifelong eating plan can be embraced, guaranteed to leave you in control of your weight for the rest of your long slender life.

Want To Lose Fat? Here Are The Top 10 Reasons To Never Go On Another Diet

2010-11-07T07:07:00.000+08:00

Have you ever wondered why it seems impossible to lose weight, no matter which diet you try? The reasons below will help you to understand why your weight loss efforts in the past may not have given you the results you had hoped for.

1. Diets will destroy your metabolism

Calories are not evil. They are not something to be avoided at all costs. Calories are a unit of ENERGY. Your body needs energy every day, and it does its best to stay in a state of balance (calories in = calories out, energy consumed = energy burned). Thus, if you suddenly cut calories in an effort to lose weight, your body will react accordingly. Your body does not know why it is suddenly receiving less energy, but in order to maintain balance, it will immediately begin to slow down your metabolism in order to match your energy burned with your energy consumed. That is why you will eventually see weight loss slow, then stop. This is also the main reason why dieters will gain their weight back, and then some. By dieting, you have programmed your body to burn significantly fewer calories throughout the day, so as soon as the diet ends and calorie intake increases, that extra energy will now be stored as fat.

2. Diets will make you fatter

Muscle is metabolically active tissue, meaning it is burning calories throughout the day, while body fat is basically stored energy. Think of muscle as your metabolism's engine. The bigger the engine (more muscle mass) you have, the faster your metabolism can run. Unfortunately, one of the ways that your body slows down its metabolism in reaction to a diet is by cannibalizing muscle mass, and using it for energy. So, while the scale will be telling you that you are losing weight, your metabolism will be cratering because some of the weight you are losing will be muscle mass. Then, after you quit the diet and go back to your normal way of eating, when you gain the weight back, it does not come back as the muscle you lost, but as fat. So, not long after you quit the diet, not only will you weigh the same, or more, than you did when you started, but you will have more fat, less muscle, and a slower metabolism.

3. Diets leave you with no energy

As we have learned, calories are units of energy, and your body needs energy to get through the day. Did you realize that a 160 lb man, who did nothing for 24 hours but lay in a hammock and breathe, would burn in the neighborhood of 1600 calories? Dieters will often eat as few as 800 to 1000 calories per day, so it is easy to see why they would feel tired and run down. Since carbohydrates provide our main source of fuel (glucose and glycogen), low carb diets zap you even more. Did you know that while your body can burn fat for fuel, your brain and central nervous system can only use glucose for fuel? That is why, especially during the induction phase of low carb fad diets, people often feel sluggish, irritable, and not as sharp mentally as normal. Of course, every low carb dieter will tell you that it is only bad for a few days, then your energy levels pick up again. That is because your body, wonderful machine that it is, can manufacture its own glucose to provide energy for your brain. Unfortunately, it does this by breaking down muscle mass into its component amino acids, which it then converts to glucose. So, while you may be more alert once again, this is a sure sign that your metabolism is now slowing down as you cannibalize muscle mass to make up for the energy deficit the diet is causing.

4. Diet programs are usually unrealistic

Counting calories, points, food exchanges, grams of this and grams of that, is just not a realistic strategy for long term weight loss. We all lead busy lives and being forced to do ridiculous calculations every time you eat is no way to live. Unless you are measuring all of your food, most people will generally underestimate the amount that they eat, often by more than 50% (what you estimate to be 1 cup is probably 1 ½ cups, 4 ounces is probably 6, and so on). This is especially problematic in restaurants or other social settings. So, the calculations will not even be accurate anyway.

5. Diets provide false hope to get you hooked

Anyone who goes on a calorie restricted diet, especially a low carb diet, will generally experience a significant weight loss in the first week or two. Diet programs will often try to hook you in with promises of big weight loss up front. When that promise comes true, the diet guru or diet center or supplement seller has you under their spell. The reality is, it is very easy to lose 5, 6, 7 or more pounds in your first week or two on a diet, and the reason is simple. Most of that weight is water. Of course, the person at the diet center won't tell you that. They will claim that their product or program is the magic behind your success, when the truth is you are just losing water that your body needs. Remember that we said your body's main sources of energy are glucose and glycogen? Glucose, or blood sugar, is the product of carbohydrate digestion. Glycogen is glucose that has been stored in the muscles and liver. When you severely cut back on calories, especially carbohydrates, you do not adequately replenish your muscle glycogen as you use it. Well, each gram of glycogen stored in your muscles holds 1.4 grams of water with it, so when your glycogen levels are depleted, water weight loss results. As soon as you replace your glycogen stores, that weight will come back on.

6. Diets make you feel like a failure

Eventually, everyone will 'cheat' on their diet, or more likely, go off of it all together. When that happens, the inevitable wave of guilt is sure to follow as you tell yourself that you blew it. The diet industry has to be the only industry in this country where nobody gets what they pay for, and then they blame themselves for it. Of course, people will often punish themselves for blowing it by going on a binge, which just makes the guilt worse and compounds the problem. Convinced that this failure was their own fault, the person then often goes off in search of another diet.

7. Fad diets are unhealthy

Any diet that eliminates entire food categories such as carbohydrates or fats robs your body of important nutrients. As discussed above, carbohydrates provide your body with its main source of fuel. And, while trans fats and saturated fats should be avoided, did you realize that your body needs a certain level of fat in the diet in order to function properly? Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats are healthy fats and a critical part of your daily nutrition. Also, diets that force you to eat ridiculous foods, such as nothing but cabbage soup, rely on semi-starvation for their temporary weight loss effects, causing many unpleasant side effects in your body.

8. Fad diet marketers lie to you

Promises of fast, effortless weight loss are simply lies designed to make your wallet smaller much faster than your waistline. No infomercial gadget or magic pill or supplement will lead to long term weight loss. If any of these products really worked, don't you think you might hear about in on the news instead of some cheesy late night infomercial? Face it, if any of them really worked, nobody would be fat! The truth is, real long term weight loss takes effort, and anyone who tells you otherwise is lying to you.

9. Diets will stress you out

If you are spending your day worrying about how many calories you have eaten, or how many points you have left, or if you have had too many grams of carbs since lunch, it is inevitable that other activities, duties, and responsibilities of yours will suffer. Modern life has enough stress without adding in unnecessary and, in the long run, unproductive stress on top. Food and nutrition are essential parts of life that should be enjoyed, not feared, dreaded, or micromanaged. Committing to simple lifestyle changes instead of regimented diet rules is a more effective approach to weight loss, that will also allow you to keep your sanity intact.

10. Diets do not work

It cannot be said any more simply than that. Diets by themselves do not work. Repeat that to yourself until it sinks in for good. If all of the evidence above is not enough to convince you, just think about it. How many people do you know who have been on one diet? None. They have all been on dozens of different diets, right? Well, if any one of those diets really worked and resulted in healthy, permanent weight loss, why would anyone need another? The reason that there are hundreds of diets out there is because none of them work, and the diet marketers know that. They are just banking that you don't know it yet, and will hopefully give them more money to try one of their other miracle diets.

So What Is All The New Detox Diet Craze

2010-11-06T19:32:00.000+08:00

Effective or Fad?

It seems like the latest craze in dieting and health, everywhere you turn there are commercials, infomercials, magazine articles, and of course, sales pitches regarding the Detox diet. So how is one to decipher whether detoxification is a relative need or a simple promotion to assist the diet industry's billion dollar a year sales?

A little due diligence can help determine whether a Detox diet is something that can help you retain or gain a higher level of health. Removing toxins from your body can make a significant difference in your overall health. Detox diets are based on the principle that our food is for the most part chemically treated, and filled with toxins. Even foods listed as organic are not completely organic unless they are labeled 100% organic. Anything with an organic label that does not specify 100% organic can have as much as 25% non-organic material and toxins in the processing, growing, or cultivation phases.

"So What Is All The New Detox Diet Craze" It's no secret that farmers utilize growth hormones in their livestock to produce more pounds of meat per animal. These growth hormones are pinpointed as one of the leading causes for the rapid growth rate of our children. The majority of twelve year olds are now above five feet. Scientists look toward the growth hormones used in animal production to help explain this.

Thus, toxins are in the foods we eat, the water we drink, even the water we purchase. There is a build up of chemicals in the body that the body is not likely to rid itself of, and thus the Detox diet was introduced to assist in the removal of toxins from the body.

A Detox diet that has been tailored to you is best. Being able to readily lay your hands on information about how to guide yourself through the detoxification process is also vital to the success of an effective Detox diet. For instance, a person who eats a diet that consists mostly of fish, particularly salmon can find themselves with a sudden case of mercury poisoning. Mercury poisoning is not an obvious ailment. In fact it is very difficult to diagnose until the individual loses the function of their hands. Even then it can be missed. However, once the mercury poisoning is diagnosed, one of the fastest methods of treatment is an effective Detox diet. Why? Because a good Detox diet will cleanse the system and rib the body of the majority of poisons and toxins that build up in our systems through the foods we eat and the environments we live in.

However, the same Detox diet utilized for an individual with too much fish in their diet is not likely to be as effective for an individual who wishes to use the Detox diet to assist in the process of smoking cessation. An effective Detox diet for smoking cessation will vary, as the primary goal is to rid the body of a build up of nicotine in the system.

The next logical question is do Detox diets work? Some Detox diets work and other Detox diets don't work. "So What Is All The New Detox Diet Craze" How can you tell the difference? For starters, an effective Detox diet should be able to explain why the foods that are being suggested are on the list in the first place. Anyone can slap together an outline of vegetables and call it a Detox diet. A Detox diet contains more than just vegetables.

An effective Detox diet will have strong recommendations for various vitamins and minerals, along with an explanation of why these vitamins and minerals help in the detoxification process. The detoxification process is more complex than most people realize, and using a blend of vitamins and minerals to assist in the detoxification process is necessary, without overdosing on detoxification vitamins. It is possible to overdose on vitamins. Any Detox diet that does not restrict the vitamin intake is not an effective Detox diet.

An effective Detox diet will educate the dieter along the way. The detoxification process is not just a blanket idea. Retaining the positive effects takes some education as well as a constant desire to remain healthy. An effective Detox diet will show you how to rid your body of the current toxins while teaching you how to minimize the intake of toxins once normal eating has resumed.

There are those who should avoid a Detox diet. Just like all diets and diet products, the Detox diet is not a one size fits all plan. People with specific health concerns, eating disorders, or chronic illnesses should at the very least consult their physician or avoid the Detox diet altogether. Any Detox diet that markets to everyone without regard to personal health or possible complications is not an effective Detox diet plan.

The Dieting Industry

The dieting industry is a billion dollar a year business, with annual growth that leaps by about 10 to 15% annually. People are searching for better ways to be healthy, not to mention better ways to lose weight, look younger, and feel more energized. The dieting industry is loaded with companies that take full advantage of any fad or trend that comes along. It's a dieting jungle out there, and it is a case of buyer beware.

"So What Is All The New Detox Diet Craze" Most Detox diets available today are simple plans that the designer of the plan wishes you to execute time and again, thus very few teach you about common toxins. Common toxins are easy to avoid, and of course easy to ingest. It is difficult to avoid ingesting the common toxins if you are unaware of what they are and how we end up with these common toxins in our body. Common toxins that produce illness, stress, fatigue, and run down your body are everywhere. How easy would it be to avoid them if you just knew where these common toxins existed? Of course, most Detox diets are based on the principle that you will notice how much better you feel and as you re-ingest the common toxins, you will return time and again for more information on the detoxification process.

Thus, while you are seeking an effective Detox diet, you want to be sure that it offers methods of avoiding the common toxins that we run into on a daily basis. These common toxins are in the air, in the products we use on our hair and skin, and in the foods we eat.

Detox Supplementationg

There is quite a bit of controversy surrounding Detox supplements. Particularly Detox supplements that are sold by the creators of the Detox diet you are interested in purchasing. Many Detox diet programs are designed to automatically ship you their products month after month. This creates a simple chain that allows them to maximize their profit at your expense.

Detox supplements that are set up for consistent delivery charge you prior to receiving the Detox supplements. That means if you decided that you are not interested in their Detox supplementation programs, and you have forgotten to cancel your order, sometimes in as little as two weeks, you will be charged for a product you do not wish to receive.

These Detox diet programs are set up for maximum profit and little regard to customer satisfaction. While there are advantages to some Detox supplements, not all of them are high quality. Once again, the due diligence must be considered by the buyer in cases such as these.

Doctor Recommended Detox Diets

As with any diet plan, it is always better to take advice from doctor recommended Detox diet plans than it is from any other source. You are not interested in witchcraft and potions, you are pursuing better health through the detoxification process. There is a big difference when it comes to Detox diet programs. A Detox diet plan that comes with the recommendation of a physician, as well as physician assisted Detox diet planning, there is a much higher chance of success and overall wellness.

Don't be fooled into thinking that all Detox diet plans are doctor recommended. One doctor's stamp of approval doesn't really mean anything. When a doctor recommended Detox diet plan has been approved and contributed to by numerous doctors, then you have a little proof in your pudding. Doctor recommended Detox diet plans are actually much less common than most people realize. A specialized Detox diet plan that includes all the basic nutrients your body needs not only to rid itself of toxins, but to operate well during the detoxification process takes vast amounts of research to produce.

Take the Next Step

So now you're ready to do your homework and find the right Detox diet plan that will work for you. Luckily, most of the research has been done for you. The absolute best bang for your buck Detox diet plan out there today can be found in "detoxmanual".

The "detoxmanual" a complete guide offers full scale information, as well as a complete Detox diet plan that is founded in medical advice from medical providers. The Detox diet plan offered is not only about half the price of other Detox diet plans, but it is much more comprehensive, and comes with a money back guarantee. You have nothing to lose except the unwanted toxins flowing through your body.

Let's Talk About Fad Diets

2010-11-06T07:48:00.000+08:00

Although the big push for fad diets has died down a little bit, it is still estimated that at least two-thirds of Americans are on some type of diet at any given time. Although research shows the importance of eating from all the major food groups, people are still confused about what type of diet to follow, keeping the window open for more quacky solutions to pop up.

In an effort to help readers determine what makes a diet healthy and when it's time to steer clear, I am going to discuss what makes a diet a 'fad' diet and why these diets are something best to stay away from. Along the way, we will discover what each food group has to offer that can be beneficial to our health.

Our bodies are uniquely designed to take advantage of the proteins, carbohydrates and fats that we eat. In order for the liver to do the best job it can for us, we actually need all of these nutrients, known as macronutrients. Even a 'detoxifying' diet should also include all of these macronutrients!

During the past 20 years there has been a dramatic increase in obesity in the United States. Currently, more than 64% of US adults are either overweight or obese, according to results from the 1999-2000 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). So, look at the facts: Two thirds of all Americans are on some 'diet', yet we are getting fatter and fatter. Would that perhaps mean that the fad diets don't work? Let's talk about it.

Identifying a fad diet

A 'fad diet' is defined as something temporary. Therefore, it's no surprise that these diets are not successful. Let's begin by looking at how to identify a fad diet.

#1 - Promises a fast weight loss.

This is great, in the short term, but how many readers have or know someone who has followed one of these diets, only to regain the weight back, plus more for added bonus? When people lose weight very quickly, they lose a lot of lean muscle tissue, and the weight that comes back will most likely be more fat and less muscle, making it easier and easier to regain weight each time they drop the last fad diet. A healthy diet to follow will be one that will encourage slow, progressive weight loss over a longer period of time. It will have enough calories to support vigorous exercise, so that you lose fat and not muscle. Diets that are too low for the body's basic needs will result in the body breaking down it's protein stores (muscle) for the fuel it needs. Sort of defeats the whole purpose of the diet!

#2 - Eliminates foods or food groups.

The very first thing that alerts us that a diet is a 'fad' is when a particular food, or entire food group, is considered off-limits. This is a good time to talk about the low carb diets.

What is it that has made carbohydrates a bad nutrient? When you look at other countries, where the intake of carbohydrates is as high as 80%, and see that many of these countries are not suffering even close to the obesity rates we are in America, you have to wonder why they are not having the same problem. So, can it really be the carbs? Probably not. But, maybe it's the type of carbs. Many people who decide to go on one of the popular low carbohydrate diets start to eliminate a lot of food from their diets, including all the snack foods they were eating, particularly at night. Gone are the chips, the cookies, the crackers, the ice cream. Gone are up to 300 to 1,000 calories per day! Anyone would lose weight if they cut out those many calories from their daily diet.

Another problem with eliminating entire food groups, especially on low carb diets, is that they are recommending eliminating or limiting the intake of nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables. With all the substantial research showing how beneficial these foods are to preventing various diseases, such as cancer and heart disease, it's amazing that anyone involved in healthcare would recommend such a diet. Something to also notice, however, is that none of these fad diet books are written by anyone with a degree in nutrition. Even the medical community is confused, which explains why physicians will fall for some of the hype fad diet authors write.

But let's talk a little more about fruits, vegetables and starches: A diet high in animal protein and animal fat has been linked to various disease and inflammation states. A diet very high in protein puts a great load on our kidneys and can contribute to constipation, gout and bone loss due to calcium depletion from the high protein load.
Combine that with decreased fiber from lack of whole grains and fiber-rich fruit and vegetables, and many people just don't feel well; they feel fatigued, sluggish and their immune system is depressed.

#3 - Starts with a shock or follows a strict plan.

When the diet says you have to start with an extremely restricted diet, or you can only eat certain foods on particular days, you know it's a fad diet. They justify this by saying you have to clean out the body, or only certain foods will help with the weight loss process. Any change in how you currently eat will result in changes on the scale. Very few people can remain on these diets very long, so once they are 'off' the diet, the weight returns. The dieter learned nothing other than the misinformation the author provided them with. This can actually have far-reaching consequences, as then the dieter is more confused than ever and doesn't know what to believe!

Once a person learns what the qualities of a healthy diet consist of, they find that their optimum calorie level is for their own needs, and they are able to achieve their goals, combining their eating plan with exercise. Not only do they start to enjoy life again, but enjoy food AND see weight loss!
Although fad diet authors want you to believe their 'miracle' (and buy their products), there really is no get-thin-quick solution that is permanent.

But what does constitute a healthy diet? A healthy diet is one that is adequate in calories to support healthy weight, low in animal fats and saturated fats, animal protein should be very lean and adequate enough to support a diet high in fruits and vegetables and whole grain starches. Any healthy diet can include foods that are just for enjoyment, however. All foods really do fit, in moderation. A general rule is an 80/20 rule: Eighty percent of the time the diet should be healthy and then 20% of the time it can include foods you would not eat on a regular basis if you were trying to eat for health and weight loss.

#4 - Contradicts what experts say.

Authors of low carb diets say that the carbohydrates are what have made American's fat. But they can't explain why other countries whose diets are very high in carbohydrates don't have the same problems with obesity. You know it's a fad diet when the author says they have the 'inside' or 'hidden' truth about our health or diets. You also know it's a questionable publication when they say there is a hidden agenda among health professionals or the government.

But why is America getting fatter and fatter? America is a country of grab-and-go: The faster, the better. Families seldom sit down to meals, together. There are fewer physical fitness programs in school and many of the school food choices are fast foods. People and entire families eat 2-3 of their daily meals from a drive-through or a restaurant, most of which provide very few of the foods high in nutrients and low in calories. Restaurants add extra fats to their dishes to enhance the taste, so a meal you could make at home without added fats could have up to 60% of it's calories coming from fat to make it taste better! Plus, the serving sizes are much larger than they were 20 years ago, so most of the time the size of the meals could actually feed us for 2 to 3 meals, instead of one! However, many people still feel they must clean their plate rather than let the food 'go to waste'. They really should say, "go to waist"!!

As you read this, think back to the last week. How often did you sit down at home and eat a home-cooked meal? Do you eat breakfast, lunch and dinner each day? How often do you exercise vigorously? In Europe, the meals are much smaller and people walk a great deal more than in America. In some neighborhoods, it's actually impossible to walk to work, even if you live very close! Our road systems are no longer built for riding bikes or walking to work. You take your life into your hands, either from passing traffic or crime.

#5 - Relies on testimonials rather than scientific research.

The fact that Jane lost pounds in a week because she just ate cabbage soup does not mean it's safe, effective, or that it will work for you! What if you don't LIKE cabbage?

An example of testimonials, combined with the research to back it up, is the National Weight Control Registry. In order to join the Registry, a person has to have lost pounds and have kept it off for a year. Currently consisting of over 4500 individuals, the Registry was founded in 1993 as a longitudinal prospective study. Currently, there have been six studies resulting out of the Registry. For more information on the Registry, along with how most of the Registry members have in common, here is the website: http://www.nwcr.ws/.

#6 - Has a gimmick.

The problem with diet plans that have some type of gimmick, is people can't stay on them and they don't learn how to eat for the long-term. It's no secret that all the books must have something to 'catch' the reader. However, hidden among all the hype are books that really DO offer safe and effective solutions to weight loss. A book written by a registered dietitian (RD) is a guarantee that the material is accurate and safe. An RD is someone whose education, training and experience all revolve around the science and practice of nutrition; these truly ARE nutrition experts.

Consider this: If you had heart disease, you would see a cardiologist who specializes in heart health. If your teeth needed work, you would see a dentist. However, many people will buy 'diet' books from people who are not educated in nutrition! People will buy a diet book from a person who found what worked for them, or a movie star or a physician. In many of these books, because the author does not understand nutrition, many facts are distorted or misrepresented. It may not always be on purpose, but the point is these books are written by someone who really does not know nutrition and the science behind it, so either they distort the facts, or they make them fit the gimmick they are trying to sell.

So, the next time a friend mentions this great new diet they're on, or you see a new book that offers 'miracle' weight loss or something that 'health professionals don't really want you to know', take a step back and ask yourself these questions:

1- Does it promise fast weight loss?

2- Does it eliminate any major foods or food groups?

3- Is there a strict plan that must be followed for success?

4- Does it contradict what nutrition experts and science has to say?

5- Does it rely primarily on testimonials and 'before and after' pictures too good to be true?

6- Is there a gimmick?

If you answered yes to all or most of these questions, after you have stepped back, walk away and find a better plan. Isn't today time to get real and make your weight loss plan permanent and realistic?

Diet's Don't Work - 12 Facts Why They Never Do Or Will!

2010-11-05T20:58:00.000+08:00

You heard me right! They Never Have! They Never Do! They Never Will!

The Diet Industry is a 40 Billion Dollar Industry filled with misinformation.

96% of people who go on diets can't stay on them to reach their desired goal.

98% of people who go on diets gain the weight they lose back + 5 extra pounds. (National Institute of Health)

50% of Americans are on a diet at any given time yet 70% of Americans are overweight and 30% are obese.

My Story

When I was in my late teens I took up bodybuilding and after a couple of years I began competing. A typical year consisted of me gaining fifty or more pounds in the off season by eating lots of food and then dieting and loosing fifty or so pounds over the next few months as I prepared for the competition. After doing this for six years I stopped competing in bodybuilding. Over the following years I continued to gain fifty or so pounds a year and then go on a diet and lose all or most of it over the following months. I became an expert and gaining weight and loosing weight. I became an expert dieter. I could lose weight on the Atkins, Stillman, Scarsdale or any other diet. I was master of the low calorie, low fat and low carbohydrate diets. The only problem that once I lost the weight I couldn't keep it off and eventually would gain it all back plus some. I eventually ended up gaining and losing almost a thousand pounds. After giving up on dieting I began researching why people gain weight and why diets don't work. After spending over five years researching why diets don't work and discovering what does work when it comes to loosing weight and keeping it off. I began applying the principles I discovered and today I am celebrating over ten years at a body weight that hasn't fluctuated more then five pounds up or down.

Why Diets Don't Work

Fact #1: Diets are downers. People hate to diet. Have you ever met anyone on a diet that liked it? Does anyone like doing anything with the word DIE in it? When I went on diets I hated it. It made me unhappy and depressed.

Fact #2: Dieting slows your metabolism. The longer you diet the slower your metabolism gets causing you to eat less and less until your weight loss stops entirely. Then when you resume normal eating the weight quickly returns + extra pounds due to it taking months for the metabolism to return to normal. Then guess what? You need to go onto another diet.

Dieting simply is a way to create an artificial famine. Your body doesn't know that it's a diet. All it knows is that its in a famine. So it slows the metabolism as much as 40%. If you naturally need 2000 calories a day to sustain your current body weight and go on a diet where you are consuming 1000 calories a day your metabolism will get lower and lower to say 40% or 1200 calories below its natural level of 2000 calories. At that point weight lose is minimal and extremely difficult. Then when you return to eating 2000 calories a day which is what the majority of people do you begin adding 800 extra calories daily. That's 800 calories about 1.75 pounds of fat per week.

When I was on the dieting roller coaster I'd lose 50 pounds in six months and go off it and gain all the weight back over the next six months. One thing I noticed was that as soon as I'd go off the diet the weight would quickly come back due to my metabolism having slowed due to the dieting.

Fact 3: Diets offer a poor temporary fix What's really needed is a lifestyle change. The only people who lose weight and keep it off are the people who change their lifestyle once and for all. Changing your lifestyle is easier then dieting and far more rewarding.

I used to go on diets knowing that they were only a quick fix. After losing hundreds of pounds and gaining it back convinced me that dieting could never able me to sustain the weight lose. Dieting was just a superficial way of treating symptoms instead of the cause of my weight gain.

Fact 4: Since 96% of people who go on diets gain the weight they've lost back plus some the next time they diet it gets a little harder to lose weight. With each never dieting round the body becomes more resilient to giving up the weight and dieting gets tougher and tougher. With each new diet I went on it became more and more difficult to get the weight off. Finally after years of yo-yo dieting It became almost impossible to get the weight off dieting.

Fact 5: Diets fail to deal with the things that cause people to overeat. People overeat due to a number of psychological reasons. Some overeat because they fail to eat consciously. After years of eating on the run, in the front of the television or while stuffing a hot dog into their mouth while driving down the highway; they eat like dogs never stopping to taste, savor and enjoy the food their eating.

Another thing that causes people to overeat is previous conditioning that can go back to their childhood. As a child I was told to clean my plate because children were starving in Africa. I was also told that if I didn't clean my plate I couldn't have desert. The experts in my life conditioned me to eat every scrape on my plate even if I was stuffed. They conditioned me to overeat. Something that took me years to understand and change.

Fact 6: Dieting Causes Eating Disorders. People who get onto the dieting roller coaster can develop eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia. Dieting serves as a precursor to these illnesses.

During my weight gain and dieting cycles I frequently would binge and after the binge think nothing of purging while standing over the toilet. I eventually got pretty good at it and could down five burgers and a dozen Dunken Donuts and drop them in the toilet only to be back eating fifteen minutes later.

Fact 7: Dieting Causes Obesity. Dieting slows down the metabolism making it harder and harder to lose weight. Eventually the metabolism slows to a crawl and even a well balanced healthy diet causes the person to gain weight. Have you ever seen an obese person who says, "I don't eat a lot and continue to gain weight." They may be telling the truth. After years of dieting their metabolism is running slow and low making it really easy to keep on adding the pounds.

You would think that in America with all the diets, diet pills, and diet centers that we would be the thinnest country on the globe. But instead we are the fattest and getting fatter every year. With all the dieting I was doing and all the expertise on dieting I was gaining I still just kept getting fatter.

Fact 8: Diets cause starvation or semi starvation. Starvation occurs at 900 calories or less that's when you start to die. Most diets are in that range. Starvation plays havoc with the systems of the body and brain and if continued will cause permanent damage. When faced with starvation your body will do everything it can to survive. Things like slowing your metabolism to conserve energy and creating intense hunger to drive you to find food. When I was dieting I has hungry all the time. I didn't know it at the time but I was starving. I was putting my body through what people in famines go through.

Fact 9: Diets damage your body and cause disease. Studies show that ongoing dieting causes heart disease, osteoporosis, gall stones, high blood pressure, anemia, constipation, kidney stones, dry skin, hair lose, depression, anxiety.

When I was on the dieting roller coaster I would frequently get sick. I would get frequent colds, the flu, tonsillitis, sinusitis, and constipation was a daily experience. Over the past ten years I've had two colds.

Fact 10: Dieting Causes Malnutrition. Dieting restricts people from getting the necessary macro and micro nutrients. Not getting these nutrients causes damage to our bodies and results in sickness. I didn't know It back when I was dieting that the main reason why I was getting sick so frequently was that I was suffering from malnutrition. I simply wasn't getting the nutrients that me body needed.

Fact 11: We don't fail at dieting, diets fail us. Diets simply don't work. Every person who ever quit dieting or gained the weight they lost back did so due to the fact that diets are built upon false premises. If you build a house upon a foundation of straw it will crumble. Diets are built upon a foundation of straw.

While on the dieing roller coaster I continuously felt like a failure. I struggled to stick to the diets I would go on and always gained the weight back. I felt like a frustrated failure. I didn't know at the time that I wasn't the failure but that the entire diet industry and everyone of their diets was a failure.

Fact 12: Diets Cause Death. The name Diet fits well. Dieting shortens your life span. Diets cause a number of problems that lead to sickness, disease and eventually death.

Had I not discovered the truth I likely would have dieted myself to death. I am eternally grateful for discovering the truth. For the truth truly set me free.

Why Diets Don't Work

1. Diets treat superficial symptoms instead of causes.

2. Diets cause major deprivation. You deprive yourself of food. Not only food, but food that you like. This drives people crazy. When I used to diet all I did day and night was think about food. When I wasn't dieting I thought about other stuff like the geo-political situations in the world and sex. But while on the diet I just thought about Italian bread, pasta, and cannoli's.

To Your Health!

Is the New "High-protein Low-saturated Fat" Diet the Answer to Weight Loss?

2010-11-05T10:53:00.000+08:00

The heated debate, within diet circles, that began a few years ago and continues today is over the effectiveness of the high-protein, low-carbohydrate, type diet versus its counterpart, the high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet.

To the delight of the Atkins diet enthusiasts, recent studies have suggested that a diet high in protein and low in fat has a greater effect on diet induced thermogenesis (calorie burning) than a high carbohydrate low fat diet.

Before we go further we need to familiarize you with a few terms we will be discussing in this article. Your total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) is the total energy your body burns in a day. TDEE consists of 3 components: diet induced thermogenesis (DIT), basal metabolism, and physical activity.

DIT is the increase in the body's temperature that is caused by the digestion and absorption of a meal. This rise in temperature results in calorie burning. Yes, we actually burn calories simply by eating and scientists have long believed that DIT may be a factor, in reducing obesity; and that obese people may have defective DITs - although this hasn't been proven yet. Once scientists identify the link between DIT and obesity on a molecular level, it could essentially pave the way for the development of drugs in the treatment of obesity. That's still however, in the future.

In a recent study at the University of Arizona, published by the American College of Nutrition, a group of young healthy women were given 2 sets of diets. (1) One diet was high in protein and low in fat and the other was high in carbohydrate and low in fat. Scientists were trying to compare the thermic effect (DIT) of protein versus carbohydrate during the digestion and absorption of meals. Keep in mind, as the body's temperature increases (by DIT), so does the number of burned calories.

Evidence from this study showed that postprandial (following a meal) thermogenesis increased 100% more with the high-protein low-fat diet versus the high-carb low-fat diet. Although protein had a greater effect on DIT, the study did not evaluate weight loss or the long term effects of this type of diet. The results did suggest that this type of diet may have a positive effect on weight loss.

Scientists concluded that a diet high in protein, moderate in carbohydrate and low in fat contents may promote a higher rate of weight loss compared to the high carbohydrate, low fat diet. On the other hand, they also warn that high protein diets may affect kidney function in those that have kidney conditions, but not in healthy individuals.

Furthermore, they recommend daily protein intake should not exceed 2 grams per 1 kilogram of body weight. The American daily average is 1 gram per 1 kilogram. Further studies are required to assess the long term effects of high protein, low fat dieting.

It is important to keep in mind, however, that DIT or the thermic effect of a meal only represents 3-10% of total daily energy expenditure (TDEE). So we must keep things in perspective. Basal or resting metabolism accounts for up to 70% of TDEE and energy expenditure from exercise is responsible for the rest. Logic dictates, therefore that these two take precedence over DIT.

The other big influencing factor in weight loss is the reduction of daily food intake. Let's look at the input/output equation: x (Input) - y (Output) = z. Daily output and total daily energy expenditure (TDEE) are the same thing. If you ate fewer calories (x) than your body burned (y), z would have a negative value. If you consumed more calories than your body expended, z would be positive. A negative balance in the equation results in weight loss, a positive value causes weight gain. It's that simple.

In the above study, the high protein low fat type diet involves 2 factors of Input: Food composition and food quantity. In this diet, food composition (food selection) consists of a certain combination of macronutrients (high protein, low fat). Food intake (Input) affects the DIT which causes a certain increase (energy expenditure) on the Output part of the equation. And, as food composition varies so does the DIT. Food composition, though, can only have a limited effect on DIT. Remember DIT only represents 3-10% of the TDEE (Output). And food composition (high-protein, low-fat), accounts for a percentage of DIT, which represents even a smaller value. Food quantity, on the other hand, can have a tremendous effect on the equation - as it increases, the balance becomes more positive. If it surpasses TDEE then you gain weight - quite independently of DIT.

As a result, there can be a downside with respect to DIT involving the high-protein low-fat diet or any diet for that matter. With this diet, as protein intake increases so does the DIT. The problem is, however, that the food quantity (Input) also increases. The point here is that there is a limit to the amount of protein you can ingest before your body starts storing it as fat. Because DIT doesn't account for expending a lot of calories (3-10% of TDEE), and food composition (high-protein, low-fat) accounts for a percentage of DIT, there's only so much protein you can ingest before you start getting a surplus of calories. And excess dietary protein just as excess carbohydrate or fat is stored as fat in the body's adipose tissue. The only other factor that can compensate for the excess of protein intake is an increase in exercise participation. Although, that would defeat the purpose for obvious reasons.

Physical activity, however, can have a large effect on the Output part on TDEE (Output). Not only does it account for a much larger energy expenditure than DIT, countless of studies have shown that regular physical activity actually increases basal metabolism, which accounts for up to 70% of TDEE. As a result, regular exercise participation essentially has a compounding effect on the calorie burning process.

As we can see then, the bulk of weight loss and weight gain comes down to the quantity of calories ingested (Input) and calories burned (output). Furthermore, exercise and metabolism are responsible for approximately 90%-97% of TDEE. Energy expenditure from DIT is almost insignificant in comparison. DIT is just not effective enough to produce a negative caloric balance independently of total caloric intake, energy expenditure from exercise and basal metabolism - especially for most overweight individuals. And it would be unrealistic for overweight or obese people to rely exclusively on DIT to lose weight. These people are either overeating, aren't active enough or have low basal metabolic rates - or a combination of all three factors.

So, it still looks like there's no easy way out - you actually have to work, if you you're going to lose weight. The easiest way to achieve that is with the efficient use of all Input and Output components. That also means you must know your priorities. Most of your efforts should be spent in finding an adequate balance between a reduction of total daily caloric intake and a sufficient level of physical activity. And emphasis on DIT should take on a secondary role.

But wait, before you put on your running shoes and begin another diet plan, you might want to hear some very interesting news. There are certain cultures around the world whose diets contain just as much fat and carbohydrate (if not more) as in the American diet. Yet they are slimmer, and have much fewer occurrences of heart disease and cancer than their American counterparts.

Recent studies have shown that people in certain Mediterranean regions and in France manage to stay healthier and are less obese than those in other western countries. Let's look at the French first.

In a study by Adam Drewnowski of the University of Michigan, scientists examined the eating habits of 1,637 men and 1,576 women in America and compared them to those of 5,000 French adults. They studied their overall diets based on diversity (foods from 5 major food groups), variety (total number of foods consumed daily) and moderation (according to USDA dietary guidelines). (2)

The results were quite surprising. They found that the French ate more foods that were higher in fat, saturated fat and cholesterol than their American counterparts. The study also showed that the French diet complied with very few of the USDA dietary recommendations for eating healthy. In addition, the findings showed that 99% of French women's diets had saturated fat contents in excess of 10% of total daily calories. What's shocking is that, on average, the French are thinner and have fewer occurrences of heart disease than Americans.

The possible harmful effects of the high fat content in the French diet, however, were offset by diet diversity and variety. Drewnowski pointed out that "the low fat approach is very good but not if it comes at the expense of dietary variety."

The USDA recommends that diets should consist of a variety of foods. According to the American part of the study, just one in ten men and one in sixteen women consumed food from all five food groups (Meat, dairy products, fruits, vegetables and grains). The other thing is that the French have more active lifestyles than Americans do. Americans typically drive more, walk less and participate in more sedentary type of leisure activities.

Similarly, a Mediterranean diet study also showed that the diet was high in fat, more diverse and had greater variety than the American diet. According to research, certain Mediterranean people, particularly from the Greek island of Crete, had fewer cases of heart disease and were thinner than Americans.

The difference in this study, however, was a crucial finding that suggested food variety and diversity created a certain dietary ratio. This was a ratio between 2 types of fatty acids present in the Mediterranean diet. These fatty acids are found in plant sources and fall into 2 groups: The omega-6 and omega-3 fatty acids. You have probably heard of the multiple health benefits of these essential fatty acids many times before. They are called essential fatty acids (EFAs) because the body cannot produce them - they can only be obtained from food sources.

Although omega-6 fatty acids are essential to the diet, the omega-3 group has more significant therapeutic properties. Omega-3s contain powerful antioxidants that are known to fight against heart disease, lower blood pressure, strengthen the immune system, improve mood disorders to name a few.

The other benefit of omega-3s according to research is that they also have an amazing ability to control body fat. Omega-3s control the quantity of adipose (fat) tissue by regulating the amount of fat that goes into fat cells and the amount that is burned up for energy. (3, 4) Omega-3s have also been shown to increase fat oxidation in the body - the process by which fat is broken down and used as fuel for energy. (4) This further promotes a reduction in body weight that consists of fat mass.

According to scientists the key factor in diet composition is that the French diet and more so the Mediterranean diet consist of higher intakes of foods containing omega-3s than the American diet. In other words their diets contain a better (lower) omega-6 to omega-3 ratio than the American diet. And that's the key. One of the main reasons Americans have lower intakes of omega-3s is because of their high intake of processed food. Food processing is largely responsible for removing a lot of the omega-3 content from food.

On the other hand the French and Mediterranean diets are more abundant in whole foods, fresh fruits and vegetables. And so their intake of omega-3s is considerably higher. In addition, the people of Crete eat 10 times more fish (rich source of omega-3s) than Americans do. Other important sources of omega-3s in the Mediterranean diet were: fish, purslane (wild plant high in omega-3 content), walnuts, figs and various other unrefined carbohydrates. By the way, the most abundant source of omega-3s is found right here in North America, and that's flax seed oil.

As we can see, two different cultures manage to stay healthier and slimmer than North Americans while eating foods that contain high fat, carbohydrate and protein contents. The key differences are that their diets contain more unrefined foods; they consist of foods from all food groups and have more variety. As a result they have higher intakes of omega-3s (lower omega-6: omega-3 ratio) than other Western cultures. In addition, both these groups of people are more physically active than Americans.

Now, you can put on those sneakers and walk (or jog) to the supermarket for a new supply of fresh wholesome food.

The Diet Craze

2010-11-04T23:28:00.000+08:00

That little bikini in the back of your bottom dresser drawer is calling your name. The sun is shining, the kids are begging for a trip to the beach, but the idea of putting on a bathing suit makes you about as excited as the idea of spending the day scrubbing toilets. You are not alone. In 2003, 65% of U.S. citizens tried some form of weight loss or weight control. But the idea of weight-loss is daunting to anyone, especially with the ever-increasing number of weight-loss plans, online diets and magic pills that make the weight vanish while you sleep (wouldn't that be nice?).

To ease your worries and debunk the mysteries, we have taken a close look at three of the most popular diets out there.

Atkins

* What it is

Known predominantly for its low-carb stance on weight-loss, the Atkins diet has been making noise in the media for decades. Dr. Atkins' theory is that a diet high in carbohydrates does not allow the body to produce high levels of energy. By eliminating these carbohydrates from your diet, your body will instead use fat as fuel, ultimately resulting in weight loss. This "fat burning energy," as the plan calls it, claims to shed pounds and diminish your appetite. The drastic exclusion of carbs, while adding in healthy doses of saturated fat is the basic formula of the Atkins' diet supposed magic.

* What you do

The Atkins' diet is broken up into four phases that guide you through the weight-loss process. You may choose to begin your diet at any phase, but it is recommended that you start at Phase 1 to help your body adjust to the drastic diet change.

- Phase 1: Induction

This is essentially a 14-day boot camp for your body in which you eat leafy greens and non-starchy vegetables as the 20 Net Carbs allowed per day.

- Phase 2: Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL)

During this time, you are given greater freedom in your diet choices and can eat up to 25 Net Carbs per day. This is a slower-paced phase in which the Atkins people promise the pounds will come off gradually.

- Phase 3: Pre-Maintenance

Nearing your target weight, this phase encourages you to "take ownership of your new Atkins healthy eating habits" and plan to maintain them even after reaching your weight goal.

- Phase 4: Lifetime Maintenance

In this final phase, Atkins challenges you to maintain your Atkins Carbohydrate Equilibrium (ACE) and stay within 5 pounds of your final target weight. Using the knowledge and habits learned throughout the diet, you should potentially be able to maintain your weight for the rest of your life.

* What you eat

Your carb intake is determined by which phase you are in, so obviously you'll have more options the longer you stick with the plan. The following are just a few menu options, but click here for more recipes:

Crab and Avocado Salad

Chocolate Pancakes

Pork Chops with Walnuts and Blue Cheese

Shrimp and Feta Stew

Chocolate Cream Frosty

Wild Mushroom and Gruyere Cheese Omelets

Chicken and Cheese Quesadillas

Italian Meatballs with Tomato Sauce

Mahi-Mahi with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Vanilla Mousse with Rhubarb Sauce

Salmon-Stuffed Zucchini

* What you should know

Like any fad, there are always loyal followers and skeptic criticizers. For the Atkins diet, most criticism from the medical profession focuses around a health concern. Because the diet is so high in saturated fats, you may shed the pounds, but your heart may be suffering as well. It has also been found to be as effective or less effective than other diets that include carbohydrates in a more balanced diet. However, to date, there have been no long-term studies of people on the Atkins' diet.

Zone (also see Dr. Sears' website)

* What it is

Unlike the Atkins' diet, the Zone Diet is less about dieting and more about a lifetime of healthy eating. Founded by Dr. Barry Sears in 1984, he believes that achieving hormonal balance through diet is essential to maintaining a healthy weight. According to Sears, hormone insulin will make you fat and keep you fat, so the goal is to regulate that insulin.

* What you do

The Zone Diet is simpler to explain because its foundation is very basic. There are no steps or phases, just the goal to stay within the Zone.

- 3 meals, 2 snacks

In order to maintain your desired insulin level, Sears believes you should eat at specific timed intervals throughout the day, totaling three meals and two snacks. Even if you aren't hungry, you must eat to stay in the Zone. It is essential to plan your meals like you plan the rest of your day to ensure you eat the proper amount at the right time. This controls how your body uses proteins and carbohydrates consistently throughout the day.

- Exercise

Because staying in the Zone promises an increased level of energy, even people who are not normally active will want to add exercise into their daily routine. Sears encourages this activity, but believes that exercise can only get you so far. He says that it should be an 80/20 rule, with 80% diet and 20% exercise.

* What you eat

The possibilities are endless as to what you can create, as long as you stay within the guidelines. The following are some Zone snacks to keep you full between meals(click here for full recipes). Also, check out the Zone food and recipe website for more ideas:

Deviled Eggs with Hummus

Waldorf Salad

Chips and Salsa

Mini Pita Pizza

Spinach Salad

Tuna Salad and Cracker

Hot Dog (soy)

Low-Fat Cottage Cheese & Fruit

Crabmeat Salad Sandwiches

Ham and Fruit

* What you should know

Although the Zone diet shows slightly higher success rates than the Atkins' diet, it is smart to be skeptical of any diet that concentrates on one food group drastically more than the others. Consequently, the American Heart Association does not recommend the Zone diet of its excessive emphasis on high-protein, little nutrients and the lack of long-term studies done on the Zone diet.

South Beach Diet

* What it is

The South Beach Diet was originally created by Dr. Arthur Agatston, who is a cardiologist in Miami, Florida. He wanted to find a way for his heart patients to lose weight in a healthy way. Concentrating on good carbs and good fats rather than bad carbs and bad fats, the idea is to get rid of bad fats and carbs that impair insulin's ability to properly process fats and sugars. Overall, Agatston believes in a healthy balance of food in general, rather than an elimination of carbohydrates.

* What you do

There are three phases in this diet and, like the Atkins' diet, with each new phase you have more options of food.

- Phase 1: Start losing weight

During this phase, your three meals per day will include normal-sized helpings and plenty of choices including meat, seafood, vegetables, eggs and nuts. Part of this phase is eliminating hunger cravings and learning which foods will keep you full the longest. Like the Zone diet, you should eat two snacks per day as well.

- Phase 2: Reach your goal

The key to this phase is balance. You may start adding foods back into your diet that were not allowed before, but in a balanced relation to the other foods in your diet. Whether it be bread, rice, potatoes or cereal, you will learn how to eat them and make them "smart carbs."

- Phase 3: A diet for life

After the first two phases, you will have learned how to eat and prepare meals that include good carbs and good fat to help you maintain a healthy lifestyle. The South Beach Diet emphasizes the long-term effects of the diet. In fact, they say that, "you'll notice that this plan feels less like a diet and more like a way of life."

* What you eat

The South Beach Diet has hundreds of recipes for each phase so you can prepare healthy meals at home, but they also have a retail product lines from Kraft and Santa Fe to make staying on the diet that much easier. Here are a few choices:

Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Roasted Eggplant with Lemon and Olive Oil

Baked Barbecue Chicken

Whole Wheat Penne with Eggplant and Ricotta

Cannellini Bean Salad

Warm Beef Salad

Mango Smoothie

Pear Bran Muffins

Low-Carb Diet - Should I or Shouldn't I?

2010-11-04T11:50:00.000+08:00

It's no wonder that confusion reigns when it comes to the worth and reliability of low-carb diets after all the conflicting studies and confusing interpretation of the information. It seems like debates are popping up everywhere!

No matter if it's Atkins, South Beach or some other low-carb plan, there are approximately 30 million Americans are on a low-carb diet.

Supporters contend that the large amount of carbohydrates in our diet has led to increased problems with obesity, diabetes, and other health situations. On the other hand, some attribute obesity and related health problems to over eating of calories and lack of physical activity. They also express concern that without grains, fruits, and vegetables in low-carbohydrate diets may lead to deficiencies of some key nutrients, including vitamin C, fiber, folic acid, and many minerals.

It is already known that any diet, whether high or low in carbohydrates, can produce meaningful weight loss during the early stages of the diet. Keep in mind, the key to a diet being successful is in being able to lose the weight on a permanent basis.

Let's see if we can expose some of the mystery about low-carb diets. Following, is a listing of some related points taken from recent studies and scientific literature.

Point 1 - Some Differences Between Low-Carb Diets

There are many famous diets created to lower carbohydrate consumption. Lowering total carbohydrates in the diet means that protein and fat will take up a proportionately greater amount of the total caloric intake.

Low carbohydrate diet like the Atkins Diet restrict carbohydrate to a point where the body becomes ketogenic (a high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet that includes normal amounts of protein). Other low-carb diets like the Zone and Life Without Bread are less confined. Some, like Sugar Busters announce only
to eliminate sugars and foods that elevate blood sugar levels excessively.

Point 2 - What We Know about Low-Carb Diets

+Close to all of the studies to date have been small with a diversity of research objectives.
Carbohydrate, caloric intake, diet duration and participant characteristics are wide-ranged greatly. Most of the studies to date have two things in common, none of the research studies had people in the study with a average age over 53 and none of the controlled studies lasted more than 90 days.

+The results on older adults and long-term results are scarce. Many diet studies fail to keep track of the amount of exercise, and therefore caloric use, while people in the study are dieting. This helps to explain the variances between studies.

+If you lose weight on a low-carb diet it is a function of the calorie intake and length of the diet, and not with reduced amount of carbohydrates.

+There is very little evidence on the long-range safety of low-carb diets. Even though the medical community has concerns, no short-term bad effects have been found with cholesterol, glucose, insulin and blood-pressure levels among the people in the study on the diets. Because of the short period of the studies the adverse effects may not show up. Losing weight typically leads to improvement in these levels, and this may offset an increase caused by a high fat diet. The over-all weight changes for low-carb and other types of diets are similar.

+Most low-carb diets can cause ketosis. Nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and confusion are some of the potential consequences. When first starting a low-carb diet some fatigue and constipation may be met and these symptoms usually disappear quickly.

+Some report that you can have more calories when on a low-carb diet. Remember a calorie is a calorie no matter what you intake. When the study is not closely supervised variations will result by people cheating in the study on many factors of the study.

There are three important factors I would like to re-emphasize:

1.- The over-all success rate for low-carb and other types of diets are similar.

2.- Small amount of information exists on the long-term efficacy and safety of low-carb diets despite their huge popularity,

3.- Dieters usually experience boredom with a strict version of the low-carb diet and are not able to stay on diets of low carb food.

After observing the subject, a more severe and controlled study are needed on a long-range basis. The ketosis produced is abnormal and stressful metabolic state. The results may cause more problems than it solved.

By picking a reliable diet you will benefit over a lifetime of proper eating and not a weight loss quickie.
An excellent rule of thumb is look at the diet long-range and see if you can see yourself still on that diet after a couple of weeks. However, by following a diet with fat, carbohydrates, protein and other nutrients in moderation may be the best way to go and a little more exercise won't hurt either.

The Detox Diet Controversy

2010-11-04T00:18:00.000+08:00

Detox or Starvation?

The detox diet has come under harsh scrutiny over the past few months. There are ample claims that the only weight lost is the water weight form the initial fast and the natural weight loss occurs from cutting caloric intake. The detox diet is quite restrictive, to the point where some people are calling it a starvation diet. There have been countless articles written by "experts" that state that the detox diet endangers people, stating that it creates yo-yo dieting, an unhealthy relationship with food, and even can contribute to the development of an eating disorder.

We also know that the vast majority of the "experts" who write these articles are those in the health and weight loss industry, such as nutritionists, health program supervisors, weight loss counselors, and lay people with an extreme interest in health and fitness. While I am certainly not suggesting that anyone is fabricating evidence or creating thought processes that are not accurate, I am however, indicating that when a person is educated to see things in one specific manner, it can be very difficult for them to see the same principles in a varying manner. For example, if a dietician goes to college and is taught that green beans cause cancer, that dietician will graduate believing that green beans cause cancer. If the same dietician returns for occasional classes to keep her education current, and over the course of the next ten years, the dietician is once again taught that green beans cause cancer, then the dietician will continue to believe this and teach her clients this as well. Fifteen years later someone comes along and points out to the dietician that green beans don't cause cancer, how likely is the dietician to believe that green beans don't cause cancer?

This phenomenon is not solely related to dieticians and health related fields. This phenomenon actual relates to every field. As a writer I was taught that you never speak in double negatives. It's a basic principle I apply every day. If someone tried to convince me that the rules had suddenly changed, right or wrong, it has already been ingrained in me that double negatives are inappropriate and you shouldn't use them. Thus, if I criticize this new theory without completely re-educating myself on the basic rules of English and grammar, then I am relying solely on my previous knowledge to dispute this issue.

So let's break away from conventional dieticians and explore the detox diet with a completely blank slate. I am not a dietician. I am just a writer is interested to know whether the detox diet is a healthy form of purification, or if it is a hidden form of starvation that does nothing but allow some water weight loss and makes you believe you are healthier. I have assembled three people who have done the detox diet and three who have not. Granted, this is not a huge percentage to pull from, but I am not using them as test subjects, only to ask them to verify or deny detox diet statements that are made from both testimonials from detox dieters and criticism from dieticians.

Fasting and Purity

For centuries people have fasted for purity. If we look back through even ancient texts, we will find that the fasting was not for spiritual purity alone, but for physical purity as well. Fasting for purity often left the spiritual seeker feeling initially drained and then once again reenergized within a thirty six hour period. The purity that they felt within their spirits was also a purity that they felt through their body. This argument can be easily criticized that they felt their body's purity because of their spiritual lifting. All three detox dieters, who were not in search of spiritual enlightenment, all agreed that they felt weak from the initial starvation, but began to feel "clearer," before the end of the second day. None of them agreed that they were experiencing starvation. They all felt their fasting led to at least some form of physical purity.

In medical science, there are times when doctors recommend fasting. Not including pre surgical procedures, most fasting requirements are for some form of "readying" or purity. Prior to starting diets that treat illnesses, such as the ketogenic diet, there is a period of fasting required beforehand.

Critics of the detox diet claim that the headaches and general all over yucky feeling people experience in the first week of a detox diet is from a lack of food. However, champions of the detox diet say that the headaches and the generally "yucky" feeling they get when fasting coincides with a noticeable change in their excretions. My three detox dieters all agreed that when their urine and bowel movements became noticeably more "aromatic" they found themselves with headaches and a feeling of overall fatigue. They did not contribute this feeling to fasting.

I did an online search and found eleven dieticians that negated the detox diet. Each one of them claimed that the headaches were from the fasting, however, each of them offered their own version of the detox diet. Interesting. The dieticians' versions included what could almost be considered fasting. Their idea of not fasting was eating some fruit and yogurt. Most detox diets do not include a total fasting period.

The critics of the detox diet are not impressed with the detox diet weight loss. They claim that the detox diet weight loss comes from the loss of water weight during the fasting period and will be regained quickly when normal eating is resumed. The detox diet weight loss comes from various sources. If you are doing a complete detoxification, including the colon, all three of my detox dieters claim that you can see where some of the weight loss comes from as you are flushing it down the toilet. Two of my detox dieters had to call plumbers from the excessive waste they produced. Their detox diet weight loss has remained, and two of them started the detox diet more than six months prior to this writing. Detox diet weight loss remained in all three of my dieters because they make better choices. They resumed normal eating habits, but they did not return to ingesting large amounts of junk foods. They claim that the detox diet showed them how important maintaining a low toxic level was to their overall health.

Just Another Diet Trend?

The critics of the detox diet claim that this diet trend, like all those that came before it, is no more effective than anything else that has been put out there. Whenever a new diet trend comes along, people rush to participate, and then claim that it doesn't work. Not all diets will work for everyone. I tried the Atkins diet for awhile with little or no results, but a man I knew lost nearly thirty pounds on it. However Atkins doesn't work very well for people who are not significantly overweight, according to some critics and apparently my body. So, does that mean that the detox diet is more than just another diet trend, or will it fall to the wayside after a bit like every other diet trend. Of my detox dieters, 2 out of three say it's not a diet trend. It is a method of cleansing the body, which other diet trends simply don't do. The 3rd dieter says it is a diet trend, but a highly effective diet trend, and if a diet trend is effective then who cares if it's a trend? Interesting point.

Diet trend and fads usually don't carry much weight behind their claims. They are simply a theory produced to suggest that the latest Diet trend is the most effective weight loss plan and everyone needs to jump on board before their obesity claims them forever. The detox diet has a different aim, so I really poked around when trying to determine if this was simply just a diet trend or more of a health revolution.

There is overwhelming evidence that Americans and Canadians are in the poorest health overall, considering the health care we have available. The healthcare we have at our fingertips should make us one of the healthiest nations in the world, but we rank very low on the list. Most doctors and scientists contribute this to the foods we put into our body and the chemicals we come in contact with when eating, working, and playing. For the health choices that we have available to us, we have one of the highest rates of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, and childhood cancer rates in the world. Of course, we also rank ridiculously high on the list for overweight and obese citizens.

The detox diet is concerned with addressing the overall health of Americans, not just their waistline. The diet trends that have come along have been concerned with treating the waistline issues, but not the overall health. So, is the detox diet just another diet trend? By technical definition, a diet trend meaning any new method of eating introduced into society that creates a sudden onslaught of followers, well then yes. However, it can't be considered a diet trend by any other definition. It was simply not developed for the same reasons or the same fashion that diet trends hit the market.

Thin people can benefit from the detox diet. Overweight people can benefit from the detox diet. Everyone in between can benefit from the detox diet. The detox diet isn't targeted for weight loss. Thus it is really about a healthier lifestyle. Detox dieting is geared toward permanent health. After a significant purge of the body's chemical and toxic build up, the detox diet is geared to long lasting non-toxic lifestyles rather than diet trends, which tend to be geared toward lifestyles that manage weight.

Decide for Yourself

Discover for yourself the difference in a good quality detox diet and just another diet trend. The best consumer is an informed consumer. Check out detox manual and decide for yourself about the power of a good detox diet. After the research I did for this article, I am definitely stopping at detox manual and taking my own detox diet trip.

Diet Programs - The Basics

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Atkins Diet Program

The Atkins diet program is based on the principle of switching your body to burn fat instead of carbohydrates to obtain energy. It is a life change rather than a diet program, as in order to keep the pounds off you need to stick to the recommended way of eating.

The main difference to other diet programs is in what you are allowed to eat ie eggs, meat including beef, pork, turkey, chicken, duck, wild game, veal & lamb also fish such as shellfish. Fats are also permitted ie butter, olive oil & mayonnaise, certain cheeses are also permitted.

You must drink lots of water, only de-caffinated coffee & will need to take vitamin supplements including minerals. You must also exercise every day, no need to do a marathon however, a brisk walk will suffice. You are encouraged to eat enough to satisfy your appetite but you must not overeat.

You must not drink alcohol. You must not cheat; it takes 2-3 days for the body to switch from burning carbohydrates (in the form of glucose) to burning fat, so if you cheat you are back to day 1.

You cannot eat the following:

Sugar in any form, corn syrup, honey or maple syrup.

Milk or Yogurt - a limited amount of cream is allowed.

Fruit & fruit juice.

Flour products (bread, pasta, crackers etc)

Grains or cereals.

Beans and legumes.

Starchy or high sugar vegetables such as potatoes, yams, corn, peas, parsnips, beets & carrots.

Sweet condiments such as most ketchups, bbq sauce & balsamic vinegar.

French dressing & thousand island dressing.

Cottage cheese, farmers cheese & other fresh cheeses.

Nuts & seeds.

Diet Program Pro's

Lots of popular foods are permitted & you can have snacks between meals. No need to starve and are encouraged to eat when hungry.

Diet Program Con's

Must stick to diet for good to keep off unwanted pounds. No breaks or cheat days allowed. May not be suitable if you can't go without coffee or alcohol.

South Beach Diet Program

Similar to the Atkins diet program in that it changes the way you eat whilst still allowing plenty of popular foods such as meat, fish & eggs but you can also eat cheese & vegetables.

You can have 3 meals a day & even 2 snacks a day. You can also have dessert & diet soda. You are not allowed any alcohol for an initial 2 week period but after that you are allowed to drink wine. After an initial 2 week start where what you can eat is limited you can start to phase some of your favourite foods back into your diet. Its all about eating "good carbs" instead of "bad carbs".

Diet Program Pro's

Based on a healthy way of eating rather than a diet. Many of your favourite foods are probably still allowed. Some alcohol ie wine is allowed.

Diet Program Con's

You may find the first couple of weeks particularly hard due to what you can eat being limited.

Zone Diet Program

Developed by Barry Sears a biochemist, the Zone Diet is about controlling your insulin level through a balanced diet of carbohydrates, proteins & fat, also known as the 40-30-30 diet (40% carbohydrates, 30% Proteins 30% fat). Once again it is a way of living rather than just a diet with 3 stages geared to make you lose weight, control hunger & have more energy. It is based on consistent insulin levels with the supplementation of high dose fish oil.

The Zone diet encourages eating regularly throughout the day & eliminates many jink foods such as sweets & chips.

The "Zone" refers to being in a physiological state in which hormones, governed by the food you eat, are in a zone which is neither too high nor too low.

Diet Program Pro's

Balanced diet rather than cutting out foods you may enjoy.

Diet Program Con's

The reasoning behind the diet can be quite technical & therefore many people may disagree about its merits.

Mediterranean Diet Program

Not a diet as such but simply a way of eating for hundreds if not thousands of years followed by people of countries bordering the Mediterranean such as Greece, Southern Italy, parts of North Africa & the Middle East.

It is well known that people from these areas have a lower incidence of heart disease; this is believed to be due to over half of their fat intake being from monounsaturated fat (mainly from olive oil) as opposed to saturated fat, prominent elsewhere. Saturated fat is known to raise cholesterol levels.

The basic diet followed is one that has a low consumption of red meat, low to moderate consumption of sweets, fish, eggs & dairy products except cheese & natural yogurt, a high consumption of fresh fruits & vegetables & a higher consumption of breads, pasta, rice, potatoes & couscous. Water & red wine (in moderation) are taken with meals.

Diet Program Pro's

Not a "fad diet" but a traditional way of eating with known health benefits.

Diet Program Con's

None as such apart from if you are unable to obtain fresh fruit & veg.

Weight Watchers Diet Program

There are 2 main diet programs for you to follow; one a points system where all foods are allocated points according to their calorie, fat & fibre content. You are allowed to use up (or consume) a set number of points per day. The other diet program is a no points system which allows you to eat from a range of wholesome foods without having to count the calories.

The weight watchers diet program can be followed online as well as offline through regular local meetings where you will get not just tips & guidance but the support & encouragement of fellow weight watchers.

Diet Program Pro's

On the points system you can eat what you like as long as you stick to the number of points. The meetings can help to keep you motivated.

Diet Program Con's

Offline meetings may not be practical for you. The points system may leave you feeling hungry.

Detox Diet Benefits

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What to Expect when Detox Dieting

All detox diets are a little bit different. Some restrict food down to almost nothing while others allow for mostly veggies, beans, fruit, and rice. There are a few things that you should expect when beginning a detox diet, so that you can receive the full detox diets benefits.

Your body is significantly used to adjusting to toxins and poisons running through your body. One of the greatest detox diet benefits, naturally, is that you will rid your body of these toxins and poisons. There are side effects of receiving these detox diet benefits. If you are particularly used to that steaming cup of caffeinated beverage in the morning, you will experience caffeine withdrawal. While it may not seem like it while you are experiencing caffeine withdrawal, this is one of the detox diet benefits. Once your body has adjusted to the absence of caffeine, you should find that you have more energy.

Constipation is considered a leading cause of lethargy and fatigue. One of the detox diet benefits is the cleansing of the colon, which can cure even long term constipation. I had a room mate that was on narcotic pain relievers for over a year due to a severe injury. The narcotics kept her chronically constipated. The day she was finally through with her narcotic pain relievers, she went through a detox diet. She found that the detox diet benefits included relieving her body of the narcotic dependency as well as relieved her chronic constipation. She now regularly cleanses and detoxifies her colon when she is having difficulty going to the restroom, with obvious detox diet benefits as she returns from the restroom with a pleased grin on her face instead of the anguish she used to live in.

Even with the detox diet benefits, some people report feeling a bit weak about one week into the detox diet. Most detox diets do reduce food consumption, which can have an effect. The basic key is knowing how to elongate the effects of the foods you do eat. Those who really struggle with the lowered food consumption report that splitting the lunches into 2 meals works better for them than eating just the suggested breakfast and lunch. This still gives them the detox diet benefits but doesn't introduce additional foods into the scenario. Most detox diet experts state that provided you are not adding additional foods to the diet, segregating the meals into smaller snacks is perfectly acceptable.

The excessive water consumption associated with the detox diet is going to encourage your system to flush, which means you will be visiting the rest room much more often. This is a positive detox diet benefit. The more water that flushes your system the more toxins that will exit your body when you excrete it, and excreting it often will enhance the productivity of the entire process.

One of the little known detox diet benefits is the regeneration of the liver that can occur while following a detox diet. Milk thistle is typically recommended as part of the supplementation of the detox diet. Milk thistle aids in the liver's ability to regenerate. It's not a cure for liver disease, however it can help in the prevention of a liver disease, along with other changes to your lifestyle.

What Not to Expect when Detox Dieting

Detox dieting is designed to alleviate the ailments associated with large quantities of toxins that are built up in the human body. Detox dieting is not a "cure" for every disease. While most people experience great relief from every day annoying symptoms, detox dieting does not eliminate diseases that are already in the system. For instance, you can not rid you body of cancer cells by detox dieting. The cancer cells, for starters are not an actual toxin. They may have been caused by toxins, but the cells themselves are not something that can be flushed away.

Most people drop several pounds when detox dieting. There are those who drop a significant amount of weight when detox dieting. This is normal, and while some of it can be contributed to the flushing of fat cells, water weight, and calorie reduction, there is some permanent weight loss happening provided you do not return to eating habits that are probable for weight gain. This means that if you were prone to eating potato chips and cookies prior to detox dieting and you return to eating potato chips and cookies after detox dieting, you will gain the weight back. This may seem obvious, but there are plenty of foods that people believe contain a low calorie and low fat content but in reality they contain quite the opposite. An avocado for example contains nearly three times the amount of fat and calories as a measured serving of enriched white rice. While detox dieting, learn to recognize the foods you are putting into your body and what they actually do once they enter your gullet.

Detox dieting is not a cure for serious emotional or mental conditions, such as clinical depression. While many people admit to feeling less "depressed" during and after detox dieting, there is a difference between situational depression and clinical depression. Clinical depression requires medication. Detox dieting can not take the place of medication that is necessary to function on a day to day basis. Situational depression may be alleviated through detox dieting simply because you are taking control of your body, your health, in essence, your situation. These two depressions are significantly different.

How is Detox Dieting Different from Other Diet Plans?

Diet plans are a dime a dozen. There are grapefruit diet plans and the Atkins diet plan and the green tea diet plan and the national chain diet plans. An individual can spend countless hours and thousands of dollars "trying on" various diet plans. Some will work while others will ultimately fail. Why? Because not all diet plans will work for everyone. Does detox dieting work for everyone? Yes. Why? Because losing weight is a by product of the goal. The goal is to clean the body of the various toxins and wastes which have accumulated over the years. This is a process of ridding the body of the ailing chemicals we introduce it to on a daily basis while eliminating the build up of residual toxins. Weight loss occurs as a result of numerous factors, but weight loss in not the primary goal of a detox diet plan.

Keep in mind that not all detox diet plans are the same. Some detox diet plans are put together by professionals who understand the body's ability to cleanse itself of these harmful chemicals. While diet plans are typically put together by an entrepreneurial spirit, the detox diet plan was actually something that originated by a naturopathist, an individual who studies the various body types and how they process things on their own unique level. Since the detox diet plan was developed, there have been a remarkable number of "knock off" detox diet plans that have shown up on the market. These are all plans that suggest you stop eating and drink only diluted juice for several days (beyond twenty four hours this becomes unhealthy) and then limits food intake so dramatically that people find it impossible to stick to. If you're going to try any diet plan at all, it would simply make sense to start at the beginning. The beginning of healthy weight loss is a healthy body.

The dramatic detox diet benefits is that people who tried to detoxify their bodies using the original detox diet plan found themselves losing weight as a welcome surprise. Detox dieting has grown in popularity due to its dual effect. Detox dieting cleanses the body of the toxins and as a result, weight loss occurs. There simply isn't another diet plan that can match that no matter what they claim.

We live in a cluttered and chemically enriched society. Compare our lifestyles, our food products, and our basic need for heat and eat meals to the lifestyles and foods of people in remote and natural regions such as the Pacific Islands. People in natural regions are healthier overall. They eat natural foods that haven't been laced with chemicals and they live natural lives that don't revolve around the constant breathing of polluted air. Their bodies are not only healthier, but they are naturally thinner. They have fewer health complaints such as headaches and toothaches and stomach cramping.

The detox diet plan can help you jumpstart your body toward a healthier state of being. Naturally, effective detox dieting requires an effective detox diet plan. You really shouldn't just linger out there in cyberspace hoping the right detox diet plan will pop up into your browser. There are very few detox diet plans that I would dare put my stamp of approval on. However, one in particular I have found has excellent reviews by some actual detox dieters. Finding an authentic detox diet plan that is effective, safe, and of course reliable shouldn't be left to luck.

Weight Loss Programs - Which Diet is Best?

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We are lucky to live in an age when information is readily available to help us find a solution to almost any problem that we may be facing. Healthy weight loss is a perfect example of this. There are many weight loss programs that will suit almost any type of person and their lifestyle.
An important thing to consider when choosing the right program is to find one that educates you long term on how to lose weight and keep it off for good. Below are some of the most popular weight loss programs on the market today:

The Diabetes Diet
The Diabetes diet is not so much a diet as an education on what foods are healthy and what foods cause the diabetic to have an increase in glucose in the blood. Each person differs in the way that their body and metabolism burns up glucose, so the diabetic diet differs among those who use it. The Diabetic diet is less like a diet and more like a healthy weight loss program that can be used by anyone who wants to benefit from a healthier lifestyle.

The South Beach Diet
The South Beach diet is known as one of the most popular, healthy weight loss diets of our time. A cardiologist named Dr Arthur Agatston, at a hospital in South Beach, created this diet. He originally developed the diet for patients who were overweight and had heart problems. Dr Agatston has been quoted as saying that the South Beach Diet is not a low carb eating plan or a low fat eating plan, but you can be assured that it is both healthy and really works.

NutriSystem Nourish Program
The Nutri System Nourish Program works by controlling the foods that you eat, as well as your portions. There are a few good things about this diet. The first is that the food is already prepared and shipped right to your front door - healthy weight loss without the dishes, much like Jenny Craig. The other benefit of the NutriSystem Nourish Program is that it is very affordable, even if you are not a Hollywood star.

The Zone Diet
Barry Sears PhD created the Zone Diet and according to recent studies, it has been found to be the most successful diet from among such diets as the Atkins diet and other high carb, low fat diets. The diet itself is said to be quite tricky to understand and works on a formula of 40% carbs and 30% of both protein and fats, for every meal. If you can understand the Zone diet, you will have a great success rate from being on it.

The Atkins Diet
The Atkins Diet has been around since the 70s when Dr. Robert Atkins wrote the book, The New Diet Revolution. This diet became very popular a few years ago, but that popularity is beginning to dwindle. The Atkins Diet works on the principal that you are allowed to eat proteins and fat, but must avoid eating carbs in your eating plan.
This particular way of eating has created a lot of controversy and the results have been mixed. It is said that the Atkins Diet is not for everyone, but research suggests that many people have achieved short-term weight loss from this diet.

Negative Calorie Diet Plan
This program is said to be a fad diet that is a thinly disguised low calorie diet. The Negative Calorie Diet works by eating foods that take more calories to digest than what they contain. There have been mixed results with the Negative Calorie Diet Plan, but, as a rule, many people have had a short-term weight loss solution on this diet.

The Three-Day Diet
The three-day diet claims that those using it will lose up to 10 pounds in 3 days by sticking to the meal plan for the three days. It is based on a very low calorie-eating plan. A low calorie plan can be of little use for shedding pounds if used over a longer period than three days because, after this time, your body will begin a starvation mode and slow down your metabolism. Because the diet is based on a low calorie-eating plan, you may also feel drained of energy and hungry. This may cause many people to stop using this eating plan.

Overcoming plateaus on the Atkins diet

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If you are experiencing a stall or plateau in your Atkins weight loss efforts, you are not alone. This occurs from time to time. However, you first must make sure that you have actually reached a plateau point.

A plateau means that you have gone an extended period of time without losing weight or inches. It’s important to take your measurements before you start your weight loss plan, in addition to your weight. On some weeks it may not seem like you are losing any at all on the scale. But a quick look at your measurements will prove otherwise.

On the Atkins diet you are replacing fat with muscle, which is denser and heavier. You might actually gain a little weight because you are building muscle to replace your fat. The result will be an increase on the scale, but a decrease in your inches. Your body will be smaller and leaner, but you may weigh the same.

Before you start your program, measure your chest, waist, hips, upper arms, thighs and calves. You never know where you may be losing inches, so it’s important to have these comprehensive measurements to refer to. It is normal to go through periods where you body is readjusting. Remember that you are reforming the composition of your body and this process will take some time. Check your measurements once a week, just like your weight, and you can track your overall progress.

There may be periods of 3 to 4 weeks where you have a stall in weight loss, but a loss in inches. Or vice versa. Using both methods to track your fat loss is the best assurance for an accurate measure of your progress. These stall periods are not a reason to quit or to give up. They are natural parts of the weight loss process.

Stalls may occur more frequently if you are 5 to 10 pounds away from being at your goal weight. By following a low-carb, high-protein way of eating you have created a lot more muscle in your body. Your muscle-to-fat ratio is higher than ever before, so your body might be resisting losing anymore fat. It may be time to rethink your goal weight. Perhaps your body is trying to tell you something and its time to start maintaining your weight loss rather than trying to lose more.

There are some other possible causes of stalls and plateaus on the road to weight loss. If you’ve gone four weeks with no change in weight or measurements and you are nowhere near your goal weight, you can try a few different methods to get yourself out of the rut. First, make sure your carbohydrate level is in check. If you are eating too many carbohydrate grams per day, your weight loss will stall. Look for hidden carbohydrates in packaged foods, dressings and sauces to make sure they aren’t the culprits in your plateau.

Check your daily water intake. When you are dehydrated, your body will retain water and that can mimic a plateau. Water will also help flush ketones from your system and make more room for new fat burning ketones.

Undereating can also be a cause for weight loss plateaus. Make sure not to let yourself go hungry and eat smaller, more frequent meals. Remember, you are on a carbohydrate-restricted diet, not a calorie-restricted diet. Make sure to have some protein with every meal and snack. Never go more than 5 hours without eating something (except overnight of course). Also, eat freely from the acceptable foods. Don’t try to count calories or restrict your calorie intake. When your body gets too few calories, it goes into starvation mode and will hold onto fat cells.

Increasing your exercise level can help get you through a plateau as well. As your muscles get used to working out at a certain level, you’ll have to increase the duration or the intensity in order to keep challenging your body. Add a new exercise into the mix, or try increasing weight in resistance training.

Trying one of these methods will most likely get your weight loss back on track. Remember that occasional stalls are normal, but they do not have to last.