Health and Diet Articles

Archive for the ‘Diet’ Category

Diets: A Dilemma

Friday, May 29th, 2009

diet3If anyone were so inclined, it would probably be quite possible to find a diet on the market today that included every food source known to man, in specific portions to be eaten at specific times of the day or night.

There are diets that forbid certain foods and demand that you eat at least five portions of certain other foods. There are diets that will cause you to lose all of that unwanted poundage – in one month or your money back.

If this sounds a little exaggerated, take a look on the Internet. Make it a long look – it will take you days at least. Now pick one that appeals to you and try it for the suggested length of time. No cheating. No substitutes. Eat and drink only what is prescribed, as much or as little as prescribed. Having fun yet?

The fact is that anybody can come up with a “sure-fire” weight loss program, and a great many have done so. These diets are often based on a theory that has not been proven by any sort of scientific research.

It is also a fact that “natural” food supplements are unregulated and can make claims about healthful or healing qualities without regard to proven results or lack thereof.

There are diets whose results are “proven” by data that is completely fabricated by those who are trying to make some money by convincing the uninformed or gullible public to buy a “quick fix”.

There are too many examples to count, but as a general rule these short-cut diets are potential hazards to your health, your wallet and your peace of mind.

Take as just one example the marvelous “Mayo Clinic Diet”. There is no such thing, according to personnel at the Mayo Clinic. Various pretenders to scientific knowledge have used its name, but the Clinic itself has never promoted or endorsed any of the “Mayo Clinic” diets.

Another well-known example is the Vitamin C craze initiated by Linus Pauling, a Nobel laureate. His claim about the efficacy of Vitamin C in the cure of not only the common cold but also cancer was simply never substantiated.

For much of the general public, if something can be made to look and sound like an authentic scientific presentation, it becomes a “fact”. In far too many cases, the “facts” are drawn from unconfirmed and unrelated sources – but they sure sound good. It is only human nature to look for the quicker, easier way.

No matter how long and hard you search, if you are honest with yourself a few ‘hard facts’ will emerge. If you consume more calories than your body uses, they will be stored – as extra weight.

If you use more calories than you ingest in the food you eat, you’ll lose weight, whether it’s stored in fat or in muscle tissue or bone. The ‘secret’ is not a secret; it’s been known for thousands of years. Exercise and moderation will win over any quick fix, and that’s good for a lifetime.

Your “Miracle Diet” – Miracle or Health Hazard?

Friday, May 29th, 2009

diet-14Almost by definition, a ‘fad’ diet is one whose popularity is based more on publicity than on confirmed results. The frequent claims of proponents who are quoted making such statements as, “I lost thirty pounds in three weeks!” can and often do lead to dangerous misconceptions.

A good rule of thumb is to take all of the extravagant advertising claims with a (figurative!) spoonful of salt and to consult with your physician before jumping into any sort of rapid weight loss plan.

Most, if not all of the current fad diets, if strictly followed, are going to deprive your body of some of the nutrients it requires to function well. Diabetics in particular should be very wary of any diet plan that calls for major restriction or elimination of any of the main food groups, even if only for a short period of time.

Among the most familiar and popular diets espoused today is the Atkins Diet, which involves a major reduction in the amount of LDL or “bad” cholesterol. There are several dangers with this regime, with the most obvious being induced ketosis where the body falls back not only on stored fat but also on muscle tissue as its energy source. This drawback is one common to many other popular diet plans that advertise “immediate” noticeable loss of weight.

The list of fad diets is long, and as the name suggests, they come and go with remarkable rapidity. Some, like the Atkins and the South Beach Diet, have been so commercially successful that they have become by-words in the weight loss industry. Others lose popularity because they are too expensive, too rigorous or too boring. Often the initial surge of interest is sparked by the endorsement of a “celebrity”.

In this Age of the Internet, millions of people tend to see and follow the latest craze, most with no idea of the potential dangers that may be involved. More often than not, any mention of possible side effects is made in very small print, if at all. This is partly due to the lack of long-term studies in most cases, but also to the very human desire for a quick fix. “Fast and easy” is still a very big attraction.

Keep in mind that all of the legitimate medical and scientific research on the subject of weight loss stresses the need for balance and moderation. Any extreme diet will cause you to lose weight, but only as long as you stick to it. Meanwhile you may very possibly be undermining your health, both short and long term. In addition, once you have reached your ‘goal’, you are very likely to return to your old eating habits.

Any diet that does not provide a long term, manageable and palatable plan of maintenance, including exercise and appropriate changes in lifestyle is just about doomed to failure. Your best possible course of action is to consult with your physician and/or a professional dietician. Get advice from those who have no commercial affiliations or other agenda except your own good health and well-being.

What Is The Sonoma Diet?

Thursday, May 21st, 2009

diet-121The best selling book according to the New York Times, is a book called The Sonoma Diet. The Writer is a Dr Connie Gutterson who came up with the idea of the Sonoma Diet program. The Sonoma Diets is written about foods from the Mediterranean, with them coming from California, Sonoma and The European Mediterranean. Comprising diets from Asian, Mediterranean and Latin America cultures.

Dr Gutterson, a top spokesperson on the benefits gained from theses worlds, is able to offer many wide and varying dishes to eat whilst on the program. Before getting too excited and taken in by the marketing hype of this book, have a look at the foods on offer to choose from, as not all of the foods in the diet lists are allowed and therefore are forbidden.

Dr Gutterson has come up with diets that heavily involve themselves with people’s food habits and the nutrients of foods. The diets listed in the book, offers no exercise regime to follow, although it does advise you to do some exercise but lists no workouts to follow.

The book tends to centre itself around food and for many people considering weight loss, they need the encouragement to get up and follow some guidelines with regard to exercising rather then telling them the foods to eat in order to lose weight.

Members can follow the stages in the diet by going through the Wave plan which is numbered for easy of reference. Wave 3 is the less restricted stage allowing the dieter more foods, this being the final stage then the first stage, Wave 1 which is very restricted.

The Wave stages of this diet is very difficult to achieve, as it tends to rely on the strength of willpower more then it does of exercises to complete the program in full. The diet is controlled by restricting the size of meals you have and they tend to be a lot smaller in size then they do of the meals of where they originated.

Amongst the negative responses with regard to actually successfully completing the diet, there have been many successful people who have achieved the end results with the restriction in size meals. The outstanding drawback on this book is, nowhere in the pages, does it explain what to eat for snacks during hunger pangs that are sometimes felt by dieters.

The Sonoma Diet despite its comments it, is still an achievable way to lose weight. A good thing that comes across in the book is there is no constant remainder of calorie counting.

Detailed in the book are times of when you can eat and which type of meals, which are laid out in stages. The final part of the plan, Wave 3 concentrates on the ongoing diet for the dieter once they have achieved their dream weight.

Everyone needs to find a program of weight loss that suits their needs individually as a person, the Somona diet is a great diet to follow if you are prepared to follow it religiously.