When you analyze any diet program, consider several important factors: the weight loss time frame promised by the program, whether it eliminates any food groups, the daily calorie amount allowed, the balance of macro nutrients, and the presence of artificial ingredients. Considering these factors will help you select an effective and medically sound diet.
Time Frame
Successful diet programs should encourage an average weight loss of approximately 1 to 2 pounds per week. If you want to lose weight more quickly, do so only under a doctor's supervision. Some diets that promise this safe, gradual weight loss include The Zone Diet, Weight Watchers and Best Life Diet. You might want to steer clear of diets that promise dangerously rapid weight loss, such as the Atkins Diet, which promises weight loss of up to 15 pounds in the first two weeks.
Real Food
Many diets substitute real food with chemically engineered substances. Although these "foods" look edible, your body does not process chemicals the same way it processes nutrients from foods. Artificial sweeteners and transfats, for example, may enhance the taste of some diet products but are discouraged by the Food and Drug Administration. Weight Watchers products are a chief offender in this category. The popular diet program even defends its use of these ingredients in moderation, saying, "Not everyone always agrees with the FDA's experts' opinions." Products sold by the Atkins Diet program also contain high levels of artificial ingredients.
Food Groups
To avoid nutrient deficiencies, dieters should not exclude entire food groups from their diet unless a legitimate allergy or intolerance exists. Some diets such as those espoused by the raw food movement eliminate entire segments of the USDA food pyramid. Weight Watchers and Best Life Diet score big points here for encouraging consumption of all food groups in caloric moderation.
Nutrient Balance
The National Academy of Sports Medicine encourages a diet consisting of 50 percent to 70 percent of total calories coming from carbohydrates, 15 percent to 30 percent from protein and 10 percent to 30 percent from fats. However, many diets suggest that weight loss can be achieved by straying from this balance regardless of the total number of calories consumed. The Zone Diet successfully encourages a balance of nutrients, whereas the Atkins Diet overemphasizes protein and fat. The South Beach Diet also shifts the balance to less than 30 percent of total calories coming from carbohydrates.
Calorie Content
Daily caloric intake should not dip below 1,200 calories unless you're under a doctor's direct supervision. However programs such as the Cabbage Soup Diet, Cookie Diet and the Beverly Hills Diet provide calorie counts well below this amount. Other programs such as the Atkins Diet and Zone Diet give no calorie restriction, which actually could lead to weight gain. Weight Watchers' point system provides an acceptable response to the calorie counting, though both calorie counting and point counting involve just that--counting. Bob Greene's Best Life Diet also successfully navigates the calorie confusion by providing a calorie counter tool on its website.
References
- FDA: Food
- Weight Watchers: Evaluating the Ingredients in Foods
- Every Diet
- "NASM Essentials of Personal Fitness Training"; M. Clark, S. Lucett, R. Corn, 2008
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