At any one time, millions of Americans are undertaking a diet program. Although some diets exist to control medical symptoms, the vast majority aim to help individuals lose weight. The effectiveness of these diet plans has been the subject of vigorous debates for many years, with most individuals looking for a magic diet plan; an easy-to-follow regimen that delivers results. Although each has its fair share of detractors, a number of diet plans have remained popular for the last few decades.
Atkins
A plan that has drawn its fair share of controversy over the years, this popular diet plan was initially introduced by Dr Robert Atkins. Atkins based the plan around older ketogenic diet plans which had demonstrated some usefulness in controlling epileptic symptoms, but caused weight loss as a side effect. A ketogenic diet is one where the body, when starved of carbohydrates, adapts itself so that it can break down ketones, compounds formed by the incomplete burning of fats. The basic premise of the diet plan remains the reduction in insulin output by drastically dropping the dietary intake of carbohydrates. The diet tends to provide a lot of meat and eggs. Few dieticians dispute the ability of such a diet plan to induce weight loss in the short term, but others question its long-term effectiveness and safety, pointing out that Dr Atkins died obese.
Low Calorie
A long-term favorite, the low calorie diet offers perhaps the most basic rationale behind its mechanism in the sense that you simply eat less. You measure the rate of this restriction by the amount of energy in the food you consume, using the calorie as a unit. The Happy Juicer reports that most low calorie diets provide between 900 and 1,300 calories per day. Short-term, such diets may trigger weight loss in some individuals, although the body often adjusts to such intake and counteracts further reductions in weight. The body's ability to adapt to periods of low food intake would have played a major role in the capacity for survival in pre-agricultural civilizations, but may make you less able to lose weight in the long term on a low calorie diet.
The Zone
Created by Dr. Barry Sears, the Zone diet has been part of America's dieting habits since the biochemist released the diet into the public domain in 1995. Made famous by celebrity advocates such as Jennifer Aniston and Demi Moore, the diet calls for a balanced intake of carbohydrates, proteins and fats in a 40-30-30 ratio. Sears says that this blend of foods creates hormonal balance in the body, reducing the production of insulin. Insulin, he explains, blocks the fat-burning process and can lead to inflammation.
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