The adage, "An apple a day keeps the doctor away," gets a new twist in the Red Apple Diet, a weight loss eating plan that claims to help dieters lose weight by eating an apple before breakfast, lunch and dinner. The Red Apple Diet--more commonly known as the Apple Diet or the 3-Apple-a-Day Diet--incorporates other healthy diet and exercise rules and, according to research conducted at Pennsylvania State University and reported by USA Today, can help dieters consume up to 190 fewer calories at each meal compared to the number of calories they ate before starting the Apple Diet.
History
The Apple Diet first gained attention in Tammi Flynn's 2005 book "The 3-Apple-a-Day Plan: Your Foundation for Permanent Fat Loss." Flynn, a training instructor at Gold's Gym and a registered dietitian, wrote the book after she discovered that the clients she worked with lost more weight if they ate an apple before each meal. According to the diet review site Every Diet, Flynn reported seeing an average weight loss of 17 pounds after her clients followed the Apple Diet for 12 weeks.
Aspects
Although the key to the Apple Diet is consuming one unskinned apple of any type--it doesn't necessarily need to be red; any type of apple with do--before each meal, there are a number of other aspects included in the diet that can contribute to weight loss. Dieters following the plan should eat three meals a day interspersed with two snacks: breakfast, a morning snack, lunch, an afternoon snack and dinner.
Each of these five meals should be small and should each contain one lean source of protein. Dieters are also instructed to consume six servings of fruits and vegetables on top of the the three daily apples, to drastically cut their intake of white and other refined sugars, to choose carbohydrates that have a low glycemic index and to begin regular cardiovascular exercise and weight training. Each meal should be accompanied by plenty of water.
Foods Allowed
According to Every Diet, the Apple Diet emphasizes lean sources of protein such as chicken breasts, turkey, fish such as salmon, lean cuts of beef, eggs and low-fat dairy products like cottage cheese and yogurt. Whole grains like brown rice and oatmeal are recommended, as are all types of fruits and vegetables besides apples, including broccoli and lettuce.
Advantages
The main advantage of the Apple Diet is that, by eating an apple before each meal, you may feel more full before eating other foods and therefore tend to eat less overall. The diet encourages increased consumption of all types of fruits and vegetables and diets that emphasize plant-based foods are thought to decrease your overall chance of developing atherosclerosis, heart disease and certain types of cancer. The Apple Diet is simple to understand and follow, does not require the purchase of expensive dietary supplements and encourages regular exercise as an essential part of the weight loss process.
Disadvantages
Eating three apples a day may become extraordinarily monotonous after a brief time following the diet. Additionally, the Apple Diet does not allow for "cheat" days or occasional times eating favorite foods in order to keep dieters from feeling deprived. The Every Diet site also points out that vegetarians and vegans may have a difficult time following the plan without substantial changes.
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