If you've been searching on the Internet for a short weight loss diet, you might have come across the GM Diet, allegedly created by General Motors for its employees. It's a rather unusual, and restrictive, eating plan that promises to help you lose 10 to 17 pounds in a week.
The Name
The GM Diet is just one name for this plan, and even that isn't accurate. Roger Cohen, a New York Times columnist, investigated when he was considering the diet. He saw claims that the diet was developed in the mid-1980s with a grant from the U.S. government and was tested at Johns Hopkins. However, no one at General Motors could find any references to it, and concluded it was an urban myth. Diet.com backs up this suspicion, noting that other names of the diet include the TWA Stewardess Diet, the Mayo Clinic Diet and the Sacred Heart Hospital Diet. The latter two organizations both disavowed any connection with the diet. The American Dietetic Association calls it a fad diet and says it dates back to 1950.
Each Day's Meals
The GM Diet is a seven-day diet. Day 1 calls for all the fruit you want, but no bananas. It urges you to eat cantaloupe and watermelon in particular. The second day is for vegetables, but no starchy vegetables, such as corn, peas or beans. The exception is one baked potato with butter for dinner. Day 3 is designated for unlimited fruits and vegetables, but bananas and starchy vegetables are still excluded, and you can't have a potato. The fourth day will allegedly ease any cravings you're having for sweets: three to eight bananas and as much skim milk as you want. Day 5 allows up to 20 oz. of beef and as many as six tomatoes. On Day 6 you can have unlimited amounts of beef and nonstarchy vegetables. The last day is for brown rice, nonstarchy vegetables and unsweetened fruit juice.
The Namesake
The most accurate name of the diet is the Cabbage Soup Diet: You can have this soup any time during the week and are required to eat it at least once on days 6 and 7. The standard recipe, according to Diet.com, includes green onion, green peppers, diced tomatoes, celery, onion soup mix, bouillon cubes and cabbage. Optional ingredients include V8 juice, parsley, Worcestershire sauce and black pepper.
Other Requirements
While you're on the diet, you can drink water, black coffee, cranberry juice or unsweetened tea. You can't have any carbonated beverages, not even diet ones, or alcohol. You should drink at least four glasses of water every day, and don't follow it for longer than seven days.
Evaluation
The diet may be effective -- Cohen said he lost 11 pounds by following it -- but is not necessarily advised. Providence Health & Services, affiliated with the Sacred Heart hospital that supposedly gave the diet one of its names, warns that it is nutritionally insufficient and will not lead to long-term weight loss. Flatulence is listed as a main side effect, but others are more serious: dizziness and light-headedness. People watching their salt intake should be careful, as the soup recipe is high in sodium, and type 2 diabetics should avoid the diet. Anyone attempting it should be aware that most of the weight loss is water, and once you return to normal eating habits, you will gain it back. As always, check with your doctor to make sure the diet won't do more harm than good.
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