During cardiac rehabilitation, patients often follow a customized program consisting of exercise and education revolving around nutritional counseling. At times, cardiac rehab patients need to lose significant amounts of weight before surgery or treatment, which led to the development of the three-day cardiac diet. Several different versions of the three-day cardio diet are available.
Function
The main function of the three-day cardiac diet is to promote rapid, short-term weight loss. Since the first three-day cardiac diet was developed, several other variations have come into use. Similar diets may be called the Birmingham Hospital cardiac unit diet, American Heart Association diet, three-day Army diet, three-day Navy diet and the hot dog diet.
Features
Three meals -- breakfast, lunch and dinner -- for three days are specifically outlined in the three-day cardiac diet. Every meal features black coffee, water or tea as the beverage.
Day one's breakfast features a slice of toast, 1 tbsp. peanut butter and one-half grapefruit. Lunch follows with one slice of dry toast and 1/2 cup of water-packed tuna, while dinner features 3 oz. of lean meat, 1 cup green beans, 1 cup of beets, 1 cup of vanilla ice cream and one small apple.
Day two is similar. Breakfast features one egg, one banana and one slice of dry toast while lunch consists of 1 cup of cottage cheese and five saltine crackers. Dinner on day two provides two hot dogs, 1/2 cup of carrots, 1 cup of broccoli, one banana and 1/2 cup of vanilla ice cream.
Day three contains five saltine crackers, one egg and one 4-oz. glass of apple juice for breakfast, one hard-boiled egg, one small apple and one slice of dry toast for lunch and 1 cup of lean meat, 2 cups of vegetables, 1 cup of fruit and 1/2 cup of vanilla ice cream for dinner.
Size
The diet restricts overall calorie intake to 600 to 1,110 calories per day with specific serving sizes for each food and meal. Some versions of the three-day cardiac diet allow for food substitutions and variations in the serving sizes. Recommendations and changes are generally made by the doctor or dietitian prescribing the diet plan. The three-day cardiac diet is recommended to be followed for three days, followed with four days of normal eating, and repeated as necessary.
Considerations
With the specific outline of meals for three days, snacks are not allowed and cheating may reduce the overall effectiveness of the diet. The three-day cardiac diet restricts seasonings to only salt and pepper. Another consideration is the suggested substitutions, such as an orange instead of grapefruit, frozen yogurt instead of ice cream, beets instead of carrots, and a slice of toast instead of crackers.
Warning
The three-day cardiac diet was specifically designed to promote rapid weight loss and should only be used under the strict guidance of a doctor or dietitian. These trained professionals can customize the diet plan to meet your individual needs by considering any potential side effects or harmful reactions to medications.
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