In the 1980s, several fad diets emerged that were essentially the same plan, but identified with different names: the Sacred Heart Diet, the grapefruit diet, the cabbage soup diet and the Mayo C. These nearly identical diets require adherance to a 12-day eating plan that promises dramatic results via a high-protein, high-fat diet that includes either 1/2 a grapefruit or a bowl of cabbage soup at all three meals.
Diet Basics
This is a high-protein, high-fat diet dieters follow for 12 days, then take a two day break and repeat the diet. You could follow this two-week cycle as many times as necessary until you reached your goal weight. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are the same every day. Breakfast is 1/2 grapefruit, eggs and two slices of bacon. Lunch is an unlimited amount of meat, a salad with any type of dressing and 1/2 grapefruit. Dinner is as much meat or seafood as you care to eat, vegetables sauteed in butter and 1/2 grapefruit. There is a single snack allowed right before bedtime -- your choice of skim milk or tomato juice.
Other Rules
No fruits other than grapefruit are acceptable, and only certain vegetables are allowed. Potatoes, yellow onions and celery are not allowed, but red onions, green onions, bell peppers, lettuce, radishes, cucumbers, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, peas and spinach can be eaten in unlimited amounts. All meals must be eaten and no foods can be omitted -- supposedly it's the combination of foods that causes weight loss. No sugar, starch or other carbohydrates are allowed, except what occurs naturally in the diet's allowed foods. Caffeine should be limited to no more than 1 cup of coffee or tea per meal.
Dangers of This Diet
This diet is low in fiber, eliminates essential nutrients and is too high in saturated fat. Depending on how much you choose to eat, it may also be too low in calories. Exercise is not mentioned but any healthy weight loss program should encourage some form of physical activity. The real Mayo Clinic suggests that a healthy diet emphasizes long-term lifestyle changes, slow and steady weight-loss and does not limit or eliminate entire groups of food.
Official Mayo Clinic Plan
In 2005, the Mayo Clinic published an official diet plan based on it's healthy weight pyramid. The Mayo Clinic Plan allows for unlimited servings of vegetables and fruits, four to eight servings of high-fiber carbohydrates, three to seven servings of protein and low-fat dairy products and up to five fat servings. Sweets are limited to 75 calories daily. The official plan is high in fiber, low in saturated fat and encourages you to eat a variety of healthy foods. It also suggests between 30 and 60 minutes of moderate intensity exercise most days of the week.
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