Depending upon your health condition or your weight loss goals, you may need to adopt a strict diet plan. In some cases, eating the right foods and avoiding the wrong ones is a matter of life and death. If your goal is simply weight loss for improved health and personal satisfaction, staying on a strict diet plan for too long may actually derail your goals, warns the Mayo Clinic.
Low-Carb Diets
Low-carb diets such as the Zone and Atkins are a popular tool for weight loss. But the effects may not last once the dieter resumes eating carbohydrate-rich foods like bread and pasta, warns the Mayo Clinic. Low-carb diets usually bar or severely restrict all carbs, including some potentially healthful choices like beans and fruit. The dieter usually eats large quantities of protein-rich foods such as meat and a limited amount of vegetables. Eating high amounts of saturated fat can potentially increase a dieter's risk of cancer.
The Mediterranean Diet
Medical research shows that the Mediterranean diet can decrease your risk for heart disease, according to the Mayo Clinic. This diet includes all the basic building blocks for healthful eating such as whole grains, fruits, vegetables and lean meats. But the difference is that oils and a glass of wine are also part of this diet plan. Also, dieters must restrict or omit salt, eat mostly vegetable-based foods and eat red meat only a few times per month.
Pregnancy Diets
If you are expecting a child, you must adhere to strict dietary guidelines or risk your health as well as your baby's development, warns the March of Dimes. Generally, you should add 300 calories per day of healthful foods to your diet. You must entirely avoid alcohol and limit your intake of caffeine. Also, you cannot safely eat high-mercury fish such as mackerel or shark, soft cheeses like Brie, raw meat or undercooked meat during your pregnancy. Limit junk food, as gaining too much weight during pregnancy puts you and your child at risk for problems such as gestational diabetes.
The Gout Diet
Gout causes swelling and inflammation of the joints and can be alleviated by a strict diet plan as well as medication, according to the Mayo Clinic. People with gout should severely limit or avoid alcohol, salt and foods high in sodium like processed meats. Limiting sugar is also a good idea. Gout patients should drink at least eight glasses of water per day and eat plenty of low-fat dairy products as well as vegetables.
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