The 14 Day Scarsdale Diet is a rapid weight loss plan developed by Herman Tarnower, a Scarsdale, New York-based cardiologist. The plan contains highly specific instructions and menus. According to Tarnower, you can lose up to 20 lbs. in the diet's two-week period if you strictly adhere to these directions. However, reputable medical institutions contend that the Scarsdale Diet is not a good choice for people seeking healthy and sustainable weight loss. The diet is associated with a number of possible side effects and does not encourage the lifestyle habits that doctors say contribute to real weight loss success. Speak to your physician about the potential drawbacks before beginning the 14 Day Scarsdale Diet.
Background and Guidelines
In his 1978 book "The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet," Tarnower explains that his weight management program is based on inducing the body into ketosis. Ketosis occurs when the body's metabolism switches from using carbohydrates as its main energy source to primarily utilizing fat. Tarnower contends that because you'll be burning fat at a higher rate, you'll lose weight quickly. Tarnower claims that he designed the Scarsdale Diet's nutritional guidelines -- 43 percent protein, 34.5 percent carbohydrate and 22.5 percent fat -- to specifically induce ketosis. After following the plan for the full 14 days, Tarnower recommends taking two weeks off the diet, then beginning again for further weight loss.
Typical Menu
A typical breakfast on the Scarsdale Diet might consist of half a grapefruit or ½ cup of pineapple or cantaloupe and a piece of wholegrain toast with no butter or spread of any kind, while lunch may include a lean protein like canned tuna fish and a green salad. Dinner menus on the plan are similar to lunch, containing lean meat like beef, chicken, pork, fish or lamb with all skin and visible fat removed, paired with a salad. You can only use oil-free dressings -- like vinegar mixed with lemon juice -- to dress salads and vegetables, but seasonings like salt, pepper, herbs, ketchup, mustard, soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce are allowed. The allowed drinks are water, soda water, unsweetened tea, diet soda and coffee with no added milk or sugar. Dieters are instructed to avoid all between-meal snacks other than carrots and celery, not to consume any alcohol and to adhere strictly to the meal plans to achieve optimal weight loss.
Benefits and Drawbacks
According to Tarnower, if you follow the Scarsdale Diet exactly as designed, you will consume between 700 to 1,000 calories daily during the 14 days of the plan. While you may lose weight conforming to this extremely low caloric intake, diets providing this little nutrition can cause fatigue, irritability, diarrhea, constipation, headaches and a greater tendency for developing gallstones. Dieters may give up on the plan because of the difficulty in following its many restrictions, possibly resulting in discouragement with the idea of weight loss. The Scarsdale Diet does not encourage regular exercise and does not give followers adequate instructions on how to maintain healthy eating habits after the two weeks of the program are complete. Because of this, any weight that you may lose following the diet, may simply return after you go back to your regular eating patterns.
Expert Insight
MayoClinic.com advises that high-protein diets like the Scarsdale Diet may increase your risk of cancer and cardiovascular disease. Additionally, a study published in the "Journal of the American Medical Association" in 1993 reported that extremely low-calorie diets are not better than any other form of weight control when it comes to keeping the pounds off in the long term. Health professionals warn that very low-calorie diets like the Scarsdale Diet can contribute to nutritional deficiencies. Since the Scarsdale Diet severely restricts dairy products, it may increase the risk of women developing osteoporosis from a lack of adequate calcium intake. Following low-carbohydrate diets may also cause liver or kidney damage since ketosis requires a heavy increase in ketone compound metabolism in those organs. Both the American Academy of Family Physicians and the American Dietetic Association contend that the 14 Day Scarsdale Diet is not a healthy weight loss option. Health professionals continue to recommend that the best and healthiest method for losing weight is to follow a low-fat diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and lean protein and to exercise regularly.
References
- Diets in Review.com: Scarsdale Diet
- Every Diet: Scarsdale Diet
- Diet.com: Scarsdale Diet
- Healthy Weight Forum: The Scarsdale Diet
- Diet TV: The Scarsdale Diet
- "Journal of the American Medical Association"; Very Low-Calorie Diets; National Task Force on the Prevention and Treatment of Obesity, National Institutes of Health; August 1993
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