The Birmingham Cardiac Diet is a three-day weight loss diet. Although the name may imply that it is associated with the University of Alabama Birmingham Hospital, this is not the case. This is a fad diet that recommends you consume specific foods, totaling approximately 1,200 calories per day, for three days and then return to your regular eating habits for four days before repeating this three-day diet. Although you may lose weight, this is not a healthy diet to follow.
What to Eat
The diet specifies exactly what you eat each of the three days, although there are some substitutions allowed. Foods included on the diet include tuna fish, cauliflower, broccoli, apples, peanut butter, hot dogs, vanilla ice cream, black coffee or tea, toast, eggs, grapefruit, banana, cottage cheese, saltines, lean meat, cabbage, green beans, oranges, beets, melon and cheddar cheese.
Nutrition
Although this diet includes some healthy fruits and vegetables, it also includes foods that are high in saturated fat, sodium and cholesterol. It doesn't include whole grains and only includes a limited amount of dairy products. Because of the restrictiveness of this diet, you are unlikely to meet your daily needs for vitamins and minerals, such as calcium and iron.
Weight Loss
The Birmingham Cardiac Diet is low in calories, so you are likely to lose some weight. It will probably be mostly water weight, however, as well as some muscle, rather than fat, according to UAB Medicine. The creators of this diet claim you can lose up to 10 pounds per week, but weight loss of more than 1 to 2 lbs. per week can be risky, and you are unlikely to be able to maintain your weight loss.
Risks
The high sodium, fat, saturated fat and cholesterol levels you consume on this diet may increase your risk for heart disease if you follow it for long. The cycle of following a low calorie diet for three days than following a higher calorie diet for four days can also set you up for dangerous yo-yo dieting, which can increase your risk for heart disease and slow down your metabolism. Frequent dieting can also increase your risk for eating disorders.
