Dr. Ian Smith of "Celebrity Fit Club" fame is the latest MD to throw his hat into the ring of diet gurus. Smith?s The Fat Smash Diet is based around fresh, whole foods, portion control, and building lifelong healthy habits. It's broken down into four phases beginning with "Detox." These first nine days are devoted to purging the body of toxins and buildup accumulated through years of eating processed food. You're allowed most fruits and vegetables, dried legumes, brown rice, oatmeal, and small amounts of protein from dairy and soy. Next is "Foundation," here lean, animal proteins are reintroduced in very small portions, along with high-fiber cereals and a daily glass of fresh fruit juice. You'll spend about three weeks in this phase before moving on to "Construction." Additional starches like whole wheat bread and pasta are added to the mix plus one sweet treat daily (portion-controlled of course). After another four weeks, you?re ready for "The Temple." This maintenance phase is intended to last a lifetime and keep the weight off for good. Physical activity is strongly emphasized and Smith discusses how to work once-prohibited foods (including alcohol) back into a healthy diet.
What to Look for
Choose a wide variety of produce and try to shop for what?s in season. Challenge yourself to pick up a new fruit or vegetable each time you shop. Smith encourages you to eat your produce raw, steamed, or grilled so experiment with spices and fresh herbs to enhance their flavor. All of the allowed starches are high in fiber and made from whole grains. When choosing cereal, bread, or pasta, look for a type of whole grain to be the first ingredient. The tofu, eggs, skim or soy milk, and low fat yogurt are all pretty straightforward, but if added sugars are an issue, you should choose a yogurt that also says "light." When picking your meat and poultry, make sure you go for lean cuts like skinless chicken breasts, ground white meat turkey, and sirloin or tenderloin cuts of steak.
Common Pitfalls
The whole concept of "detox" diets is pretty controversial. Our bodies come equipped with a kidney and liver that do the detoxifying for us. If you follow this type of diet for too long, it can have serious health implications. Your body won't receive adequate amounts of vital nutrients that support growth and development, fuel our immune and cardiovascular systems, and help our metabolism run efficiently. Any diet that advocates eliminating entire food groups is an immediate red flag. Eliminating dairy products makes it extremely difficult to meet your daily calcium needs which can be bad news for bone and dental health and proper heart function. Cutting carbs cuts lots of B vitamins as well which can lead to fatigue, irritability and headaches to name just a few. Avoiding animal proteins such as poultry and meat may cause you to miss out on a great source of iron, protein and Vitamin B12.
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