 What's
your diet plan?
For a successful diet, exercise is the main determinant of whether you'll
succeed at long-term weight loss or not. Sticking to a prescribed diet plan is
the key to weight loss. Only 25% of obese people succeed in maintaining a single
diet plan. It is understandable that no single diet will work for everybody and
people won't stick to a particular diet plan even if it works. There are two major
reasons of diet plan failure. Here we take a brief review of some important diets
that have had mainstream success, despite many problems with their actual plan.
Atkins Diet:
This diet aims at providing people with a lifetime nutritional philosophy,
which will restrict the intake of processed and refined carbohydrates (sugar-rich
food, bread, pasta, cereal, starchy vegetables). Atkins diet also aims at encouraging
nutrient rich food (animal meat). The carb intake is kept under 30 grams daily
in the initial stage.
Increased fat intake leads to higher cholesterol levels, and increases chances
of heart attack. The problem with this argument is that when the body is deprived
of carbohydrates, fat becomes its primary source of fuel.
The principle behind the Atkins diet is restriction of refined carbohydrates.
In the body, carbs are converted to glucose in the blood stream. If glucose
levels are increased, insulin is released. Over time, eating excessive amounts
of carbohydrates in the form of grains, legumes and starchy vegetables (potatoes)
overworks the insulin response causing our cells to become less sensitive to
insulin. This results in production of more insulin.
The problem with the Atkins diet, is its period of extreme carbohydrate restriction.
In the initial stages, the bulk of daily caloric intake comes either from fat
or protein.
Severe long-term caloric restriction leads to nutritional deficiencies. But
in this diet, periods of extreme carbohydrate restriction is only up to 2 weeks.
Then you gradually start reintroducing low Glycemic carbs back into your diet.
In addition to this, Atkin's diet prevents you from having the bulk of your
vitamin & mineral requirements in these 2 weeks, so you have to worry about
nutritional deficiencies in the initial weeks.
A major deficiency with this program is due to the process your body undergoes
to convert protein and fat into useable energy. This can cause your body to
go into lipolysis, a very serious condition. Also, your kidneys can become overused
when attempting to cleanse your body of the refuse that accumulates in the body,
called ketones, when on the plan.
Mediterranean Diet:
This is again one of the popular fad diets and many treat this as a healthy
weight loss diet plan. People in the countries that border the Mediterranean
Sea exhibit strikingly low rates of heart disease compared to rest of the world.
The imperative portions of the Mediterranean diet are the special blend of a
variety of component foods like cereals, olive oils, dry fruits, garlic, herbs
and seafood.
Garlic, one of the most important Mediterranean items, helps you to prevent
blood clots, lower your cholesterol level, and protect you against cancer, as
studies have shown. Wine and poultry products are also included in this diet.
The important part of this diet is to lower the intake of saturated fats. Thus
the consumption of mono-saturated fats, fruits, dry fruits, and cereals makes
this diet ideal for weight loss as it supplies essential nutrients and vitamins.
This shows that the diet allows very little red meat and a high intake of antioxidants.
The diet contains grilled and steamed fish also.
Here are some key features of this diet:
-High consumption of fruits (3-4 pieces a day), legumes and vegetables (5 different
varieties)
-Moderate amounts of grilled and steamed fish
-Moderate amounts of olive oil - consumed with fresh vegetables and on salads
This way people who advocate the Mediterranean diet, are of the opinion that
it lowers the risk of heart diseases and surveys in this regard have shown people
from Mediterranean countries have less reported cases of heart diseases compared
to other countries. Monosaturated fats (Olive oil) are the essential fats for
proper functioning of our body.
There have been many fad diets, which claim easy weight loss. But losing weight
is not that easy. Diet alone can't help you lose weight. For healthy and effective
weight loss, one has to change their lifestyle to keep oneself motivated and
focused towards their goals.
It is believed that you can eat all the non-starchy vegetables and natural
fats with moderate amounts of nuts, yogurts and whole milk, as well some carbs
are essential to this diet.
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