What is it: The basis behind most diets is deprivation. This particular diet is just that! You make a big quantity of cabbage soup, which tastes absolutely horrible but has no fat in it so you can eat as much of this as you like for 7 days. Each of these days has a specific menu, one day you could be eating nothing but vegetables, the next day could be just steak etc., After these 7 days, then you eat whatever you want.
The promise: From their website: “Although not suitable for long-term weight loss, the Cabbage Soup Diet is a low-fat, high-fiber diet that will help you get into shape fast before you embark on a more moderate long-term eating plan.” This is a quick fix diet at its best, it promises to be nothing else
The Reality: this is taken from their own website also!… “Some people find the soup bland. Some people have reported feeling light-headed, weak, and have suffered from decreased concentration” Eh, enough said?! The weight loss on this plan is quick and tends to be quite considerate, but it goes back on just as quickly as you lost it, 7 days is not long enough to get any lasting benefits and you end up in worse shape than when you began.
Advice: AVOID
What is it: F stands for Fibre. Fill up on fibrous foods before meals and throughout the day
The Promise: just like any other diet, the premise is that it works by reducing calories. The fibre acts as a filler and as our bodies don’t absorb fibre you can therefore eat as much as you like.
The Reality: Introducing more fibre into our diets is a very healthy thing to do as it bulks up in our digestive system and encourages a healthy bowel, however this diet plan takes fibre to the extreme which can reduce the absorption of some important minerals such as iron and calcium. Also the diet is low in fish and plant oils and it is imperative to drink lots of water otherwise constipation will be a real issue.
Advice: Adopt the practise of introducing more fibre into your diet but do not take it to this extreme
What is it: Eat half a grapefruit before each meal and restrict your calorie intake to 1200 per day
The Promise: The claim is, that there are enzymes in grapefruits that melt fat away; for which there is no scientific evidence. It’s the restricted calories that induce rapid weight loss; this weight loss is only water.
The Reality: You feel deprived and restricted by the foods you can eat and you will never want to eat another grapefruit again. The weight loss is only temporary.
Advice: AVOID
What is it: Whatever blood type you are dictates which foods suit you, for instance type A should eat mainly vegetarian, type O mainly meat etc.
The Promise: By looking at the chemistry of your blood these diets promise to feed your blood on, a cellular level, the nutrients it requires and therefore your body will respond by shedding excess and superfluous weight.
The Reality: there is little independent scientific evidence supporting this theory . What this diet does is bring your attention to the types of foods you are eating and any extra thought going onto your meals will generally mean a healthier choice.
Advice: Some people have reported to feel very good on this diet, however that is probably form the extra care they are taking in planning their meals and by cutting out processed foods and alcohol.
What is it: This diet restricts carbohydrates, including fruit and some vegetables, and encourages you to eat protein and fat only as the main source of energy.
The Promise: By using protein and fat as the main energy source your body if forced to turn these into carbohydrate. The bi-product of this is the production of ketone’s which burn excess fat. By the way, a common ketone is acetone, or, the main ingredient of nail varnish remover!
The Reality: this diet out of all of them, in my opinion is the most dangerous and most foolish. Carbohydrates are our body’s primary choice for fuel. Our bodies don’t want to use protein. The fact that this diet encourages you to eat high fat content foods, especially saturated fat is very worrying. It is well documented that saturated fat leads to all sorts of cardiovascular problems and the high protein content is too damaging on our kidneys. This combined with the high volume of ketones in your blood stream is extremely dangerous in the long term. However, this diet does bring your attention to avoid high sugar based and processed foods like confectionary and fast food. Eliminating these from your diet is a good idea.
Advice: AVOID AVOID AVOID
What is it: Proteins and carbohydrates cannot be eaten at the same meal.
The Promise: The theory is that the stomach digests proteins and carbohydrates at different rates and with different enzymes. These differences are supposed to cause a clash in the digestive process and so the foods take longer than normal to be digested leading to weight gain. If eaten separately, the foods are digested more efficiently and therefore the energy is used more efficiently as well.
The Reality: it is true that the enzymes used to digest proteins and carbohydrates are different, however, just like the blood type plan, there is little independent scientific evidence that this causes weight gain. It just makes you think about what you are going to eat and again, any extra thought going onto your meals will generally mean a healthier choice. It is usually the healthy choices that encourage weight loss, not the actual food combining.
Advice: Like the blood type diet this plan can work well for people who need to pay more attention to their meals choices especially cutting out junk etc. but it is merely this and not any breakthrough science that is contributing to weight loss
What is it: A sensible eating plan, educating you on the hidden sugars and fats that are in commonly eaten foods, encourages you to eat plenty of healthy food based on a points/unit system
The Promise: to re-educate your eating habits and therefore lose weight gradually.
The Reality: The best type of plan out there, except the danger is to ration your points for a binge but the positives far outweigh the negatives
Advice: Out of all the plans mentioned this is the type that I would safely recommend for the fact that it educates you about your food choices and the motivational aspect of the classes is crucial to the success of participants. It encourages a whole lifestyle change, which can only lead to success.
To learn more about diet plans read 'Why diet's don't work!'
Emma Buckley B.Sc
Privacy Policy