Diet Comparison
by: Adam Waxler
Is a low carb diet the best way to lose weight? Well that?s what you'll hear from one diet guru, and he has the testimonials to back it up.
How about low fat, lots of carbs, and fresh fruits and veggies? Of course, another weight loss expert will say so - and he's got the back up from satisfied users, too.
A third weight loss expert will swear that you need to count the amount of sugar; another weight loss expert will tell you that the enemy is white flour. The question then becomes, ?if you want to lose weight and keep it off, who do you listen to??.
Below are a few summaries to give you a quick overview of the pros and cons of some of the most popular types of weight loss plans.
Low Carb-Hi Protein Diets
Diets like the Atkins diet, the South Beach diet and the Zone Diet all recommend restricting carbohydrates and allowing liberal amounts of protein, including protein derived from animal sources. Generally, they limit the overall amount of carbohydrates, or teach you to differentiate between "good" and "bad" carbohydrates. Bad carbohydrates, which are forbidden, include white flour, white bread, and white sugar.
Pros: The low carb diets all encourage learning healthy eating as part of the overall weight loss plan. Deriving most of your daily calories from high fiber sources of carbs like leafy green vegetables and grains is generally considered the best diet for nutrition by the established medical community. The popularity of these weight loss diets makes it easy to find low-carb foods.
Cons: The allowance of eating all the protein and fats you like flies in the face of conventional medical wisdom. A diet high in saturated fats could lead to heart disease, diabetes, gout and other chronic health conditions. Most of these low carb diet plans caution and advice to keep portions reasonable.
Following the guidelines of these low carb diets should mitigate that concern.
Weight Loss Programs
Jenny Craig, NutriSystem, Weight Watchers, SlimFast and a number of other weight loss programs rely heavily on pre-packaged 'diet' foods. They incorporate professional coaching, social structure and reinforcement.
Pros: The professional coaching and nutritional benefits are a big plus, as are the reinforcement and support aspect of the diets. Meals and supplements are prepackaged in the right proportions, and if you stick to the diets and exercise as directed you will lose weight.
Cons: The weekly fees and cost of meals can be expensive. In addition, if you rely completely on the packaged foods, you miss out on the re-education of your eating habits, which is important to maintaining any weight loss.
The Real Mayo Clinic Diet
The true Mayo Clinic diet recommends a healthy eating weight loss plan based on limiting fats, proteins and carbohydrates, counting calories and deriving most of the daily nutrition from vegetables, grains and fruit.
Pros: There's no 'diet'. Instead, you're encouraged to take control of your eating. Portion control and sensible balance of nutrients are the cornerstones of a weight loss plan that takes weight off gradually, and helps you keep it off permanently.
Cons: It may be difficult to stay on this diet. Counting calories and portions can be difficult if you're eating out or on the run.
While there are many weight loss plans that promise to help you lose weight fast, unfortunately, many of these weight loss plans are either not healthy diets, or don?t have long-lasting results.
However, the three major weight loss diets above all result in 1-2 pounds of weight loss per week, which most doctors believe is the optimum way to lose weight and keep it off.
Copyright 2006 Adam Waxler
About The Author
Adam Waxler publishes a series of weight loss information products including his new weight loss resource filled with with FREE weight loss articles and tips @ http://www.1-800-Weight-Loss.com.
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Detox Diet: A Basic Understanding
Detox Diet: A Basic Understanding
by: Sandra Kim Leong
Detoxification occurs in our bodies daily. Our internal organs, the colon, liver and intestines, help our bodies eliminate toxic and harmful matter from our bloodstreams and tissues. Often, our systems become overloaded with waste. Today?s over processed foods and environmental pollutants can easily overwhelm our delicate systems and cause toxic matter to build up in our bodies.
Detox diets are designed to help your body rid itself of the toxic matter buildup and lose weight. If you feel sluggish, have frequent colds, digestive problems or just aren?t feeling your best, you may have a toxicity issue. A detox diet will help you clean the harmful matter from your body and lose weight.
A detox diet will help your body by increasing stamina and energy, making the digestive process easier, increasing mental clarity and decreasing allergies. Most detox diets don?t involve weird or unhealthy...
Detox Diet: A Basic Understanding
Diets > Detox Diet: A Basic Understanding
Is Chocolate That Healthy?
Is Chocolate That Healthy?
by: Gerald Meyer
It is great news that research has found a food that lowers blood pressure and is healthy for the heart and maybe more.
The problem is that the chocolate Americans consume most is not the kind that was studied.
The more popular kinds of chocolate have little or no positive effect on your health. Only certain chocolate may be healthy.
Dark chocolate is the chocolate that was found to have positive effects on blood pressure.
Participants, either given dark, milk, or white chocolate every day were evaluated in different studies.
It turns out that dark chocolate contains important antioxidants called phenols. These natural compounds from the cocoa bean are known to increase nitric oxide, reduce platelet aggregation, and inhibit oxidation of LDL cholesterol. Cocoa can decrease blood pressure, reduce cholesterol, and increase your insulin sensitivity. Milk and white chocolate...
Diets > Is Chocolate That Healthy?
The Right Way to Lose Weight
The Right Way to Lose Weight
by: Scott Bianchi
Many of us Americans are impatient people.
We decide we want something and that means we have to have it NOW.
This explains the reason for the average credit card debt being close to $9000, people over-extending themselves to buy bigger and nicer cars than they can really afford, and so on.
The same theory holds true for losing weight.
New Year?s is just days away as I write this and people are going to be making their resolutions.
Of course, the most popular one, year after year, is losing weight.
People decide for whatever reason that they need to lose weight, usually for the sake of their looks and not to become more healthy.
They expect to lose 20 pounds by February 1st because there are hundreds of products out there that say it is possible.
People spend millions of dollars a year on FAD diets.
What is the hottest diet of...
Diets > The Right Way to Lose Weight