There are many diets available for people to utilize during attempts at weight loss and control of disease risk factors. It can be confusing when analyzing all the different aspects of diets as you are trying to choose a diet you can follow. The most popular diets work on the premise of reducing insulin levels which enables the body to utilize energy from digested food instead of storing energy as fat. Most of the long term diets that are effective in achieving weight loss work on establishing a healthy diet over many weeks. They may start as restricting carbohydrates with exception of vegetables, however as you get closer to your weight goal, you can start adding in whole grains and complex carbohydrates.
Other popular diets are very restrictive and meant to be adhered to for 1-2 weeks, no more. The weight loss achieved is often due to severe calorie restriction and loss of water weight. These diets are often devoid of essential vitamins and nutrients and require taking supplements daily. They are effective in causing weight loss, however they do not teach or instill healthy eating habits. Because of this, most of the weight lost is quickly regained.

Examples of healthier diets would be the South Beach Diet, Weight Watchers Diet, The Zone Diet, The Mediterranean Diet, and to some extent the Atkins Diet. These diets all limit sugars, refined carbohydrates, alcohol, and to some degree fruit. They work by calorie limitations and insulin control, which in turn, limits fat deposition and encourages fat metabolism.
In the case of Weight Watchers, the creator also felt that the group support helped to reduce the stress of dieting
without help and therefor limits rise in cortisol. Cortisol rising is felt to contribute to fat deposition, especially
in the abdominal area.

The Mediterranean Diet does allow small amount of wine, emphasizes a wide array of fruits and vegetables as well as healthy oils. It does not necessarily cause weight loss as it is not always calorie restrictive, but it is considered a very healthy diet.

Examples of popular short term diets which I feel are unhealthy include the cabbage soup diet and The Lemonade diet, as well as any other diet which only allows a very limited and select group of foods.

The most popular diets and their characteristics include:

The South Beach Diet: This diet was developed by a cardiologist in response to poor control of cholesterol and blood glucose in his patients with heart disease and diabetes.

• It is a 3 phase program in which the initial phase involves absence of starches and carbohydrates other than vegetables.

• Phase 2 and 3 are designed to slowly introduce fruits and complex carbohydrates such as whole grains, while continuing  to limit sugars.

• It is very effective in causing weight loss and it is meant to change eating patterns to a healthier lifelong approach of avoiding glucose and refined carbohydrates.

• It is a difficult diet in that it involves a lot of time to purchase and cook meals.

• It is not as friendly of a diet for working people because of this.

• It would also be difficult for a vegetarian in that it relies heavily on meats and chicken for protein.

The Atkins Diet: This diet was also created by a physician, Dr Robert Atkins, who was also disturbed by lack of efficacy of low fat diets.

• This diet also limits starches and simple carbohydrates as well as sugars.

• It allows eating of almost any protein source and for this reason, ends up being a much higher fat diet than you might otherwise consume.

• It is also very effective but has some risk associated with it.

• The drastic increase in protein consumption can create problems for the kidneys.

• The higher fat content can raise cholesterol and triglycerides if care is not taken with protein choices.

• This is also not a diet easily done by vegetarians.

Weight Watchers Diet: Created by a housewife who recognized the need for support to maintain healthy eating habits and to maintain weight loss.

• This diet divides all foods into points and you are allowed a certain amount of points daily.

• It is effective in that it teaches you about food choices and quantity amount.

• It also provides the support that many people require in order to stay focused on their goals of weight loss and healthy eating.

• It does require money in that you pay to join, you can then go to meetings and most all other services at these meetings are free.

• One of the main drawbacks is the cost,

• it does not always focus on eating healthy carbohydrates.

• In the end, it works by giving support, and limiting calories.

The Zone Diet: This diet was created by a physician and like the South Beach and Atkins diet, works on premise of limiting sugars and refined carbohydrates in order to keep insulin levels normal or in “the zone”.

• It works on the principle that our genetic code is not set up to adequately deal with ingestion of breads, pastas, grains.

• It consists of several rules regarding meal choice and emphasizes a balance between lean protein, complex carbohydrate, and healthy fat.

• This diet claims to help with focus, mental clarity and improved energy.

• It is effective if adhered to , and does teach healthy eating.

• It can be sustained for years due to allowance of many foods.

• It does require food preparation but the recipes are not as ingredient heavy as the south Beach Diet.

• There are also  vegetarian recipes and plans.

The Mediterranean Diet: This diet is fashioned after the eating habits of countries bordering the mediterranean sea, and also includes some aspects of the Portuguese diet.

• It relies heavily on fruits and vegetables,  as well as healthy fats and seafood.

• It does not always end up being a low calorie diet, therefor may not cause weight loss unless you are careful to count calories.

• It is also meant to be part of a broader lifestyle to include relaxation, and some exercise sprinkled through out the day.

• This diet is also easily adopted to a vegetarian diet.

The Cabbage Soup Diet: this diet is exactly what the name implies.

• You make a huge pot of this cabbage soup and eat if for every meal for 1 week.

• You are allowed to add different forms of protein to it

• It is hugely restrictive and lacks many vitamins and minerals.

• Any weight that is lost is likely to be regained immediately upon resumption of a normal diet.

The Lemonade Diet: this diet is also called the Master Cleanse diet. It is meant to be consumed for no more than 10 days because of the restrictive nature.

• You are to drink a water contained lemons, cayenne pepper, natural maple syrup.

• This drink supposedly increases your metabolism.

• Your meals consist of mainly salads with limited vegetables and a broiled chicken breast.

• This is not meant to be a sustaining diet and reintroduction of carbohydrates after the diet is finished usually causes weight gain.

The diets reviewed above all have one thing in common- they restrict sugars and simple carbohydrates. In so doing, they tend to limit calories. The initiation phase causes water weight loss which generally equalizes after several days to a week.  Slowly adding carbohydrates while evaluating rate of weight loss teaches you about food choices and quantity choices. The important thing to consider when choosing a diet, is how palatable the food in the diet will be for you. You also want to evaluate how much work is involved, as this will also determine how easily you stay with the diet.

For more information on these diets, look for an upcoming e-book where I review in detail these diets as well as a few others. Write in and tell us any of your successes or failures with these diets or any others you have tried. Share with our readers anything that has worked for you!

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