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Hollywood's Favorite Three

A survey done by Peopleand Holamagazines found that among Hollywood stars there are clearly three trends when it comes to taking care of the body and losing weight. One of them, the macrobiotic diet, is already considered traditional. The other is the common yet controversial, Dr. Atkins’s diet. And the third is the newest one based on a Nobel Prize winner's theories which are compiled in the book “The Zone.”

Actress Gwyneth Paltrow is one of the proponents of the macrobiotic diet. She has even gone to the extreme of taking her chef with her to film shoots who brings along a basket of organic fruits and vegetables.

According to the American Society of Internal Medicine, this diet, created in the East and devised by the Japanese George Oshawa, is also a life philosophy based on balance. It started to gain fame after the Second World War and it seeks to create a balance between nature and the individual through food.

Eminently vegetarian, it's based on the principles of yin and yang. Foods are classified into these two big groups (whole grain cereals which are considered to be yang, and fruits and vegetables which are yin) and it aims to find a balance between both in order to obtain harmony.

Hollywood's Favorite Three

Over the course of several decades, this diet has been interpreted in many different ways. However, its foundations are the following: the exclusion of white sugar, refined and industrially processed foods, meat, sausages, eggs, dairy products, alcoholic drinks, sweets, coffee, animal fats, margarine, and honey.

The basic foods are cooked whole grain cereals (rice, oats, corn), vegetables (in soups, in season, fresh or raw), and legumes. Fish is only permitted occasionally. It must be emphasized that the macrobiotic diet pays special attention to the way of preparing, cooking, baking or combining foods, especially vegetables, for which the preferred cooking method is steaming.

One of its advantages is the large amount of fiber it provides. Among the disadvantages is that it could cause a loss of muscle mass and in the beginning stages, if it's not controlled well, it could create episodes of malnutrition.

Artists Catherine Zeta Jones and Geri Halliwell are the main defenders of the Atkins Diet which is named after the doctor who proposed a new weight-loss plan in the 1960s. Its main focus point is that carbohydrates (an important source of energy) contribute to weight gain; therefore, it bases its principles on almost completely cutting out products such as rice, cereal, and certain fruits and vegetables. And on the other hand, (here is where the controversy starts) it allows you to eat unlimited amounts of proteins, meats, eggs, fish, fats, mayonnaise, oil, butter, and margarine.

This diet has not had an easy road to fame and has been criticized by the medical community for its not-so-healthy effects: it's an uncontrolled diet that helps you lose muscle mass and water, but not fat. However, it also has its strong supporters who focus on its proven weight-loss properties. In addition, recent studies show that the Atkins Diet may not be as unhealthy for the heart as previously thought.

The third, the Zone diet, is the most popular these days. Mainly because it's not fast or aggressive but rather quite the opposite; it enables permanent, long-term weight loss. And, as often happens when stars become interested, it's become a trend. Thus Madonna, and Sandra Bullock follow it and with them Jennifer Aniston, Courtney Love, and Cindy Crawford.

The principles are brought together in The Zone, a book that describes the plan developed by Barry Sears, a Nobel Prize winner in Medicine in 1982. This diet keeps a balance between carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. It's based on consuming 40% carbohydrates, 30% proteins and 30% unsaturated fats at every meal. Doctor Sears's theory explains that precisely what is needed in order to lose weight and burn fat is fat.

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