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The Latest Diets

Hearing about some of the current trends for losing weight may remind you of a typical child whose parents get him/her the latest video game: after a while, the child gets bored and forgets about it. Does this same thing happen to you with diets?  Have you been able to reach and maintain your desired eating and fitness goals?

New diet trends come and go, and they all offer you the same thing: weight loss. Some diets make health claims that have no scientific basis. Some of these claims are that they make you live longer, that they reverse atherosclerosis, or that they can accelerate your metabolism while you eat everything you want.

The Latest Diets

Below are just a few examples of some of the diets that are currently on the market:

Dr. Paul Rivas, the creator of this diet, states you must “cheat” during the weekends in order to “boost” you metabolism and burn more fat. For a specific period of time, you are allowed to eat whatever you want.

There is no scientific evidence to support this theory.

Although this diet can be complete, abundant, and low in fat, you might not want to take this concept (making food selections based on flavors) too seriously.

The diet emphasizes consumption of healthy foods, yet there is no scientific evidence that demonstrates a significant delay of aging by following a low-calorie diet.

DIET

DESCRIPTION

Sonoma Diet

This diet is divided into 3 phases. The first phase is the most restrictive and, although it encourages a wide variety of healthy food options, fruit is completely restricted and dairy products are limited. The second phase allows more calories, as well as more variety. Finally, the third stage is a maintenance phase, and therefore allows more “occasional treats.”

Cheater´s Diet

This diet tries to address the two main reasons for which people don’t succeed at losing weight: boredom and excessive restriction. This diet advises having 3 main meals plus 2 light snacks. Besides, it uses the plate method, which indicates one’s plate should be divided the following way: one half of the plate as vegetables or fruits, one quarter as lean meat, and the other quarter as whole wheat grains and cereals.

Flavor Point Diet

This diet aims to reduce one’s appetite in two ways. First, it organizes the eating plan by minimizing the amount of flavors combined together. Second, it promotes selecting unprocessed or minimally processed foods.

Supermarket Diet

This book includes recipes, snacks, and a shopping list. It is very detailed, well-organized, and practical. It explains in a very simple way how to plan your menus and prepare your recipes. It also provides very useful nutrition information. Its weakness is it is deficient in the rest of the elements that complement a healthy lifestyle: physical activity and the psychological/emotional side of nutrition.

Longevity Diet

This book is based on the theory that a low-calorie diet slows down the aging process. This conclusion was formed from a set of studies performed on laboratory mice.


There is basically no diet plan to follow on the Longevity Diet. It only recommends eating healthy fats, between 40 and 60 grams of fiber, and 7 to 9 servings of fruits and vegetables a day. Whole grains and calcium are also recommended, but the specific amounts are not given.

The MyDiet TM  program focuses on encouraging healthy eating habits through following a balanced diet. It is important not to categorize foods as “good” or “bad,” but recognize that all foods can fit into a healthy diet. At the same time, the experts at MyDiet TM  feel that it is important that our members are well informed and are able to read about different types of diets that are marketed to them, so that they can recognize and understand their pros and cons.


We hope that providing you with a few examples of some of these trendy diets, will help you see that there are some positive elements that they include, but also that there are elements that are not so healthy and not based on scientific evidence.


If you choose to read about new diets that come on the market, be sure to consult with a health professional before making any drastic changes, to make sure that what you have read is sound.

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