With the advent of the internet and the improvements in medical sciences overweight people have access to a lot of beneficial knowledge that can help them in the process of losing weight. This includes especially formulated diet programs which have been clinically proven to be both safe and effective. A simple review of these diet programs will enlighten the reader as to the pros and cons of the different diet programs available.
1. The South Beach Diet
This diet is known to be a low glycemic and low saturated fat diet. The general food items that you will be consuming on this diet include lean meat, chicken, , nuts, most vegetables, low glycemic carbohydrates, seafood, eggs, low fat dairy foods artificial sweeteners. Basically this diet is a progressive strategy that involves three phases. First it will eliminate carbohydrates from your body then it will reintroduce them in a balanced manner and lastly it will help you maintain the weight loss.
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Pros
o Drastic weight loss in the initial stages can be very motivating
o Replacing bad fats with good fats is very beneficial for heart health
o The diet is better than high fat low carbohydrate diets
o Appealing recipes make dieting much easier
Cons
o Overlooks some important facts related to glycemic index and the way it changes when carbohydrates are consumed with other food items.
o In some ways the diet is actually confusing and may mislead people.
2. Weight Watchers
This diet program makes use of a daily points system and balanced nutrition. There is no special category of foods that you will be eating in this diet rather there is a counting system that you have to follow for every kind of food and an upper limit of points that you can consume in a day. Additional assistance is provided in the form of weekly support groups. The program requires lifestyle changes and healthy eating.
Pros
o Weekly support group meetings can be very motivating
o Easy availability of meetings
o Well balanced diet and not very restrictive either
Cons
o Translating foods into points is quite a hassle
o High cost
3. Atkins Diet
This is a low carbohydrate and high fat diet. It has a definite list of items that you will be eating which include red meat, chicken and turkey, seafood, eggs, oil, nuts, some vegetables that do not contain a lot of starch, high fat dairy foods like cheese, butter, and cream and artificial sweeteners. Induction, weight loss and maintenance are the three phases of this diet.
Pros
o Enjoyable list of food items
o Initial rapid weight loss can be very motivating
Cons
o High fat diet
o Limited in Carbohydrates
o Particular food items can lead to weight gain and heart problems once the diet is over
4. Jenny Craig
This is a unique diet program with packaged foods and weekly visits. You will be eating from a special line of packaged foods by Jenny Craig which is the central focus of the program. You will slowly make a transition towards real foods. Weekly consultations along with the prepackaged foods are the key elements of this program.
Pros
o Prepackaged foods makes dieting easy as you don't have to make the choices
o Weekly support is excellent for motivation
o Educative program inducing lifestyle changes.
Cons
o Very expensive
o No solid proof to suggest this diet program to be more effective than others.
o Prepackaged foods are restrictive especially when eating with other people
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