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Popular Diets – Sham or Real? The Sugar Busters Diet

Dr. King — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 20:51:00 +0000

Part 3: The Sugar Busters Diet

The Sugar Busters Diet book was written by three medical doctors and went on to sell over 100,000 copies by word of mouth alone. The diet essentially is a take off of several other low carb diets that came before it. The idea is to eliminate sources of high glycemic index carbohydrates in order to lower insulin in the blood. For more information about the effects of insulin as it relates to fat storage, read my article Insulin: The Fat Hormone to understand how insulin affects fat storage.

The one good thing about the Sugar Busters Diet is that unlike other low carb diets there are less restrictions. You are not required to completely restrict carbs like the atkins diet and the diet can be fairly high in carbohydrates, depending on which foods you choose. According to the authors the diet consists of about 40% carbohydrates but you are not restricted to eating that amount.

The diet does not follow a detailed structure of how to eat but instead offers guidelines for meals in regards to portion size, food composition, and times you should eat. The downside is that there is very little information on how to tailor the diet to your own needs.

Is the Sugar Busters Diet legitimate?

Short answer: Yes

What I like most about this book is it is a good primer to understanding which foods you should and should not eat. If you are thinking about learning how to eat healthier carbs and want some basic information then the Sugar Busters Diet is a decent place to start.

Popular Diets – Sham or Real? The South Beach Diet

Dr. King — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 22:22:00 +0000

Part 2: The South Beach Diet

The South Beach Diet was created by Dr. Arthur Agatston, director of the Mount Sinai Cardiac Prevention Center in Miami Beach, Fla. Unless you have been living on a deserted island most of you are familiar with this best selling book. At first glance there are a lot of similarities between the Atkins diet and the South Beach Diet.

There are two major differences between the Atkins diet and The South Beach Diet. The Atkins diet tends not to distinguish as much between the good and bad fats, whereas The South Beach Diet encourages you to only eat healthy fats. The other major difference is with carbohydrates. The South Beach Diet focuses more on low glycemic carbs instead of an extreme restriction of carbs like the Atkins diet.

Is The South Beach Diet legitimate?

Short answer: Absolutely.

This is one of the better dieting methods out there. Not because it was designed by an MD or that it will make you drop 10 lbs in one day (it doesn’t). The great thing about this diet is that it teaches you how to eat right.

Bottom line:

If you are willing to put in the effort to make significant long term changes this is probably one of the best diets to get you started. You aren’t going to lose several pounds in a short period of time but then again you will be more likely to keep the weight off instead of having the yo-yo effect which is all to common with most other diets.

Popular Diets – Sham or Real? The Atkins Diet

Dr. King — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 20:49:00 +0000

Part 1: The Atkins Diet

The Atkins diet is based around the idea of low carbohydrate consumption with higher fat and protein consumption. The theory behind it is that with a lack of carbohydrates for fuel the body will be forced to break down fats in the body as a source of fuel.

Is the Atkins diet legitimate?

Simple answer is yes it does help you to lose weight and burn fat.

The problem lies in the long term use of this diet. The body was not designed to starve itself of carbohydrates for long periods. Fighting the bodies need for carbohydrates will ultimately lead to other health issues. The positive side about this diet is that it helps people to understand the profound effect that refined sugars have on the body. People often times don’t realize that sugar is the major culprit when it comes to being fat.

Bottom line:

If you want to drop some weight fairly quickly this is one of the better ways you can do it. With that said I would not recommend this diet for the long term but if you want a short term solution then this diet will help you drop those unwanted pounds.