They are written about in the glossies. They are talked about at the parties. Celebrities endorse them and converted friends give you a queer look if you confess to never having heard about them.
A variety of diet fads are suddenly in vogue promising to make you slim and glow with good health. Do they work or are they merely amusing diversions for a society that has never known food scarcity? Worse, can they actually be harmful? Read about four popular diets to find out if they work for you.
Atkins dietYou thought you need to avoid fat to lose weight? Well, the Atkins diet tells you to do just the opposite. You can eat all the fat – and proteins – you want. It’s the carbs that you should watch out for.
To the uninitiated, Atkins may seem like a dieter’s heaven. This is because it allows you to stock your plate with foods you considered taboo such as eggs, meat, butter, and ghee. What’s more, there’s no limit to how much you eat. But wait a minute. The restriction on carbs means that many foods you enjoyed are now forbidden. While you can gradually eat some fiber-rich carbs, foods such as rice, bread, potatoes, milk and sweets will always remain a no-no. In return, Atkins promises effective weight-loss, without the dreadful hunger pangs associated with dieting.
What it advocates: Your body functions by using the energy it produces by burning carbohydrates. The extra carbohydrates you eat are stored by your body as fat. When you cut out carbohydrates from your diet, your body is forced to burn these fat reserves in the form of ketones, a process known as ketosis. Appetite is suppressed in this state, so you also end up eating less. Thus, Atkins says, achieving ketosis can help you lose weight.
What doctors say: The inadequate carbohydrates and fiber allowed by Atkins can be unhealthy. Besides, the restriction on vegetables and fruits deprives dieters of their nutritive benefits. The high protein diet could also result in bone loss, kidney or liver damage, cancer, and heart disease.
Calorie count: How much is enough?Tags: Diet, Fats
