Diets, Do They Work?

Diets make one lose weight but it is not due to any detailed pattern. Weight loss happens because these diets advocate consuming low calories. They work because generally people eat too much food. When this food intake is not matched by energy output, naturally the result is weight gain.

Let's look at some of the popular diets that support the right combination of food. These do not stress concentrating or avoiding a particular type of food. Some of the most popular ones of this type of diet are Eat Right for Your Type Diet, the Zone Diet, and Dr. Phil's Ultimate Weight Solution Diet.

The Eat Right Diet is based on the belief that the blood type decides the right diet, the right exercise regimen and the right supplements to keep a person healthy, attain the ideal weight and live longer. If one does not eat the correct food according to blood type, he will be at risk for developing some diseases.

The fact is that the blood type has nothing to do with consuming a healthy diet with low calories in order to lose weight. This type of diet may make one unnecessarily avoid foods that one enjoys. Some people might even use this diet to treat a serious condition.

On to the Zone diet which assures that if one eats small meals with carbohydrates, protein and fat in the correct ratio of 1:1:1, one's hormones and insulin will be balanced to the point the body will function at its best. One will lose weight and will be able to fight the diseases.

The trouble with this diet is that there are too many rules. One has to eat within one hour from wake-up, a snack before thirty minutes before exercise and a snack before bedtime. This is so strictly controlled that it may discourage one when all that is needed is to eat less of healthy food and move more.

How about Dr. Phil's diet? He recommends eating the right foods he calls "high-response cost, high-yield foods" and avoid the wrong foods he calls "low-response cost, low-yield foods" to lose weight. It is true one should eat slowly and to plan food four hours apart and to include fiber as he recommends.

Diabetics could benefit from Dr. Phil's diet but will have to monitor blood sugar to avoid hypoglycemia. Also be careful because the "high-response cost, high-yield foods" and the "low-response cost, low-yield foods" may not include food choices for diabetics.

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