Most Popular Weight-Loss Plans
Say good-bye to junk food, diet drugs and expensive get-thin-quick schemes. If you're one of the millions of Americans trying to slim down, look no further for the skinny on some of the best-known weight-loss plans.
The Plan: Atkins Nutritional Approach (www.atkins.com)
The Program: Omitting high-carbohydrate foods can spur weight loss. Empty calories from sugars and starches are replaced with calories from proteins, such as meats, poultry, fish, nuts and eggs.
The Pros: The Atkins plan empowers dieters by making them aware of how many empty carbohydrates they consume on other plans, says Stuart Trager, MD, exercise and controlled-carbohydrate lifestyle consultant for Atkins Health and Medical Information Services in New York, and an orthopaedic surgeon at Pennsylvania Hospital in Philadelphia. He calls it a "joint-protective way to lose weight" because the plan's emphasis is on eating rather than high-impact exercise.
The Caveat: Although the long-term cardiovascular effects of a diet high in red meat, poultry and some kinds of fish and seafood are unknown, high amounts of these foods can cause uric acid build-up, contributing to gout, a common arthritis-related condition. And some healthful nutrient-containing carbohydrates - such as fruits, some vegetables and high-fiber, whole-grain foods - are eliminated in this diet, which also eliminates the protective effects these foods may have against certain cancers or heart disease.
The Plan: Slim-Fast (www.slim-fast.com)
The Program: Slim-Fast's weight-loss meal replacement shakes are now part of a larger menu of packaged foods - including snack bars, soups, pastas and even ice cream - intended to replace high-calorie, fast-food lunches and snacks with 200-calorie, portion-controlled options.
The Pros: Certain medications, such as prednisone, can cause weight gain, says Vivian C. Shih, MD, an attending physician at the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago's Arthritis Center, so reducing calorie intake by using meal-replacement foods can help offset weight gain. And if a physician calls for a temporary cessation of exercise to rest actively inflamed joints, reducing calorie intake is a sure way to prevent pounds from piling on.
The Caveat: Patients who dramatically cut calories to lose weight may be depriving themselves of necessary nutrients and increasing their risk of becoming malnourished, says Dr. Shih.
The Plan: Jenny Craig (www.jennycraig.com)
The Program: Weekly one-on-one counseling sessions at a Jenny Craig Centre result in a customized diet using the program's 70-plus pre-portioned dishes, which are a major component of the weekly menus individually designed for each dieter.
The Pros: The recommended 30 minutes of daily exercise is designed to get participants moving, whether it is taking the stairs instead of the elevator or parking farther away from a destination. The low-impact approach is friendly to those with inflamed joints and for first-time exercisers.
Where’s the Fiber
If you’re watching your weight by following one of these popular diets, you may not be getting enough fiber. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) [http://www.usda.gov/wps/portal/usdahome] recommends 25 to 30 grams (g) of fiber per day.
Grams of fiber per day
Atkins diet 1.0 g
The Zone 11.7 g
Jenny Craig 18.0 g
American Heart
Association No-Fad Diet 19.4 g
Source: Leslie Bonci, registered dietitian and director of sports medicine nutrition for the department of orthopaedic surgery at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
(Arthritis Today, July - August 2007)
