A quick look at three popular natural weight loss plans to help you get ready for the summer.
Every year, at right about this time, women everywhere panic at the thought of putting on a bathing suit. It never ceases to amaze me. After months of hiding under long sleeves and long pants, our bodies are now on display for all to see
for better or worse.
In this new-found panic, many women turn to the latest fad diet to drop pounds quickly. Not only is this unsafe, but these fads represent a short-lived quick fix rather than long-term, healthy, natural weightloss.
To help you navigate the maze of weight loss programs, I went back to the basics and looked at a 2000 study from the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, which examined eight of the top diet programs in the country. Specifically, researchers looked at the long-term impact of these diet patterns, using a standard daily caloric intake of 2,000 calories for all diets.
I decided to take the three most popular of these (Atkins, Sugar Busters, and the Zone) and help you decide which of these three natural weight loss plans is best for you.
The Atkins diet is a high protein/high fat diet that is based on the premise that weight gain and obesity are caused by insulin resistance. In an effort to circumvent these conditions, this diet restricts carbohydrate intake to less than 20 grams a day. While Atkins allows women to eat unlimited amounts of meat, fish, poultry, eggs, and cheese, it discourages consumption of fruit, bread, grains, starchy veggies like corn and carrots, refined sugar, and most dairy products.
Like Atkins, the Sugar Busters plan is high in protein; however, unlike Atkins, it recommends a more moderate fat intake. Additionally, Sugar Busters believes that sugar is toxic and maintains that insulin insensitivity causes obesity and type 2 diabetes. Therefore, it strives to reduce high-glycemic carbohydrates in order to lower insulin levels by encouraging consumption of lean meats, eggs, most fruit, nuts, whole grains, and high-fiber, non-starchy veggies. However, it discourages eating any refined grains (such as regular potatoes, white rice, and white bread), refined sugar, root veggies, and baked goods. It does, however, allow red wine.
The Zone program is also high in protein, focusing on lean protein sources such as fish, poultry, and low-fat dairy products. Like Atkins, it discourages most grains and breads, starchy veggies, and some fruit. However, unlike Atkins, the Zone allows moderately restricted carbohydrates, and advocates against eating egg yolks, red meat, most cheeses, and butter.
A quick glance at the nutritional basics (fat, protein, carbs, fiber, sugar, cholesterol) shows the following:
Atkins natural weight loss plan:
- 59% calories from fat
- 35% calories from protein
- 5% calories from carbs
- 4 grams fiber
- 8 grams sugar
- 924 grams cholesterol
Sugar Busters natural weight loss plan:
- 32% calories from fat
- 28% calories from protein
- 40% calories from carbs
- 24 grams fiber
- 68 grams sugar
- 280 grams cholesterol
Zone natural weight loss plan:
- 32% calories from fat
- 28% calories from protein
- 40% calories from carbs
- 18 grams fiber
- 67 grams sugar
- 264 grams cholesterol
As you can see, Sugar Busters and the Zone are fairly similar, while Atkins is off-the-charts in terms of low fiber and high cholesterol. Based on these numbers, I would suggest working with either the Sugar Busters or Zone natural weight loss plans.