Thursday, November 27, 2008

Three day diet trap

By Cath Night

In 1985 the famed three day diet first came on the scene. It boasted creation of a "specific metabolic reaction" to cause quick weight loss and the system to be cleansed. This reaction has never been proven or even attempted to be explained. The diet is to be followed for only 3 days, with an off period of generally 5 days in between diet times. All the versions of this diet share in common difficult steps that must be followed and foods that must be eaten in order for the diet to work.

What better way to blame the dieter when it doesn't work than "you botched the formula."

Breakfast on the first day comes with coffee (no sugar), one half a grapefruit, and a piece of toast with 1 Tbsp peanut butter. Lunch is a can of tuna, a piece of toast, and black coffee. For dinner it's 3 ounces of chicken or lean meat, a cup of green beans, one cup of carrots, one apple, and one cup of regular vanilla ice cream. The other two days of the diet are pretty similar in meal quantity, though the specifics change, for example Day 2 recommends two beef franks for dinner in place of three ounces of lean meat. Supposedly it's possible to lose as much as 10 pounds in only three days.

Baloney! How's that for specific? And no baloney is not on the diet. There is no evidence for the so-called "specific metabolic reaction." The only reason this diet would shed pounds is because of the lack of calories in the diet. In fact, because the diet is so low in carbohydrates a person could lose ten pound in three days.

Of course most of that would be water weight because carbohydrates cause the body to retain water. By the way, losing that much weight from not retaining water is dangerous as the body needs water to survive.

Once the three days end the weight will return, primarily because it's mostly water. But also because any weight lost from the skipped calories will be regained when the starving diet victim returns to normal, or in this case heavier than normal, eating.

Furthermore, such water loss could result in some serious medical emergencies. But hey, then you'd lose some real weight in the hospital.

The 3 day diet is best treated as a no day diet. In other words, don't do it. - 15485

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