Do you ever wonder what you can believe about popular weight loss diet claims? Where can you turn to get some facts that you can trust? We are pummeled daily by advertisements that make it seem easy to lose weight fast with little to no sacrifice involved. The American Heart Association (AHA) and Medscape Medical News websites both offer information and advice to help clear up the confusion. American Heart says that most claims are misleading and many can actually be harmful to your health. The first principle of good nutrition is balance and variety in what you eat. This, along with adequate physical activity will help you maintain your optimal weight over a lifetime. Food should be both nutritious and enjoyable using a variety of your favorite recipes. Most fad diet plans become boring and monotonous after a few days or weeks. Some falsely claim to be endorsed by the AHA but the American Heart Association does not endorse any commercial diet plans or companies. They caution that you should be suspicious about unsubstantiated “food folklore” and plans that exclude whole food groups.
Medscape reports on the findings of a research study that compared four different commercial weight loss diets (Slim Fast, Weight Watchers, Dr. Atkin’s New Diet Revolution and Rosemary Conley’s Eating Yourself Slim). The study found that diet groups assigned to various plans did not differ significantly from each other during a 6 month study period in terms of weight loss. However, at 12 months only 45% of the subjects were still following their plan. Plans that offered a support framework such as regular meetings or organized exercise classes (Weight Watchers and Rosemary Conley) had a lower dropout rate and less rebound weight gain than those in the unsupported groups (Atkins and Slim Fast).
These facts support the idea that learning the basics of nutrition and following a good well balanced diet will help you stay healthy and maintain normal weight. For most of us, this means that home cookingusing fresh ingredients and a variety of foods and menus over the long term will keep our interest, develop good family values and pass sound eating habits down to future generations. Make delicious, well balanced meals your passion, maintain healthy weight and, while you’re at it, help keep the art of home cooking alive.
The Higgins Sisters' Home Cooking Central - keeping the art of home cooking alive!
Copyright The Higgins Sisters LLC - All rights reserved for all materials not otherwise copyrighted herein. All other non-original copyrighted and trademarked material copyright and trademark their respective owners.
