Consumer Reports Rates Diets for Nutrition and Effectiveness; CR Helps Readers Choose a Weight-Loss Program that Makes Sense for Them

Consumer Reports (CR) has taken the wraps off nine popular diets to help people wade through the sea of promises made by many weight-loss programs. In the June issue, "Rating the Diets from Atkins to Dr. Sears Zone," CR calculated the diets' calorie counts and nutritional composition, checked whether they conformed to U.S. dietary guidelines, and evaluated their effectiveness with a comprehensive review of clinical research.

Experts say that the best diet is the one you can stay on. CR helps readers choose a weight-loss plan that makes sense for them. Among our findings:

-- Weight Watchers received the highest overall rating. A nutritionally balanced diet, plus weekly meetings and weigh-ins for behavioral support, give this large commercial weight loss program the highest long-term adherence rate of any diet studied. This plan doesn't exclude any food group and its point system encourages consumption of low-fat, high fiber meals.

-- Slim Fast, which received the second highest overall rating, is recommended for people who don't like to cook-branded bars and drinks replace part of breakfast and lunch-and dieters need to prepare only one full meal a day. People on the Slim Fast plan lost the most weight in six months using products like 180-calorie shakes.

-- The Zone is high in protein and includes copious amounts of high-fiber vegetables. Many companies offer home delivery of "Zone favorable meals." It is recommended for those who want a short-term high protein diet plan.

-- Ornish offers ultra low-fat, high-fiber vegetarian meals, which provide fairly large portions for the low calories.

-- Atkins Induction and Atkins Ongoing Weight Loss are appropriate for people who want a short-term high protein diet plan. The Atkins diet worked very well in the short term, with results at least as good as our other top-rated diets. But its nutritional deficiencies-too much fat, and too little fiber and too few fruits-depressed its overall Rating and may have a negative effect on some people's health.

In CR's Ratings, the overall score is based on adherence to nutritional guidelines and the results of clinical studies for each diet. Nutritional content was calculated by entering a week's worth of menus from each diet into a powerful nutritional analysis database. Analytical results include short- and long- term weight loss and dropout rates, and were derived from published clinical trials for each diet.

Several other popular weight-loss plans-eDiets, Jenny Craig, South Beach, and Volumetrics-are all low enough in calories to produce weight loss. But CR could not rate them for this report because these diets lacked data from large, long-term, published clinical trials.

CR suggests there are four ways to a winning diet: Eat high- bulk, low-calorie foods: This is a promising strategy for curbing hunger while keeping calories down. Such foods include fruits, veggies, and other water-filled foods such as soups. Control blood sugar: One way is to stay away from starchy, easy-to-digest carbohydrates, such as refined flour, white rice, and potatoes, and avoid added sugar. Eat plenty of high-fiber carbs, such as whole grains, fruits and veggies. Measure portions and seek encouragement.

CR's recommendations for choosing the best diet for you include:

-- Cut the easiest calories first. Eliminate the nonnutritive foods that are least important to you,
such as sugared soft drinks and juices and oversized baked goods.

-- Choose a safe dietary plan. If you have any medical condition check with your doctor before starting a weight-loss program. Don't strive for rapid weight loss. Increase fiber intake gradually and drink more water to avoid digestive upsets.

-- Consider personal preferences: People who like variety may tire of the limited menu of a meal-replacement diet.

-- Follow the rules: The more faithfully people adhere to a diet, the more successful they will be.
-- Be ready to switch: If, after three weeks, you find a diet is too difficult or unpleasant to follow, or you are not losing weight-try another.

Use their interactive "Calorie-needs Calculator" to determine your daily calorie needs-free from May 10 until July 6 at http://www.ConsumerReports.org. The June 2005 issue of Consumer Reports will be available May 10

posted by Consumer Help Web Editorial Team at 10:55 AM |