Weight Loss Diets That Work

The fat-free meals never left me satisfied. I can remember downing bowl after bowl of oatmeal, wheat berries, or steamed barley to feel full. But the people on the higher fat Mediterranean-type diet have about twice the weight loss by 18 months compared with loss in the low-fat group, and these people feel satisfied. Their diet is something they can live with, and they don't feel deprived. Feeling satisfied can be the key to a successful diet for some.

The concept that it may be healthier to eat more high-protein foods such as meat, fish and eggs at the expense of fruits, vegetables, potatoes, pasta and rice has a high level of appeal to many people. But just how strong is the nutritional/ medical evidence that these are safe and healthy diets in the long term? On the other hand, flow-mediated dilation improved significantly in participants on the low-fat diet suggesting a healthier artery which is less prone to developing atherosclerosis. A slice of pizza made with soybean oil may be healthier than portions of some low-fat foods containing the same calorie count.

The low-carb approach seemed to trigger the most improvement in several cholesterol measures, including the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL, the “good” cholesterol. For example, someone with total cholesterol of 200 and an HDL of 50 would have a ratio of 4 to 1. The researchers noted that the low-fat diet reduced the total cholesterol to HDL ratio by only 12 percent, while the low-carbohydrate diet improved the same ratio by 20 percent. Lipids improved the most in the low-carbohydrate, with a 20 percent increase in the HDL (”good”) cholesterol and, 14 percent decrease in triglycerides. There has been some confusion lately regarding low fat diets as research studies are still ongoing that examine the efficacy of low fat/high carbohydrate diets for weight loss. 

Would you like to improve you and your family’s health and diet through cooking and eating mouth-watering food? Also, if you have heart disease or cancer, or have a family history of either disease, your health may be improved by eating a diet that is low in total and saturated fat.

People diet for two primary reasons, to lose weight, or to improve health–or both. If you are a healthy adult who is not overweight and who has no family members who are obese, the food pyramid recommendations of the USDA will work fine, as long as you remember that the carbohydrates that are recommended are those contained in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables.

The uncooked diet tends to improve a participant’s health. People’s weight tends to normalize due to the lack of fat in the diet. A new look at lifetime diets of participants in the Framington Heart Study found that for both men and women, lifelong dietary intake of potassium, magnesium and fruits and vegetables affected bone strength in old age.

Try coupling this eating plan with an exercise program including weight lifting and the results can be phenomenal.  When on a low calorie diet, the amount of fat intake can be reduced even more, down to 2 percent.

Even a low-fat diet can lead to weight gain when people ignore the total amount of calories they’re eating and regularly exceed their daily calorie goals. Too many calories from any source, low-fat foods included, can add pounds.