Mediterranean Diet

Mediterranean Diet is basically the diet style based on the Southern Mediterranean region (such as Italy, Spain and Greece). The diet consists of lots of vegetables and fruits, salads dressed with olive oil, bread, fish, pasta, and other grains, with minimal fish and poultry and virtually no red meat. The diet also lets one eat small quantities of wine and some eggs. Sonoma Diet, one of the popular diet plans followed these days, has drawn heavily from the traditional Mediterranean Diet.

So, what you can eat and what not in a typical Mediterranean Diet?

Well, as mentioned above, choose lots of fresh fruits and vegetables, and cut down on meats. It is ok to eat fish once in a week, save fried ones and those laden with heavy sauses/butter. Four eggs a week is acceptable. Not more. Use canola oil or Olive oil for cooking, but in moderate quantities, thanks to its high calorie content. Finally, cut down/eliminate saturate fats and trans fat from your diet.

In order to help you chart the diet plan easier, here are few suggestions.

1.Choose natural peanut butter over hydrogenated fat added ones. Cut down on butter. A ‘cholesterol-free’ or ‘fat free’ label on the pack doesn’t mean that they are necessarily so. As it is seen, most contains trans-fats in abundance.

2. Shun high fat meats such as red meat or bacon. Fish and poultry are good substitutes (more about fish at bullet point 5).

3. Avoid high fat milk and milk products, and instead switch to skimmed milk, fat-free yogurt and low-fat cheese. Almonds, pecans, walnuts, or Brazil nuts are just perfect for a quick snack.

4 Eats lots of fruits and vegetables. Apples, carrots, and bananas are perfect for a quick snack, while fruit salads are a wonderful way to include a variety of fruits in the meal.

5. Fish can be included in the meal once or twice a week. Water-packed tuna, salmon, mackerel, trout, and herring would be healthy choices, while fried ones are not. If you are a fan of fried ones, once in a while, have one sauteed in olive oil. However, don't make it a habit or daily affair.

6. Finally, use Olive or canola oil for cooking. Olive oil would be just perfect as a healthy substitute for butter or margarine. For example, bread dipped in flavored olive oil would taste as good as, if not better, a butter spread.

Thumb Rule: Avoid all forms of processed foods. Stick to natural fruits and vegetables.

PS: Purple grape juice would be a healthy alternative for red wine.

Atkins Diet - An Analysis

Atkins diet - formulated by Dr. Robert Atkins - first appeared in his book The New Diet Revolution in the 1970s. The diet plan simply focused on cutting down the carbohydrate intake meanwhile letting the dieter eat any protein and fat as he/she wishes. However, Atkins diet’s popularity was not without its fair share of critics, who contention was the apparent imbalance in the fat-carbohydrate ratio advocated by the Atkins diet. Here, let us first take a look at the diet plan before delving into the negatives of Atkins diet.

Atkins diet eliminates anything carb. That is, no bread, cereal, sugar, starchy vegetables, and pasta. Instead, the dieter has to eat more low-carb victuals such as chicken, pork chops, shellfish, steak, duck, eggs, turkey, cheeses, salads, fatty salad dressings, certain nuts, and specially made Atkins shakes and bars. The lack of carbohydrates forces the body to depend upon the stored fat for energy, in the process burning away excess fat. This process is called Ketosis, and Atkins diet just simulates a favorable condition for this to take place.

On the flip side, experts point out that Atkins diet, even though effective in short periods, could cause ill health if followed frequently. According to them, such a diet composition is inadequate to produce and maintain a healthy muscle mass that a normal person requires. It is also pointed out that Ketosis actually causes overworking of certain body organs, which is again not at all a healthy proportion. And worst, in some people, this diet plan could cause dizziness as well.

Considering the pros and cons, hence it is advisable that a prospective dieter may consult a health professional before following the Atkins diet plan.

Hollywood Diet Plan

To put it in few words, the Hollywood Diet Plan is very near to outright fasting – you stop eating anything solid for 48 hours on a trot and instead depend on a magic potion – a mix of fruit drinks – for all your nutritional purposes. That is, no food, no alcohol, no caffeine, no smoking, and virtually nothing else that you can take it into your mouth. But, mix 4 ounces of juice concentrate and an equal amount of water and sip it over the course of 4 hours. Follow the juice drink with 8 ounces of water. Repeat this procedure four times a day for 48 hours.

Next, how this procedure brings about fat loss, and hence weight loss? Well, simply by restricting the daily calorie intake. As some people points out, in fact, this is also the con of Hollywood diet. The total calorie supplied to the body while undergoing Hollywood diet is a paltry 400 calories, as opposed to 2000 odd while normal eating. So, it will drain the dieter of all his/her energies for two days for sure. Studies conducted on volunteers have shown that for smaller periods, Hollywood diet causes no serious health problems, even though there may be some amount of dizziness for few people who are trying this out for the first time. But frequently trying out this diet could have some negative effect on the health.

Now to the positives of Hollywood diet plan, as mentioned already, it quickly helps shed unwanted fat. Since the dieter won’t be consuming any solid food during the dieting period, that gives the digesting system the much needed time to cleanse itself and throw out some accumulated waste. The adequate hydration also ensures that the system flushes out stored toxins and metabolizes fat. Further, the combination of adequate hydration and the diuretic effect of some juice ingredients aids combat water retention. From a dieter’s point of view, the only thing to take care is to follow the Hollywood diet plan punctually, as such.

The Hollywood diet potion, bought off the store shelves, is a combination of pineapple, prune, white grape, orange, apple, and lemon juices, extracts of green tea, ginkgo biloba, bilberry, and grapeseed, and fructose, water, along with some preservatives and stabilizers, in different proportions. The one popularized by Women’s Magazine – the home made version – on the other hand, have soy milk, wheat germ oil, yogurt, orange and cranberry juices, and flaxseed oil. In terms of calories, however, the latter one has more than the bottled version.

Tail Piece: For some, the ingredients of the Hollywood diet potion could trigger some allergic reactions or severe cramping. In such cases, discontinue the diet at the earliest, and don’t waste time to consult a physician.