Does it sound believable?" The diet book "Eat Right for Your Type," which designs diets around your blood type, "doesn't even make sense," she said. "Does it eliminate one or more food groups?
That's a big red flag," Del Guerra went on.
When you eliminate a huge range of things we need to prevent disease and illness, we're not on the right track." Fad diets offer quick results, temporary hope and are trendy.
"If you follow them to the letter of the law, you will lose weight," Del Guerra said, "because the calories you take in are less than what they were when you started."But the diets often offer only temporary results, become monotonous, can be hard on the body over the long haul, and feature a lack of independent research to back up their claims, she said."Most fad diets have some science behind them," she said, saying "Body for Life," "Thin for Life," "The South Beach Diet" (which she called a healthier version of the Atkins diet) and "Trim Kids" were some of the best she's seen. No matter what your diet, Del Guerra recommended: Making sure whole grains, fruits and vegetables are included. That a moderate intake of protein is good.
"It makes you feel fuller, longer." That four times a week you eat lunches or dinners containing no meat. Choose from all the rainbow's colors.
"Three ounces of protein looks the size of a deck of cards," she said.
"But people don't eat a lot of steaks that look like a deck of cards.
We eat with our eyes, not just our stomach.