American Diets

Every year, an estimated 80 million Americans go on some sort of diet, spending over $30 billion. It is clear that diets are big business, and there are always new diets going on the market that claim to help you shed the pounds fast. Many of these are just fad diets, that many claim only help you lose weight temporarily, but others are a more long term solution. In this article we shall outline some of the more popular diets in America today.

The Atkins diet has been a worldwide phenomenon since 2003. Despite the original diet being developed in the 1970’s, it was newly marketed and modified at the beginning of the century. The creator, Dr. Atkins, believed that the main cause of obesity stemmed from people eating unrefined carbohydrates such as sugar, flour and high-fructose corn syrups. The diet is largely based around the minimizing of carbohydrates from the diet in the belief that it switches the body’s metabolism from burning off glucose to burning body fat. He advises that you only eat whole, unprocessed foods with a low glycemic index. The Atkins diet consists of four phases: induction; ongoing weight-loss; pre-maintenance and lifetime maintenance. The first stage is the hardest and lasts approximately two weeks. During this stage you must not eat more than 20grams of carbohydrates each day. Many other low-carb diets evolved in the wake of the Atkins revolution.

Another popular diet is the South Beach diet. The South Beach diet was first developed by cardiologist Dr. Agaston as way to help prevent heart disease in his patients. It later became popular as a way to lose weight. The diet is predominantly low-fat and aims to reduce cholesterol, but the difference to this diet is that Dr. Agaston created it in the knowledge that normal low-fat diets were hard to stick to. Instead of eliminating fats and carbohydrates, the South Beach diet instead swaps ‘bad’ fat and ‘bad’ carbs with ‘good’ fat and ‘good’ carbs. For example, the diet eliminates the fatty portions off of meat and poultry instead replacing them with lean meats and fish. Like the Atkins diet, the South Beach diet recommends eliminating processed foods.

One of the most popular and successful diets in America, and indeed the world, is Weight Watchers. Weight watchers was established in 1963 by homemaker Jean Nidetch. Weight Watchers offers a variety of products and services that help people lose weight in a realistic and healthy way. At the start of the diet, members must choose a goal weight. Once they reach this goal weight they enter the maintenance period, through which the member slowly increases their food intake until they neither lose weight or gain weight. If every week for six weeks the member stays within 2lbs of their goal weight they become a life member. This means that as long as they weigh in at least once a month and retain their goal weight they can attend meetings for free. If they have put on weight then they must pay for classes. There is now an online version of Weight Watchers, so those who do not wish to attend meetings can still benefit from the diet.

The third American diet we shall look at in this article is the ‘Zone’ diet. The Zone diet was made popular by actress Jennifer Aniston. The diet is based around a calorie ratio of 40:30:30 referring to carbohydrates, proteins, and fats, in that order. By keeping your meals in that ratio you can lose weight at a good rate. This diet is said to release anti-inflammatory chemicals that have the same affect as aspirin. The Zone diet is considered to be a low-carb diet, although it is not as restrictive as other low-carb diets such as Atkins.

The last diet we shall look at today is the Lemon Cleanse diet, also known as the Maple Syrup diet, is a diet that largely consists of cleansing the body of toxins through a 5-10 day fasting, where you only consume a mixture consisting of lemon juice and maple syrup. Although the diet was created back in 1941 by Stanley Burroughs, it has been remarketed towards a modern audience in the last couple of years and has been a success ever since. The diet became popular after the release of the book: ‘Lose Weight, Have More Energy and Be Happier in 10 Days’ . Many celebrities such as Jared Leto and Beyonce have used this diet to lose weight fast, as essentially it is seen to be a crash diet, although it does contain nutrients.

Those are just a few of some of the popular diets in America today. There are hundreds more, and a little bit of research will help you find the right diet to suit your needs and lifestyle. Always speak with a doctor before starting a diet.