Wednesday, October 19, 2016

The Spectrum Diet

The Spectrum Diet
The Spectrum diet is the latest lifestyle and weight-loss plan created by Dean Ornish, MD, the pioneer researcher who showed that a low-fat, vegetarian diet can reverse heart disease in his past best-seller, Dr. Dean Ornish’s Program for Reversing Heart Disease.

The Spectrum diet has three components: nutrition, stress management, and exercise. The Spectrum is not a diet. It’s really about lowering your risk for diseases by making better food and lifestyle choices. 

In the Spectrum diet, foods are sorted into five groups:

Group 1 is the healthiest. Foods include fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes, and non-fat dairy products.

Group 2 is also primarily plant-based foods, but they have slightly more monounsaturated and polyunsaturated, or healthy, fat such as avocados, seeds, nuts, and canola oil.

Group 3 includes some seafood, such as salmon and anchovies, and reduced-fat dairy.

Group 4 foods have higher fat and animal protein and fewer nutrients. These foods include poultry, whole milk and dairy products, mayonnaise, cakes, cookies, and pastries.

Group 5 is the least healthy category and includes foods that are highest in unhealthy fats such as saturated fat and trans fatty acids. The foods include hot dogs, fried food, butter, and red meat.

If you consume a lot of foods from group 5 and very few from group 1, you’ll want to make changes in what you eat. “People need to move toward group 1 as best as they can,” says Dorfman.
But the Spectrum diet is not all or nothing, says Gidus: “Ornish says to eat from groups 1 and 2 and try to eat only once in a while from groups 4 and 5.”

As an example of healthful eating, breakfast might be quinoa (a whole grain) and dried fruits. For lunch, you can start with a base of Asian noodle salad with onions, peppers, and carrots, and possibly add chicken or shrimp. A dinner recipe might be zucchini squash stuffed with soy burger, onions, and tomatoes. The Spectrum diet plan has recipes created by chef Art Smith with variations that include ingredients from the different Ornish food groups, allowing you to decide when you want to add meat to a meal for instance.

The Spectrum diet offers good nutrition. People will eat more fruits and vegetables and whole grains, and less animal protein. It also gives you exercise guidelines.

Wednesday, October 12, 2016

Joy Bauer's Your Inner Skinny Diet

Joy Bauer's Your Inner Skinny Diet:

Joy Bauer offers four steps for successful weight loss in her diet book Your Inner Skinny. Her program emphasizes healthy eating and exercise and includes tips for preparing the food you will need to succeed.
People who suspect they have a skinny person (or at least a fit and trim person) hidden inside can turn to dietitian Joy Bauer’s diet and exercise plan and book, Your Inner Skinny, to learn how to make the changes that lead to weight loss and let the smaller you out.

Her book and program divides dieting into four steps. The four basic steps of the Joy Bauer program are:
Release (Stage 1). This is an intense week to eliminate all “bad” food habits from your life.
Relearn (Stage 2). During this time, you will start to practice new diet habits.
Reshape (Stage 3). This period lasts until you are satisfied with your weight-loss results. This is when you make a regular habit out of the new healthy diet and lifestyle choices emphasized by Bauer.
Reveal (Stage 4). At this point you can enjoy your new weight while continuing to practice your new habits.

The book contains many strategies for weight loss, including:

Exercise — 30 to 60 minutes daily,
Identifying and avoiding trigger foods
Turning off the TV (or at least not eating in front of it)
Stocking up on healthy snacks and foods
Planning and shopping for healthy meals in advance
Ending your loyalty to certain types of foods or certain ways of eating, if those loyalties continue unhealthy habits.

On this diet you will be eating three meals a day and one afternoon snack. Bauer recommends eating within 90 minutes of waking up in the morning and not eating after 9 p.m. The following foods are emphasized:
Good carbohydrates. These come from foods that are high in fiber, such as whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and beans.
Healthy fats. In moderation, you can have olive oil, canola oil, nuts, flax, walnuts, and avocados.
Lean protein. Bauer recommends lean proteins, eggs, fish, chicken, soy, beans, lentils, and low- or non-fat dairy.
Unlimited snacks. For those who want to snack between meals, Bauer provides a long list of “unlimited” snack foods (non-starchy vegetables) and beverages (zero-calorie drinks and coffee with milk). As you progress toward your weight-loss goal, more options for healthy snacks are given.

The diet provides lots of variety. Bauer recommends filling up with her vegetable-rich salad or vegetable soup before meals, especially early on in the diet. After one of these appetizers, dinner might feature poached salmon and steamed broccoli.

The diet has not been tested clinically, but weight loss is likely for most people who stick to the plan.