HELP ON DIABETES

Weight-Loss Diets

All weight-loss diets are based on the principle of decreased caloric intake and varying amount of proteins, fats, and carbohydrates (the macronutrients). The dif­ferences between the diets are principally regarding the ratios of macronutrients and, to a lesser degree, the sources of the macronutrients-such as vegetable or ani­mal protein or saturated or polyunsaturated fats:

• Balanced diets: In these diets, the emphasis is not on severely limiting one particular macronutrient, but on eating a balanced diet with decreased caloric intake. Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, and eDiets are also balanced diets with an emphasis on calorie counting. Jenny Craig and eDiets use prepared meals to control the caloric intake per meal. 
• High-protein diets: These diets emphasize high protein intake and severely restricting carbohydrates (5 to 10 percent). Examples of high-protein diets are 
• • The Atkins Diet (no restrictions on protein and fat sources) 
  • The South Beach Diet (emphasizes low-glycemic carbohydrates and preferences for monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats) 
  • There are some diets where high protein is recommended, but not to the same extent as in the Atkins or South Beach diets, and there is more carbohydrate intake. Examples of these diets are 
  • The Zone Diet (in which every meal needs to be 30 percent protein, 30 percent fat, and 40 percent carbohydrates) 
  • The CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization) Total Wellbeing Diet (Australian) \ 
• Fat-restricted diets: These diets stress eating less energy-dense foods, such as carbohydrates and proteins (a gram of fat contains 9 kcal, compared to 4 kcal in a gram of protein or carbohydrate). Very low fat diets, in which fats are less than 10 percent of energy intake, include \ 
• • The Pritikin Diet (nonvegetarian) 
  • The Ornish Diet (vegetarian-you can eat eggs and dairy products) 
  • The McDougall Diet (vegetarian)