RYCKMAN: Fad diets never die . . .

By Lisa Ryckman, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Diets come and go - and then come back again.

Take the Cabbage Soup Diet. It made its debut in 1950, and 40 years later, it looked all shiny and new. Suffice to say that a cabbage is a cabbage is a cabbage, and what gave folks gas back in 1950 had exactly the same effect in 1990.

And it will do the same when it pops up again in 2030, but by then, there will be a whole new generation of dieters who missed it the first two times.

Diets often seem to come in waves, sharing similar concepts with their own unique little twists. Many of the latest crop of diets, for example, subscribe to the ELMO concept (eat less more often), generally recommending six small meals a day. The Perfect Body Diet includes three meals and three snacks, including six grams of glucomannan, a soluble fiber made from the root of the elephant yam. The Flat Belly Diet relies on MUFAs (monounsaturated fatty acids, mainly found in nuts and seeds) at each of four 400-calorie meals.

But the fact is, there's only one way to lose weight, and it's inherently boring and unsexy: Burn more calories than you consume. Not only is that mind-implodingly tedious, it's also notoriously tough to do, what with requiring one to get up from the couch and give up Twinkies deep-fried in chocolate sauce and all.

That's why as long as there have been love handles and beer bellies, there have been people trying to get rid of them as quickly and painlessly as possible. How about chewing your food, then spitting it out? Or having a cig instead of a candy bar? Or consuming nothing but cocktails?

There's a diet for everybody and every body, so if you can't find one you like right now, just wait 15 minutes - or borrow an idea from fads of the past.

And if you miss the perfect plan, not to worry: It'll be back.

Fad diets through history

* Vinegar and Water Diet: Made popular by Lord Byron; based on the idea that pouring vinegar on food makes it smell bad and taste worse.

* Low Carbohydrate Diet: First of many appearances through the years, an approach favored by rabid anti-breadites.

* Graham's Diet: Cracker creator Sylvester Graham thought this would curb impure thoughts and acts and the resulting blindness.

* Banting's Low Carb Diet: Banting becomes a popular term for dieting.

* "Fletcherizing": Touted by Horace Fletcher, you chew each bite 32 times, then spit it out. All the flavor, none of the calories.

* Calorie Counting: Introduced by Lulu Hunt Peters in her book, Diet and Health With Key to the Calories.

* Cigarette Diet: Gotta put something in your cakehole? "Reach for a Lucky instead of a sweet."

* Inuit Meat-and-Fat Diet: Caribou, raw fish and whale blubber. You lose weight just rounding up the food.

* Hay Diet: Protein and carbs not allowed at the same meal.

* Dr. Stoll's Diet Aid: First of the liquid diets, hawked at beauty parlors to ladies who lunch.

* Bananas and Skim Milk Diet: Backed by the United Fruit Co.

* Cabbage Soup Diet: Cabbage and onions and peppers - oh my! If it gives you gas, just toss it in the pot.

* Grapefruit Diet: Lose 52 pounds in 21/2 months by chugging grapefruit juice before every meal.

* Zen Macrobiotic Diet: Invented by Japanese philosopher George Ohsawa.

* Calories Don't Count Diet: The FDA begs to differ. The agency filed charges over this diet's claims.

* Drinking Man's Diet: Declared unhealthy by the Harvard School of Public Health. Duh.

* Sleeping Beauty Diet: Based on the idea that if you're sufficiently doped up, you'll forget to eat.

* Liquid Protein Diet: Relied on vile vitamin-deficient concoctions.

* Beverly Hills Diet: Allowed only fruit in unlimited quantities for 10 days.

* Fit for Life Diet: Unclog with fruit in the morning, raw food later on and no mixing carbs and proteins.

* Caveman Diet: Fun food from the Paleolithic era, not including woolly mammoth.

* Rotation Diet: Rotating the number of calories consumed from week to week.

* Scarsdale Diet: Low calorie, low carb.

* Cabbage Soup Diet: The 1950s diet redux.

* The Atkins Diet: High protein, low carb.

* Sugar Busters Diet: Cuts sugar to trim fat, eliminates refined carbohydrates.

* Eat Right for Your Type: Diet based on blood type, suitable for A, B, AB, O, negative, positive and vampires.

* Juice, Fasting and Detoxification: Perennial faves reappear in combination.

* Raw Foods Diet: Focuses on uncooked, unprocessed organic food.

* Atkins: Again.

* Coconut Diet: Fats replaced with another fat, coconut oil.

* Cheater's Diet: Cheating is required on weekends. We're talking about pigging out on Twinkies and hot fudge.

* Maple Syrup Diet: No pancakes for you - this features a special syrup-lemon drink.

Source: American Dietetic Association

Diet facts and fallacies

* Myth: Fresh fruits and vegetables are healthier than frozen or canned.

Fact: Research shows frozen and canned foods are as nutritious as fresh. In fact, since lycopene is more easily absorbed in the body after it has been processed, canned tomatoes, corn and carrots are sometimes better nutrition choices.

* Myth: Body weight is a reliable indicator of a healthful diet.

Fact: No two people have the same body composition. The measure of a person's diet and overall health is a combination of factors, including weight.

* Myth: Eating just before bedtime is fattening.

Fact: What you eat, not when, makes the difference; calories have the same effect on the body no matter when they are consumed. Evidence does suggest that eating regular meals, especially breakfast, helps promote weight loss by reducing fat intake and minimizing impulsive snacking.

* Myth: Eating carbohydrates causes weight gain.

Fact: Calories cause weight gain. Excess carbohydrates are no more fattening than calories from any source. Despite the claims of low- carb diet books, a high-carbohydrate diet does not promote fat storage by enhancing insulin resistance.

* Myth: Eating sugar causes diabetes.

Fact: Diabetes is caused by a lack of insulin in the body. Since foods that are high in sugar are often high in calories, overeating those foods can lead to weight gain, a recognized risk factor for diabetes.

* Myth: Occasionally following a fad diet is a safe way to lose weight.

Fact: Many fad diets are developed by people with no science or health background, so some fad diets can even be considered harmful to people with certain health problems. When trying to lose weight, consult a registered dietitian.

Diet books and plans worth a look

* The Step Diet, by James O. Hill and John C. Peters: a sensible, incremental approach. Baby steps can add up to a big leap.

* The Abs Diet/The Abs Diet for Women by David Zinczenko: Some sound nutritional advice along with a focus on the need for a balanced exercise program, says dietitian Roberta Anding of the American Dietetic Association.

* No-Fad Diet by the American Heart Association: a complete plan that includes attitude adjustment, recipes and eating/exercise strategies.

* The Best Life Diet by Bob Greene: A Consumer Reports expert panel gave top marks to the personalized advice and exercise section. Plus, Oprah loves it.

* The Volumetrics Eating Plan by Barbara Rolls. Clinical trials show best overall weight loss of any diet plan, according to Consumer Reports.