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Faith Wagner

NTR 302

Dr. Bruckbauer

March 18, 2010

A Research Paper: Various Diets And An Evaluation Of Them

A significant percentage of Americans want to lose weight, and there are plenty of varied

ways for them to do so. New diet programs pop up in the media frequently. It may seem

overwhelming to the average dieter to try to figure out which diet is right for them. Do they all

guarantee results? Which one is the best? In this paper, we will look at three different low-

carbohydrate diets, the ZonePerfect Nutrition Program, the Atkins Diet, and the South Beach

Diet, as well as a recent fad diet called the Big Breakfast Diet. We will investigate how each diet

works and draw conclusions about which diet is best.

The ZonePerfect Nutrition Program is based on a 40/30/30 eating plan, meaning that 40%

of calories should come from carbohydrates, 30% of calories should come from protein, and 30%

of calories should come from fat (1). The current recommended intake for carbohydrates is 45%

to 65% of total calories, so the ZonePerfect Nutrition Program advises a lower intake of

carbohydrates than is currently recommended. The current recommended intake for fat is 20% to

35% of total calories, so the ZonePerfect Nutrition Program advises a percentage of fat that is

within the range recommended. Therefore, the Program provides dieters with an appropriate

amount of carbohydrates along with relatively high amounts of protein and fat. According to the

ZonePerfect website, a high intake of protein helps provide satiety, the feeling of fullness after

eating, and helps maintain lean muscle mass (1). Like protein, fat consumption helps with

satiety (1). Eating a meal rich with protein and fat will keep a person feeling fuller longer than
eating a meal with mostly carbohydrates. In addition, the high intake of fat allowed by the

ZonePerfect Program allows for a person to consume many varied fat sources, upping their

chances of reaching adequate levels of essential fatty acids (1). The 40/30/30 eating plan is the

key to the ZonePerfect Nutrition Program.

The goal of the ZonePerfect Program is to keep dieters feeling fuller longer. Research

seems to prove the effectiveness of the Program in achieving its goal. Researchers took a group

of people and fed them a diet with the ratio 50/15/35, meaning that 50% of their calories came

from carbohydrates, 15% from protein, and 35% from fat. After two weeks, half of the group

was switched to a diet with the ratio 50/30/20. Obviously, in this diet, much more of the calories

were coming from protein. All dieters were given a controlled amount of calories at an amount

determined to maintain their weight. Meanwhile, dieters kept track of how full they felt and how

hungry they felt. The dieters on the low protein diet had low satiety ratings and high hunger

ratings while the dieters on the high protein diet had high satiety ratings and low hunger ratings.

Later in the study, the dieters were allowed to take as much food as they needed to keep them

full. The dieters on the high protein diet steadily decreased the amount of food they ate, resulting

in weight loss (1). It seems clear from this study that the ZonePerfect Nutrition Program does

keep dieters feeling fuller longer, helping them feel fuller while eating fewer calories and helping

them lose weight.

The Atkins Diet is also a high-protein diet, but it is much more restrictive of

carbohydrates than the ZonePerfect Program. The Atkins Diet promises dieters to “lose up to 15

pounds in the first 2 weeks and that’s just the beginning” (2). The Diet includes a series of four

chronological phases. The first phase is called Induction (3). The Induction phase serves two

purposes: to change the body’s metabolism from burning primarily glucose for energy to burning
primarily fat for energy and to initiate weight loss (3). In this phase, dieters eat only 20 grams of

carbohydrates per day (3). If a person gets 50% of his calories from carbohydrates (as is

recommended), he consumes 250 grams of carbohydrates per day. Thus, 20 grams of

carbohydrates per day as recommended by the Atkins Diet is an extreme reduction! Presumably,

by limiting the amount of carbohydrates a dieter consumes, the Diet forces the body to burn

other fuel sources for energy, one of the main sources being fat stores. This leads to rapid weight

loss in the first two weeks of the Diet. The second phase is called Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL)

(4). In the OWL phase, the goal is to achieve an amount of carbohydrates that will maintain

weight loss while providing adequate energy controlling hunger (4). Essentially, foods are

gradually added back into the diet while dieters keep track of the amount of carbohydrates

consumed daily (4). This phase is similar to the Induction phase with the addition of more

carbohydrates and more acceptable foods (4). Next, dieters move on to the third phase, called

Pre-Maintenance, when they are within ten pounds of their goal weights (5). In this phase, dieters

continue to add more foods to their diets as well as more carbohydrates until they reach their

Atkins Carbohydrate Equilibriums. The Atkins Carbohydrate Equilibrium is the amount of

carbohydrates a person can consume while neither gaining nor losing weight (5). During the Pre-

Maintenance phase, weight loss may be slow, so this phase may take several months (5). The

fourth and final phase is called the Lifetime Maintenance phase. In this phase, goal weight is

maintained when dieters eat in accordance with their Atkins Carbohydrate Equilibriums

discovered in the Pre-Maintenance phase (6). Should a dieter stick to this number, his weight

should stay within a five pound range of his goal weight (6). In summary, the Atkins Diet begins

with a dramatic restriction of carbohydrates, after which dieters slowly add back foods and

increase carbohydrates until they reach their goal weights.


Also a low-carbohydrate diet, the South Beach Diet is very similar to the Atkins Diet.

Like the four phases of the Atkins Diet, the South Beach Diet has three phases (7). Phase One

lasts for two weeks, and it focuses on eliminating sugar and refined starches (7). Therefore, foods

high in added sugars like snack foods and foods high in refined starches like white bread are cut

out in this phase. The goal of Phase One is to “eliminate cravings for sugar and refined starches -

and to jump-start your weight loss” (7). If Phase One achieves its purpose, dieters will find their

cravings for unhealthy sugars and carbohydrates significantly weakened at the end of two weeks.

Because dieters are eating less sugar and fewer carbohydrates, they will lose weight quickly

during Phase One. The next phase, called Phase Two, is the longest phase of the South Beach

Diet. In Phase Two, dieters start adding back “good carbohydrates” to their diets; they can eat

things like whole-grain bread, fruits, and vegetables (7). Lasting from the end of Phase One until

dieters reach healthy weights, most weight loss occurs in Phase Two. The final phase is Phase

Three. When dieters reach their goal weights, they begin Phase Three, which is how they should

eat for the rest of their lives (7). In Phase Three, dieters may eat any kind of food, but they

should be careful to utilize the principles learned in Phase One and Phase Two (7). Phase Three

helps dieters maintain their weight losses for the rest of their lives. The South Beach Diet is

comprised of three phases, each of which becomes progressively less and less restrictive of

carbohydrates.

While the ZonePerfect Nutrition Program, the Atkins Diet, and the South Beach Diet are

about what you eat, the Big Breakfast Diet is about when you eat (8). The Big Breakfast Diet

was conceived by Dr. Daniela Jakubowicz (8). On the Big Breakfast Diet, dieters eat a large

breakfast of 600 calories before 9:00 a.m. and 600 calories split between lunch and dinner

(source 8). According to Dr. Jakubowicz, eating a large breakfast kick starts your metabolism
(8). This means that it may actually aid in weight loss to eat a lot in the morning! Dr. Jakubowicz

also postulates that because of the body’s natural circadian rhythms, carbohydrates are digested

more quickly in the morning, meaning that fewer carbohydrates are stored as fat (8). For this

reason, the Big Breakfast Diet is much less restrictive than low-carbohydrate diets. In fact,

dieters can eat ice cream for breakfast as long as they eat foods with protein and fiber with the

ice cream (8). The protein and fiber consumed in the morning helps dieters stay full even when

they eat fewer calories during lunch and dinner (8). The Big Breakfast Diet is simply what the

name says; it encourages a large breakfast and a smaller lunch and dinner.

So, does the Big Breakfast Diet really work? The answer is that the Big Breakfast Diet

probably does work, but perhaps not for the reasons suspected. There is not enough research to

conclusively support Dr. Jakubowicz’s hypothesis that circadian rhythms make it so that the

body burns carbohydrates more quickly in the morning (8). It seems too unknown to decisively

state that dieters on the Big Breakfast Diet lose weight because of when they eat. However, Big

Breakfast Dieters do lose weight, but it is probably because of the caloric restriction (8). Dieters

consume 1, 200 calories per day on the Big Breakfast Diet, which is a large restriction from the

average daily intake of 2, 000 calories (8). At this rate, most dieters would be eating 800 fewer

calories than they burn daily. Over the course of a week, dieters would eat 5, 600 calories fewer

than they burn, which would equal about a 1.5-pound weight loss. In conclusion, the Big

Breakfast Diet is less supported by research than the ZonePerfect Nutrition Program, the Atkins

Diet, and the South Beach Diet. Nonetheless, it may help dieters lose weight merely because it

restricts the amount of calories they consume.

For the dieter, the question becomes, “Which diet is best?” Dr. Malcolm Robinson,

Emeritus Clinical Professor of Medicine at Oklahoma University College of Medicine,


performed a study to find out. In the study, 811 adults were given varied percentages of fat,

protein, and carbohydrates. The dieters received either 20% or 40% of calories from fat, 15% or

25% of calories from protein, and 65%, 55%, or 45% of calories from carbohydrates.

Researchers collected measurements from participating dieters for two years. At the end of these

two years, there were “ no differences between any of the assigned diets and degree of weight

loss, rate of ultimate weight increases later in the study, or any similar clinical parameter” (9).

What appears to matter is not what percentages of calories come from fat, protein, and

carbohydrates but how many total calories are consumed, regardless of from which

macronutrient. It seems from this study that any diet will do the trick as long as it restricts caloric

intake.

What about those average dieters who want to lose weight without obeying a specific

program? Richard Holicky, in an article called “Weight-loss Solutions,” provides some

guidelines. Holicky simplifies weight loss with an equation: fewer calories in plus more calories

out equals weight loss. Dieters can achieve weight loss through a reduction in caloric intake or

an increase in physical activity or a combination of the two. Holicky suggests that if dieters want

to lose a pound per week, a reasonable goal, they should reduce caloric intake by 500 calories

per day (10). Most snacks are around 200 calories, so in order to achieve a 500 calorie decrease,

dieters could cut out one snack per day and burn 300 calories through going on a run or walk. Or,

dieters could replace high-calorie foods, like snack foods, with low-calorie foods, like fruits and

vegetables. Obviously, the how-to of dieting is pretty simple; dieters should shoot for calorie

outputs that exceed their calorie inputs. Unfortunately, dieting is not easy, and no program can

make it that way. Thankfully, hard work pays off!


References

1. “The ZonePerfect Nutrition Program.” ZonePerfect. 2010. Abbott Laboratories. 16 Mar. 2010

<http://zoneperfect.com/nutrition-program>.

2. “The Program.” Atkins. 2010. Atkins Nutritionals. 16 Mar. 2010

<http://www.atkins.com/Program/ProgramOverview.aspx>.

3. “Objectives Of Induction.” Atkins. 2010. Atkins Nutritionals. 16 Mar. 2010

<http://www.atkins.com/Program/Phase1/ObjectivesofInduction.aspx>.

4. “The Objectives Of Ongoing Weight Loss.” Atkins. 2010. Atkins Nutritionals. 16 Mar. 2010

<http://www.atkins.com/program/phase2/ObjectivesofOWL.aspx>.

5. “What Is Pre-Maintenance.” Atkins. 2010. Atkins Nutritionals. 16 Mar. 2010

<http://www.atkins.com/program/phase3/ObjectivesofPre-Maintenance.aspx>.

6. “Objectives Of Lifetime Maintenance.” Atkins. 2010. Atkins Nutritionals. 16 Mar. 2010

<http://www.atkins.com/Program/Phase4/ObjectivesofLifetimeMaintenance.aspx>.

7. “How The South Beach Diet Works.” South Beach Diet. 2010. Waterfront Media, Inc. 17

Mar. 2010 < http://www.southbeachdiet.com/sbd/publicsite/how-it-works/how-it-works.aspx>.

8. Zelman, Kathleen M. “The Big Breakfast Diet.” Healthy Eating & Diet. 2010. WebMD. 17

Mar. 2010 < http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/the-big-breakfast-diet>.

9. Robinson, M. A Diet by Any Other Name Is Still a Diet. Alternative Therapies in Women’s

Health. 2009 Jun; 11. 46-7.

10. Holicky, R. Weight Loss Solutions. Parapalegic News. 2009 Nov; 63. 36-7.

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