May 9, 2007 5:24 PM
Best & Worst Diets
Posted By: John Matarese (
www.wcpo.com)
Consumer Reports Article
It seems someone is always coming up with a new diet that claims it's a surefire way to shed pounds.
So how do you know which one delivers results?
Consumer Reports magazine just crunched the numbers, analyzing available scientific data, to come up with the best diet plan out there.
Temptations are everywhere, but especially when you're trying to lose weight.
And it seems there are just about as many diet plans jockeying for your attention.
Our partners at Consumer Reports have just analyzed a whole host of diet programs and books, based on the latest scientific data on what makes a successful diet. Consumer Reports rated eight diet plans that have been studied in clinical trials, including Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Slim-Fast, and Atkins. "We looked at actual scientific studies of the diets and we rated them on how much weight people lost, how easy they were to stick to, and how well they conformed with U.S. Dietary Guidelines." Consumer Reports says the most successful diet -- well worth spending your money on-- is the "Volumetrics Eating Plan."
Nancy Metcalf, Consumer Reports: "It's based on research that's been done at Penn State University. The principal is to fill up on low-density foods, foods that have a lot of volume for the amount of calories."
With Volumetrics, instead of a piece of coffee cake for breakfast, for the same 400 calories you could have a lot more food.
And these low-density foods are likely to fill you up sooner so you don't overeat.
--After Volumetrics, Consumer Reports found Weight Watchers was the second best diet.
-- And Jenny Craig came in as a very close third.
--The two lowest rated diet plans? The Ornish Diet, and the Atkins Diet, which both have high dropout rates.
--When it comes to popular diet books, Consumer Reports top ratings go to:
--The Best Life Diet by Bob Greene, and Eat, Drink, and Weigh Less by Mollie Katzen.
But Consumer Reports says don't expect miracles: even the highest-rated diets and books generally produce less than a ten percent weight loss after a year.