Another one which sounded good on paper...
Written: Jun 15 '00
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: It does indeed make you lose the weight very quickly
Cons: You will put it on just as quickly (maybe more so) when you go off of it. And may do your body serious harm in the process.
|
|
|
| Godai-kun's Full Review: The Grapefruit Diet |
The Grapefruit Diet, in all of its myriad forms, is one of those plans which sounds good on paper, but which, under hard scrutiny, really offers nothing more than a standard low-fat, low sugar diet.
The main claim to fame of the grapefruit diet is that enzymes present in grapefruit help to speed up your metabolism and break down fat more quickly than would normally be the case. Is it true? The jury's still out, and is likely to remain so. But here are a few facts that should keep you from giving this diet serious consideration:
FACT: most versions of the grapefruit diet add up to under 1000 calories per day - sometimes as low as 800. This is a dangerously low amount for people to live on over the long term. The diet generally states that it is supposed to be followed for only three weeks at a time, but this three weeks is sufficient to play seriously unpleasant games with your metabolism. When you go on an extremely low-calorie diet, your body goes into a "famine mode." It thinks that it is starving, and your metabolism SLOWS DOWN. When, after the three weeks is over, you return to a more normal eating pattern, your slowed-down metabolism deals with the extra food by turning it into fat, storing it against the "famine". Result? You gain weight quickly...frequently more than you lost originally.
FACT: This diet is critically low in several crucial nutrients, among them protein, calcium, iron, folic acid, and several vitamins. While this may vary according to the specific version you are using, it is a consistent problem across every version of the diet I have looked at, as well as the one I used, long ago.
FACT: There is a great deal of argument over whether grapefruit enzymes have any particular benefit to losing weight, or if the amount of grapefruit enzymes you will get from eating fresh grapefruit will be sufficient to really benefit you. One study has suggested that highly concentrated doses of the enzyme, coupled with a more moderate, 1800 calorie a day balanced diet, may be beneficial, but you would need to consume a huge amount of fresh grapefruit each day to get that much enzyme, and in so doing, you would add hundreds of additional calories to your diet each day.
This is not a safe or beneficial diet. If you believe the scientific research about grapefruit enzyme, then do yourself a favor and get one of the grapefruit enzyme supplements sold at most health food stores, and add that to a balanced, moderately low-calorie diet if you must. But any diet which is not safe to be on for more than a few weeks at a time is simply not safe...and not good for you.
Recommended:
No
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
Godai-kun
|
 - Top 1000 |
|
Member: Kevin Barth
Location: Silver Spring, Maryland
Reviews written: 248
Trusted by: 55 members
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.