The table below represents the major diets over the past few decades that have some medical and longitudinal veracity (e.g. they are not fad diets, e.g. "grapefruit diet"). Of course, each new issue of a woman's magazine purports to have the right answer with the right diet, which only shows America's obsession with losing weight and bears the question -- if these new diets worked so well, why would we need new ones?

Table 1 -- Overview of Major Diet Programs

Premise

Basic Tenet

Strengths

Weaknesses

Misc.

Adkins

Strict Carb restriction

Phases that eliminate most carbs

Effective when followed

Lack of carbs not healthy in long-term dieting; uses fats (butter, etc.) not great for heart health.

Men tend to lose faster than women; fairly strict during initial phases.

HGC

Combination caloric restriction and hormone supplement

Resets body systems

Clinically proven

Requires Rx; numerous knock offs that are fraudulent

Still controversial;...
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