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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