The Best Weight Loss Diet

Diabetes Information Network

The Best Weight Loss Diet

Most overweight people have tried a dozen or more diets. They usually fail and then sink into discouragement and depression. But be of good cheer, there is hope.

There is one diet that actually works, and works very well. It’s been around for over 40 years, it’s medically sound (it was created by a medical doctor) and in that time it’s clearly been the most successful weight loss regimen available. While most diets measure their 5-year success rates in the single digits, this one can honestly claim a 40-50% 5-year success rate – and that includes some who lost 100, 150 or even 200 lbs!

If you’re a typical overweight diabetic, the simple fact is you’re addicted to salt. Few people realize just how powerful an appetite stimulant salt really is. Most overweight Americans eat far too much salt which contributes to their obesity. Everyone knows that bars often give away salty foods to encourage their customers to consume more drinks. But salt consumed on a daily basis, also fuels our desire for food and also triggers food cravings for fattening carbohydrate foods.

Sure, shifting to a low salt (low fat and high fiber) diet can be boring and uninteresting for the first few days. But after eating a low-salt diet for a around a week, the natural taste of food reappears and dieters in the program say life-long food cravings vanish as if by magic. Simply stated, less salt means less hunger.

Unfortunately, consuming less salt may upset your “normal” electrolyte balance which can trigger a host of troublesome health problems such as irregular heartbeat so you’ll need to be carefully monitored. This medical attention is expensive and increases the cost of the diet quite a bit.

The diet is offered by Duke University in North Carolina and so is called “the Duke Rice Diet” though it includes much more than just rice. If you’re interested, you can visit their informative web site at:

www.ricedietprogram.com.

Here is some more information on the Duke Rice Diet program.

Calories – 700-2,000/day (depending on starting weight)

Total fat – Less then 10 percent of total calories

Less the 20 percent to prevent heart disease

Saturated fat – less than 5 percent of total calories

Cholesterol – less than 100mg/day

Sodium – less than 500mg/day

Fiber – more than 30 grams/day

Though the primary goal of the diet is weight loss, it has other healthful effects. Those with heart disease often experience a reversal of their symptoms while at the same time they’re able to abandon many or all of their medications.

The Duke Rice Diet is also low on fat (and protein). If you reduce your dietary fat intake to below 10% of total calories, most patients experience a reduction or elimination of cardiac symptoms. Those who merely want to prevent heart disease can increase their fat intake to 20%.

So with this approach you reverse your heart disease while you lose weight. I like to think of it as restoring normal, natural health. Also, low-salt diets often result in patients reducing or eliminating their need for blood pressure medication

This particular diet is also effective in treating high cholesterol, diabetes, osteoporosis, arthritis, and allergies. Many type II diabetics have actually reversed their disease and come off insulin and diabetic medications entirely.

Weight loss usually has the following effects:

1. Normalize High Blood Pressure

2. Reverse or Prevent type II Diabetes

3. Reduces arthritic pain by reducing stress on arthritic joints

Update: Unfortunately, the rice diet has become so successful that the center has recently raised their prices. These new prices put the program well out of the reach of all but the most well-heeled diabetics.

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