Weight Loss

Nutrition > Weight Loss > Dieting > Diet Analysis

Diet Analysis & Comparison

CSIRO Wellbeing Diet - controversial Australian diet with some scientific basis.
Atkins - low-carb diet
South Beach- low-carb diet
Mediteranean - an effective eating style
Negative Calorie Diet - eating specific foods
Lemon Detox Diet - fancy some lemon juice?

Most diets results in short term weight loss, but they are neither successful or sustainable in the long term. There are too many diets around to mention - they come into fashion and back out again so quickly it is hard to keep up. Some are good, others flawed, but is not easy for the lay person to know this. You cannot believe what you read in the papers and hear from others. Even those diets that have stood the test of time may not be any good.

Any diet that firstly claims to ‘cure everything from heart problems to skin disorders’ or provide ‘results without dieting or exercise’ is more than likely not going to work in the long term for weight loss or general health. Following a sensible plan that you can stick to is the best method to employ. Sorry to disappoint but changing what you eat and increasing the amount of exercise you do is the most proven method of weight loss.

All diets that restrict kilojoule intake will allow weight to be lost, following the rule of energy in and energy out. However they may not be a healthy option to try in the long-term and may be so extreme that it is difficult to adhere to. A word of advice is to watch that weight loss is not fluid restriction (dehydration) or loss of lean body mass (muscle), as these are not ideal ways to lose weight for the long term gain.

See the table for an analysis of some diets to help you get a better understanding what to look for in a diet and how to spot the fads diets that are just a waste of time.