Diet and Nutrition

The Re-Feed Diet: I’ll Have a Stack of Pancakes with Extra Syrup Please

In today’s world there are thousands of different diets available, each having its own purpose. Everywhere you look you’ll see magazines and books boasting the new “it diet” and how to get a six pack in six weeks. So how do you know which diet’s right for you? Find one that identifies with your needs and goals. That’s what I’ve been doing for the past five weeks.

Several weeks ago I started hearing about this new diet bodybuilders are using to prepare for their next competition. It’s called the Re-Feed Diet. Its goal: to build muscle while maintaining and improving leanness at the same time. Sounds like an oxymoron right? Keep reading and things might start making sense.

The concept is similar to that of a “cheat day” only the re-feed has more construction. When you’re on a low-calorie diet your metabolism will eventually begin to drop. When this happens there are multiple negative consequences. Weight loss slows, your body feels weak and fatigued and you begin feeling lethargic. No wonder so many people give up after reaching this stage in a diet. In order to avoid these disasters, you might consider incorporating a re-feed into your diet. To be straight to the point, you get to eat A LOT of food one day a week.

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Posted on June 29, 2024 by Danielle

Health Buzz June 29: Courtney’s Summer Challenge, Maximize Weight Loss in a Day, Fourth of July Recipes

Fourth of July is right around the corner and we are all looking forward to having that one day off. But, before you sprint for the weekend, get a healthy dose of news from DIR and our friends. Plus, we have recipes to help you celebrate Fourth of July!

News from DietsInReview.com this week

Courtney’s Summer Challenge Kicks Off 10 Weeks of Fitness and Fun

Our Biggest Loser correspondent Courtney Crozier wants people to challenge themselves mentally and physically. The 10 week challenge will make participants think differently about food, fitness, and themselves. Plus, there are prize giveaways from Truvia® natural sweetener!

Win 2 Free Entries to The Color Run

Enter to win two free entries to The Color Run in a city of your choice*! DIR will choose a winner on July 6, 2024. Hurry and enter to win tickets to experience The Color Run!

Diet Pill Belviq Approved; First New Weight Loss Drug in 13 Years

The FDA approved new weight loss drug Lorcaserin. But is this going to help overweight Americans lose weight and get healthy? (more…)

Posted on June 29, 2024 by Samantha

The American Red Meat Habit: How Much is Too Much?

For many Americans, their meat-eating habits are becoming a concern – especially when it comes to red meat. With so many advocates for vegan and vegetarian diets and campaigns to eat less meat, it’s hard not to question our carnivorous ways. But maybe that’s a good thing.

Meat isn’t inherently bad. In fact, it can be healthy as there are many nutrients we can gain from it such as iron, protein and essential amino acids. But where the concern rises is in the amount of meat we eat, how much fat it contains, and what kind of quality it is.

So what kind of meat should we be eating? Poultry and fish are traditionally the leanest options. Some types of fish provide highly-beneficial Omega-3 fatty acids. And chicken is typically very lean making it a healthy option for those wanting to keep meat in their lives, as long as it isn’t fried.

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Posted on June 28, 2024 by Dana

Low-Carb Diets Were too Good to be True; New Link to Heart Disease

When it seemed too good to be true, we should have really done our research. Now that the and the low-carb fad have more or less passed, the effects of those diets are being seen and the results are not pretty.

One research study recently published in the British Medical Journal is linking women’s heart disease risks to the trendy low-carb and high-protein diets that were so popular in the late 90s and early 2000s.

Unfortunately, while the trend and the products that were marketed during that time have more or less passed away, the notion that carbs are bad have lingered. Many people, and especially women, are still found to be eating a high protein and low-carb diet and completely confused by carbs.

Researchers in Greece focused in on a group of these women and followed them for the last 15 years. The end result was not pretty. Among the women who consumed the least amount of carbs and the most protein, incidence of cardiovascular disease was 62% higher than the women who weren’t regularly eating a low-carb, high-protein diet. (more…)

Posted on June 28, 2024 by Lacy

How Many Calories Do We Really Need?

By Mary Hartley, RD, with Dana Shultz

All of the diet and health advice we’re fed today can be confusing. But some have suggested that what it really all comes down to is eating the right amount of calories and staying active most days of the week. While this may sound like a simple solution, ‘how many calories we really need’ can be rather elusive.

There’s a whole slough of online tools that promise to accurately calculate the amount of calories we require. But how many of us really know if we’re ‘moderately active’ or ‘vigorously active?’ What’s the difference between the two. And are we also to assume that all women 5’5” tall and 130 pounds have the same resting metabolic rate?

To answer these sometimes baffling questions, DietsInReview.com’s Registered Dietitian, Mary Hartley, RD, weighs in to help us find the truth about what we really need to know when it comes to calorie requirements. (more…)

Posted on June 28, 2024 by Natalie K

Mediterranean Diet More Likely to Keep Weight Off Than Other Diets

Researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital have dubbed the low-glycemic index, similar to the Mediterranean Diet, as the best diet to keep off weight without causing harmful side effects. The study was lead by Cara Ebbeling who tested three different diets. The low-fat, low-carb, and low-glycemic index diet were test by 21 participants who are overweight or obese.

Overview of Calories per Diet

Low Fat: 60% of calories are carbohydrates, 20% of calories are protein, and 20% of calories are fat. The foods included in the diet are whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. The low-fat diet reduces the amount of fatty meats, oils, nuts, and other fat products.

Low Carb (Atkins Diet): 10% of calories are carbs, 30% of calories are protein, and 60% of calories are from protein. Types foods included in the diet are little to no carbohydrates, high amounts of beef, chicken, eggs, cheese, and there are some fruits and vegetables in the diet plan.

Low-Glycemic Index Diet (Mediterranean Diet): 40% of calories are carbs, 40% of calories are fat, 20% of calories are from protein. The foods in the diet are whole grains, low fat meats, fruits, vegetables, beans, and healthy fats from olive oil and nuts. (more…)

Posted on June 28, 2024 by Samantha

Add Full-Fat Dressing to Your Salad to Make it Healthy

I grew up in the nutritional era where fat was seen as the enemy against our waistlines and health. Every food came out with a “New! Fat-Free” version of their product. Our kitchen was loaded with fat-free cheese, yogurt, crackers, even cookies. Those cookies were awful, but they were now “better” for us because they were fat free. It seems this is not the nutritional trend of this era.

While it’s confusing to hear at times, fat is no longer our enemy. In fact, those poor guys can come out of hiding and proclaim that they were actually healthy for us all along. So healthy in fact that research is telling us that in order to make our healthy salads even healthier, we need to put fat on them in order to absorb the nutrition of the salad.

Wow, really? Put fat on your salad? Can this be right? (more…)

Posted on June 27, 2024 by Lacy

Master Cleanse Diet Warning: Side Effects No One Told You About

Fresh lemon juice, maple syrup, cayenne pepper, and water are ingredients in the Master Cleanse Diet, also known as the Maple Syrup Diet. Imagine living off of those four ingredients for a couple of days; sounds ridiculous, right? Apparently, it isn’t ridiculous for superstars Beyonce and Gwyneth Paltrow to live on the Master Cleanse Diet for 10 days or more when they need to lose weight. The Master Cleanse Diet is supposed to give weight lose results fast. Well, for those who partake in the diet, they consume close to nothing, therefore starving their bodies.

Before starting the Master Cleanse Diet, participants only think about the normal side effects of starting a crash diet. Yes, craving actual food is one of them and resisting temptation is another. Reading articles of side effects of the Master Cleanse Diet on its official website is mortifying. Dizziness is caused by not drinking enough fresh lemonade, it says. What? The dizziness is caused by hypoglycemia, because the body has low blood sugar. Even if drinking the fresh detoxifying lemonade helps, the dizziness will return soon enough.

That’s not the only side effect of this detox diet. A few others that are even more unappealing include: (more…)

Posted on June 27, 2024 by Samantha

Coffee May Prevent Diabetes and Heart Disease, Study Shows

There’s now one more reason to get your morning fuel from coffee: it’s good for your heart, according to new research.

The study, published in an American Heart Association journal, comes from the Cardiovascular Epidemiology Research Unit at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical. Based on their findings, researchers now believe drinking two cups of coffee a day will lower the risk for diabetes, which as a result lowers the risk for heart failure.

The size of your ‘two cups of coffee’ is important, however, and shouldn’t exceed more than 8 ounces. By keeping these parameters, researchers say people may be able to lower their risk of heart failure by as much as 11 percent compared to non-coffee drinkers. But if you exceed that 16-ounce a day limit, it may actually undermine the beneficial qualities. (more…)

Posted on June 27, 2024 by Dana

Jennifer Andersen Lost 154 Pounds by Trading a Love for Food for a Love for Running

Most people who struggle with their weight have fought the number on the scale their entire lives. But it wasn’t so for Jennifer Andersen who was 20 years old and pregnant with her first child before weight ever became an issue.

Weighing 250 pounds on the day of her labor, Jennifer was convinced she’d never get her pre-baby body back. After her baby was born she saw a minor weight loss of about 30 pounds, but the weight started slowly creeping on until she eventually weighed more than 300 pounds.

While most people in her situation would struggle with self confidence and even depression, Jennifer was quite the opposite. “I was fat and happy,” she said. “I wasn’t a depressed person. And I was like that right up until 2024, when I got married.”

Sometime after her wedding day on November, 19, 2024, Jennifer looked through the photos that were taken and was shocked at what she saw. “I was mortified. I couldn’t believe that I looked that way. I didn’t see that person in the mirror,” she said. “I saw the girl who was 16 and thin, so I decided to do something about it.” (more…)

Posted on June 27, 2024 by Dana

Women Over 50 Still at Risk for Eating Disorders, Study Shows

Eating disorder is typically a term we throw around when referring to young girls or teens struggling with their weight and body image and resort to abusing food to solve the problem. But few people consider that eating disorders can affect more than just 18-year-old girls; they can affect middle-aged women, too.

A new study from the University of Carolina School of Medicine found that many women over the age of 50 struggle with the same issues as females half their age when it comes to body image and diet.

Researchers surveyed nearly 1,850 women concerning their diet and behavioral patterns in order to get a better idea of current and past eating disorder symptoms, body image struggles, and weight concerns in women 50 and older. With the study, researchers were hoping to better understand whether eating disorder symptoms in the past were associated with disordered eating behaviors and attitudes later in life. (more…)

Posted on June 26, 2024 by Dana