Mayo Clinic Diet - Diet Plan Outline
"Question: I have been on the New Mayo Clinic diet for three weeks and lost 10 pounds. Breakfast is two slices of bacon, two eggs any style and half a grapefruit or unsweetened grapefruit juice. Lunch and dinner are half a grapefruit or unsweetened grapefruit juice, any amount of meat and any amount of vegetables with any kind of salad dressing. You stay on this diet for 12 days and go off for two days and then start over again. I have 70 pounds to lose and my primary doctor has OK'd it, but I was wondering if this will raise my cholesterol levels, triglycerides, etc. I am supposed to have blood work done in about two weeks. Is this a real diet that I can stay on, or just a fad?
Answer: The New Mayo Clinic Diet is a myth. To quote from the Mayo Clinic, "For more than 30 years the so-called 'Mayo Clinic diet' has surfaced in many forms and many places. Various versions push grapefruit or eggs or meat and promise to peel off pounds magically. We can offer you clear and official advice: Don't believe any of these diets. They did not originate at Mayo Clinic and are not approved by Mayo Clinic. These diets may promote temporary quick weight loss, however, they are not nutritionally balanced or a safe method of weight loss for long-term success. Such diets can be dangerous for some individuals."
When you think about it, it doesn't sound like much of a diet at all. Any diet that says you can eat any amount of meat and any amount of vegetables with any kind of salad dressing would include just about any amount of any type of food. How would you expect to lose weight eating that way?
Grapefruit is a wonderful food, but it does not cause your body to lose calories. This diet is a measure of how desperate people are to lose weight, so desperate that others can prey on their ignorance. As I have often written, the most successful way to lose weight is to eat a whole foods vegetarian or near-vegetarian diet that is much lower in fat than what most Americans consume -- ideally, around 10-15% of calories if you're trying to lose weight. Fat has 9 calories per gram, whereas protein and carbohydrates have only four calories per gram. If you change the type of food -- reduce the fat significantly -- you don't have to be as concerned about the amount of food.
You can eat whenever you're hungry until you're satisfied and still lose weight. Avoid simple carbohydrates like sugar, white flour, and alcohol."
Commentary: The preceding review is insightful, but the strategy of following a near-vegetarian diet is as impractical in the long-term for most people as fad diets and low carbohydrate diets. One must always ask themselves: is this a diet regimen I can sustain indefinately?
Basic nutrition (Food Guide Pyramid), recommended by most registered dietitions, along with addition of daily exercise to your life is really the only strategy that works in the long-term. I am a much bigger fan of lifestyle exercise activities such as tennis, hiking, walking, cycling, dancing, climbing, etcetera... These are the type of activities that you don't think of as exercise and sustain themselves in the long-term. Add a basic food program or one of the simple and inexpensive online programs for structure and support, and you have the best possible option for success.