Consumer Reports Diet Ratings

The June 2007 issue of Consumer Reports has a really great article that rates several of the latest diet books and plans. The article summizes that the basic rule of weight loss (take in fewer calories than you burn) has not changed but the techniques to achieve this put forth by the different plans and books do differ.

The article reviews seven diet books. Since most of them are new and haven't been put to a clinical trial, the books were rated on an expert-panel questionnaire and analysis of nutritional quality. All the books offered healthful menus but differed in the restrictiveness of the diets and the quality of exercise and nutritional science information. The books reviewed in order of their overall score are The Best Life Diet; Eat, Drink, & Weigh Less; You On A Diet; The Abs Diet; The South Beach Diet; The Sonoma Diet; and Ultra-Metabolism. Please read the article or go to www.ConsumerReports.org to read the detailed analysis of the diet books.

The article also reviews eight diet plans. All the plans reviewed have been tested in clinical trials and published in scientific journals. However, they have generally produced less than 10% weight loss after a year and have had dropout rates of more than 20%. The diet plans were scored on adherence to nutritional guidelines and the results of published clinical studies. The plans reviewed in order of their overall score are Volumetrics, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, Slim-Fast, eDiets, The Zone Diet, Ornish Diet, and Atkins Diet. Please read the article or go to www.ConsumerReports.org to read the detailed analysis of the diet plans.

Finally, the article offers some general strategies that are fairly common to all successful diets: choose and limit your fats, eat healthfully but sparingly, cut out simple or refined carbs, and fill up on low-density foods. It also warns that there is no silver bullet to weight loss and quick fixes such as diet pills can actually do more harm than good.

This article is very well written and researched. I suggest everyone read it especially those of us who are trying to lose weight or are considering buying one of these diet books or starting one of the reviewed diet plans.