Thursday, February 12, 2009

Three Day Diet - Is It Rational?

By Dwain Shramek

The '3 Day Diet' dates back to 1985 and today can be found all over the Internet and on book store shelves. The three day diet and its variants claim quick weight loss, a cleansing of the system, lower cholesterol and increased energy all through a 'specific metabolic reaction' that no version of the diet has ever explained. The diet goes on for three days and then off for four or five with lots of specific and cryptic steps so that when it fails the dieter can be pinned for doing something wrong.

First day breakfast includes coffee (no sugar), one half a grapefruit, and a piece of toast with 1 Tbsp peanut butter. Lunch is a can of tuna, a piece of toast, and black coffee. For dinner it's 3 ounces of chicken or lean meat, a cup of green beans, one cup of carrots, one apple, and one cup of regular vanilla ice cream. The other two days of the diet are relatively similar in meal quantity, though the specifics change, for example Day 2 recommends two beef franks for dinner in place of three ounces of lean meat. Supposedly it's possible to lose as much as 10 pounds in only three days.

Hogwash is the answer. The question is what is a specific reaction to that claim? As stated the metabolic reaction has never been examined much less proven. Any weight loss would be mostly water loss due to a lack of carbs which help the body retain water. That could lead to dehydration.

Once the three days end the weight will return, primarily because it's mostly water. But also because any weight lost from the lack of calories will be regained when the starving diet victim returns to normal, or in this case heavier than normal, eating. Deprive the body of water in three day cycles enough times and a person could develop kidney damage, dehydration, or a host of other dangerous conditions.

If something sounds too good to be true it is. The 3 day diet sounds too good to be true. - 16004

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