17 Day diet fad or fact?

Love handles, bulging hips and celluite are every woman's worst nightmare. And over the years there have been a number of diets promising quick-fix solutions. The latest one to surface on the fitness arena is 'The 17 Day Diet' created by Dr Mike Moreno, a physician in California.

It has been featured on several TV shows and has gradually become one of the hottest weight loss plans.

What does it promise? 
The diet involves a series of 17-day cycles with adjustments in the composition of the foods you eat. And hold your breath for the big one: Dr Moreno suggests that a weight loss of 10-12 pounds is possible in the first 17 days.

More about the diet 
The 17 Day Diet is a carbohydrate cycling diet that requires you to adjust your intake of carbohydrates depending on the phase of the diet you are in. This apparently confuses your metabolism and enhances the rate at which you are able to lose weight. It also can help reduce the frustration and boredom that is generally associated with long-term dieting.

During the course of the diet, the emphasis is on avoiding sugar and processed foods. Eggs, turkey breast, chicken breast, seafood, yogurt, grapefruit, berries, lettuce, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, tomato, cucumber, asparagus and green tea are recommended. Dr Altaf Patel, a physician, says, "The 17 Day Diet is simply manipulations of carbohydrates, fat, protein and calories over a series of 17 days, which may have the effect of boosting metabolism and preventing plateaus that are common with most diets."

It includes four cycles 
1. Accelerate: In this initial phase, you dramatically reduce your intake of carbohydrates to promote fat burning, cleansing and rapid weight loss.
2. Activate: This phase involves carbohydrate cycling, which has the purpose of resetting your metabolism to stimulate fat burning and prevent plateaus.
3. Achieve: You reintroduce some previously restricted foods and learn how to develop healthy eating habits.
4. Arrive: The final phase allows you to maintain your goal weight by eating a healthy diet during the week and indulging in your favourite foods over weekends.

The division is made in four phases 
Phase 1 (1 - 17 days): Reduce carbohydrates to promote fat burning and rapid weight loss.
Phase 2: (18 - 34 days): Whole grain's portion increased by two servings. Resetting your metabolism to stimulate fat burning and prevent plateaus.
Phase 3: (35 - 51 days): More cereals and fruits added. You reintroduce some previously restricted foods and learn how to develop healthy eating habits.
Phase 4: (Day 52 onwards): Mixture of the first three phases. Except on weekends, where one can indulge. The final phase allows you to maintain your goal weight by eating a healthy diet. If accompanied with good exercise, better results can be seen.

Who should avoid it? 
Dr Sunita N Dube, a weight management consultant, says, "It will be difficult to maintain this diet because of today's hectic lifestyle. Also, this diet is not advisable for cardiac patients (as they need a bland diet with salt restriction, which changes according to blood pressure and other medical conditions), pregnant women, kids and early adolescents, as they need a complete meal for their physical and mental growth."

Can it work? 
Namita Nanal, a nutritionist, says, "Maybe. Phase 1 of the diet has calorie restriction with carbohydrate restriction... somewhat similar to the Atkins diet, so this seems reasonable.

Phase 2, where the carbs are added, is based on the assumption that the body's metabolic clock is still in Phase 1. I'm not sure this will work as there is very little research to prove it.

Phase 3 involves a protein restriction to confuse the metabolic clock and a breather for the dieter. Then there's the repetition of all three phases in Phase 4. Evidence for such is and will continue to be anecdotal. It's an experiment that may or may not work."