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The following article was published in Your Health Magazine. Our mission is to empower people to live healthier.
Ronald C. Wichin, DC
What Is the Best Diet For Me?
Lifelong Health & Weight Loss
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What Is the Best Diet For Me?

That is a difficult question. So let's go over a couple of guidelines. There are two basic types of diets. The first type is a balanced diet.

With a balanced diet you eat from all the major food groups (protein, fat, and carbohydrates); however, you eat less. Examples of these diets are Weight Watchers (with their point system, you can pretty much eat anything), the Zone diet, Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem and the ELEM diet (eat less, exercise more).

The second type of diet is an unbalanced diet. Examples of this type include Ideal Protein (full disclosure here this is the diet that we use in our weight loss center), Atkins and, to some degree, the South Beach diet.

At first glance, one would think that a balanced diet would make the most sense because balance is good right? Not necessarily. If you have been on diets before, have a lot of weight to lose, or have had trouble losing weight, the balanced approach may not be the best for you.

For the balanced approach to work, you must be able to metabolize carbohydrates well. Most people who can metabolize carbohydrates well are not overweight in the first place. They are the kind of people who can eat anything and not gain weight. But if you have just a few pounds to lose and in your experience you can lose weight easily by just controlling your portions, then the balanced approach may be fine for you.

However most of us who are, or have been, overweight do not fall into this category. We do not metabolize carbohydrates well. In fact carbohydrates are probably the reason we are overweight. So we need an unbalanced approach an approach where we temporarily restrict carbohydrates so the body will have to burn fat for energy.

The best unbalanced diets provide adequate protein (not unlimited protein), are extremely low in carbohydrates and low in fat. In addition the fat you do have is healthy fat such as that found in olive oil, avocados, and fish oil.

The protein serves to make sure your muscles stay strong, the good fat provides energy to burn the bad fat, and the minimal carbohydrate levels ensure that you burn your fat for energy and therefore lose weight.

If you are still unsure of what is best for you, make sure you speak to a qualified professional in both types of diets, then start seeing the results you want.

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