Fad Diets

Recently, I have been curious about the practice of fasting. Not for religious or cultural reasons, just curiosity. Some of my friends who have done this have described various sensations of euphoria or "inner calm" associated with fasting. What health benefits and risks can you associate with fasting? I imagine that dehydration is the biggest...

What is the nutritional value or risk associated with fasting? Is it OK to go without solid food for a day? I do this about once a week. I do take a lot of water and some fruit juice. There is no nutritional value to fasting and the risk is dependent on many factors, not the...

I recently read a book called Fit For Life (Diamond) which contained some controversial material and ideas. I have a couple of questions concerning some of Diamond's proposals. Diamond says there are 3 natural cycles in the body. From 4 A.M. to noon the body is eliminating waste and one is not to eat...

For the past two weeks, I have started to take MetRx. A couple of my friends have brought up the fact that it contains aspartame which supposedly kills brain cells and has not been approved by the FDA. I take this mix twice a day and the difference I have noticed is that I...

What do you know about the Cabbage Soup Diet? Do you have a copy? I would like to try it for 7 days. No, I don't, but I did see it in one of the newsgroups. Sounds like the latest fad diet though. Kind of reminds me of the Beverly Hills fruit diet - the...

I was looking for an article on carbohydrate, protein and fat metabolism prevention. I could not find it anywhere. Do you know anything about these inhibitors? How healthy or safe are they? I am not aware of any pills currently available that really do block metabolism of carbohydrate, protein, or fat. I would not recommend...

My mother is 60 years old and is on a quick weight loss diet. She has a heart blockage and is being treated for it. Is that diet safe? She said it would be safe because it was written by a doctor. Most quick weight loss diets allow all the lean meat, poultry, fish, eggs,...

What do you think about the Herbalife Slim and Trim weight control program? It claims to do a lot of things and I don't believe most of what they say. But how is someone who isn't a nutritionist? to know? I've sent you a copy to see what you think. Your gut instinct to not...

Your comments on weight loss give much advice. I feel your suggestion, however, of consulting a dietitian for sound advice, is not the only recourse. There are many articles by nutritionists to rely on. The Herbal Life Plan is one such alternative and people may tend to shy away from even looking at any of...

I needed to lose some weight. So some friends and I went on a vegetable diet. I got such terrible cramps that I had to stop after 1-week. Why did I get such bad cramps? If your diet previous to the vegetable diet was low in fiber, your cramps may have been due to the...