Mayo Clinic publishes book detailing healthy diet and weight-loss program
Grapefruit, bacon, cabbage soup: They're impostors, staples of fad diets billed as Mayo Clinic weight-loss plans but never endorsed by the medical institution.
The real Mayo Clinic diet was released in book form last week after years of research, just in time for New Year's resolutions. Dr. Donald Hensrud, the medical editor in chief of "The Mayo Clinic Diet" and a weight-management specialist, answers some questions:
What makes this diet different from all the others?
The Mayo Clinic diet is divided into two phases. "Lose It" is a two-week jump-start phase that emphasizes quick changes in habits, and we believe it is the healthiest way to lose weight quickly. The second phase, "Live It," continues these new habits seamlessly into a healthy and enjoyable lifestyle program.
Is the idea that this will take the edge off your hunger?
When people want to lose weight, in many cases you do have to eat less of certain foods. But they apply this across the board. The more they can't do something, then the more they want to do it, and it's just not sustainable. If somebody is hungry, I tell them to eat. Now, we do have to watch foods that are high in fat or high in sugar( like chocolate cake ). But there's always something to eat, and people can choose vegetables or fruits virtually anytime. That actually makes it easier to control appetite and calorie intake.
Walk me through the first phase of the Mayo Clinic diet.
In the "Lose It" phase, we emphasize quick changes in habits. What people do is add five habits, break five habits, and there are five bonus habits. There's no counting calories. These all have either been shown in the medical literature or intuitively have some value in either decreasing calories or managing weight.
How does the "Live It" phase work?
After the "Lose It" phase, people take these habits and change them into a lifestyle program. People can continue to lose one to two pounds a week until they reach their goal. They learn more about how to apply this indefinitely. For example, we have guides on serving sizes. A serving of carbohydrates is about the size of a hockey puck. A small bagel would be one serving.
Say that I succeed for the first two weeks but then slip up. What advice do you have?
Weight management is challenging for virtually everyone. But the challenges that people experience may be different. For some, it might be eating in front of the TV. For other people, it might be physical activity. For other people, it might be eating breakfast. We have an action guide in the book, and it offers suggestions on how to deal with these barriers. If people approach this the right way, it doesn't have to be drudgery. It can be enjoyable, healthy and sustainable.