THE “IT’S NOT YOUR FAULT YOU’RE FAT” DIET
This is another version of the allergy diets that pop up regularly. Its author, Marshall Mandell, M.D., says that we may be simultaneously allergic and addicted to certain foods. Eating those foods makes us ill and overweight, but we can’t help eating them. The doctor’s solution to this allergy/addiction is the Rotary Diet, which dates back to 1934. The diet employs a 21-day rotation of 10 foods per day, with no single food eaten more than once every 4 days. Although the premise is enticing,
it simply does not stand up to scientific scrutiny. Many people are allergic to various foods, but there is no evidence that this diet will help them or you become healthier and slimmer for life. The basic premise of the diet is unsound. While it may have some value for dealing with food allergies, I do not believe it has value as a weight-loss diet.
Immune power diet-Presented by Stuart Berger, M.D., the author of The Southampton Diet, this diet is based on the unproved premise that fat cells cause a terrible “tug of war” between you and your own immune system. As your immune system weakens, so the theory goes, you are more likely to become fat. Although Dr. Berger was correct in asserting that excess fat is bad for the immune system, his 1,200-calorie-a-day program is unbalanced and far too rigorous, and his theory that a weak immune system makes you fat is unfounded.
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