eDiets UK / Tesco Diets

eDiets UK / Tesco diets have teamed up to offer you a free GI Guide when you create your free profile.

We've just found out Tesco are offering 1000 Clubcard points when you join eDiets! This should help you get a few more healthy eating products in your basket.

What you get when you sign up:

• 13 personalised diets to choose from - including NEW Gi diet!
• Customised Shopping lists
• Access to our fully qualified nutritionists
• From £2.99 per week

Does the eDiets / Tesco Diets Programme Work?

They give a testimonial of Penny C that lost 9 stone on the diet:

Have you seen Penny C’s before and after photos? Are you surprised that her friends don’t recognise her as a result of her staggering 9 stone weight loss?

Penny joined us in 2002 weighing 21 stone exactly. With a BMI of 47, Penny knew that her health was suffering and she had to take action. Now weighing in at 12 stone and still losing, Penny has a new lease of life and is delighted with her success!

Here at Tesco Diets, we aim to provide a safe, private, convenient and affordable way for people just like you to lose weight.“With this programme having everything planned and calorie counted for me has been great ... Everyone’s been really encouraging and supportive ... I’ve never got this close to my target weight with any other programme!” -- Penny C

Low Carb Diets

There are a number of incarnations of low carb diets such as The Atkins Diet, South Beach Diet and the Zone Diet. Basically they recommend the restricted intake of carbohydrates.

The basis of the recommendations is that an increased consumption of carbs leads to higher blood insulin levels which in turn causes obesity.

The diets state that foods containing carbohydrates such as breads, fruit juices and rice etc should be eated less and foods that contain more protein and fat should be eaten more.

Although vegetables are allowed as they are considered to be healthier than grains. However, these low carb diets do differ. They all basically eliminate processed sugars, but they do differ on the recommendations for the intake of vegetables, fruits etc.

History of Low-Carb Diets

These diets have come into and out of fashion ever since the 19th century where the Banqueting diet was all the rage.

The proponents of low carb diets say that during the Paleolithic period we had a diet that was sparce in grains, starches and refined sugar and that the human body hasn't evolve since that and hence our diet should reflect their diet.

The Argument For

Supporters of low carb diets say that combatting obesity simply cutting down fat intake is oversimplifying the issue and that we are being encouraged to eat more carbohydrates which lead us to a greater appetite.

They say that the recent increase in obesity rates has co-insided with the increased take-up of low-fat diets.

Furthermore, they say that the high-fat french cooking has led to a much lower incidence of obesity and chronic heart disease than the high-sugar American / UK diet whilst excercise levels have essentially stayed the same.

They say that several clinical trials have shown that low carb diets can be successfully used to lose weight. Quite astonishingly they found that short term risk factors such as heart disease and Type 2 diabetes tended to improve dispite the increase in saurated fat intake.

One example of a study that was used to support low carb diets was conducted in 1965 at the Oakland Naval Hospital that compared a diet of 1000 calories per day but high in fat and limited carbohydrates to 10 grams a day. Over a ten day period this group lost more weight than those that fasted completely. See NutrionJ.

The Argument Against

A Canadian Court in 2004 ruled that foods sold in Canada could not be marketed with reduced or eliminated carbs because carbohydrates where not proven to be a health risk. This is contrary to the approach in the UK where Tesco actively sells low carb foods.

The side effects can be unpleasent too. If you have a very low carbohydrate intake you can get to a state called ketosis which can cause headaches, tiredness, dehydration, dizziness and a sweet-smelling breath. If have a diet that has low proportion of fiber you can also get constipation. Furthermore, there may also be changed levels in blood acidity.

Others look at the global level that an increased consumption of red meat would place of livestock resources and a greater pressure being excerted on third world economies.

What The Food Industry Says

According to the industry fad diets put companies out of business such as New World Pasta which filed for bankrupcy protection in 2004. However, others have welcomed the diets and have built business models around them.

Find Out More

1) The Atkins Essentials: A Two-Week Program to Jump-Start Your Low Carb Lifestyle

2) The Vegetarian Low-carb Diet Cookbook

3) The New High Protein Diet Cookbook: Fast, Delicious Recipes for Any High-protein or Low-carb Lifestyle

4) The Rice Diet Solution: The World-Famous Low-Sodium, Good-Carb, Detox Diet for Quick and Lasting Weight Loss

5) The New High Protein Healthy Fast Food Diet: The Effective Way to Use Convenience Foods as Part of a Low-Carb Diet

Fad Diets Don’t Work ...

The message from Terrill Breure, Royal Women's Hospital dietician, was that “Fad diets don’t work, there is proof of that ... More often than not they result in weight gain over the long term."

Ms Bruere said many teens found weight issues very confusing due to a popular culture obsessed with dieting and up-sized meal deals, so it was important to demystify fad diets and show them for what they really are.

Ms Breure comments:

“There is so much we can do by understanding a little more about what we eat, when we eat and why we eat the foods we do. If people eat slowly, savour the flavour of the food and only eat as much as they need, it’s a simple step towards regaining control of eating habits and weight management. People don’t need a range of complex fad diets. Enjoying a variety of foods and a healthy lifestyle is the key to maintaining a natural healthy weight.”

The sort of community insights that Ms Bruere is taking part of should be taking place in the UK. We all criticise the media for their unhealthy portrayal of teenagers, its about time we did something about it.

Health Minister: Ignore Fad Diets

The Geelong Info has reported on the warning that Australian Health Minister, Bronwyn Pike gave to Geelong teenagers to ignore fad diets promoted by reality TV shows.

Bronywn was worried that shows like 'The Biggest Loser' bombard teenagers with dangerous quick fix diets rather than encourage them to eat healthily.

Ms Pike said at a forum being held at Deakin University:

"Television shows such as The Biggest Loser portray an unrealistic and unhealthy approach to losing weight and leading a healthy lifestyle ... We know that a lot of young people - boys and girls - are struggling with the issue of their body image, and are feeling a lot of pressure about how they look and their weight."

She continued:

"The reality is that losing weight fast has very little to do with good health and recent research shows that young dieters end up putting on more weight than those who don't diet ... Also concerning is that the dieting teens were more likely to binge eat than non-dieters. Girls who frequently dieted were 12 times more likely to binge eat than non-dieters."

This supports that a recent study showed that about 66 per cent of 15 year old girls in Australia were on a diet at any one time.

Rimonabant / Acomplia

A new drug that not only combats obestity but also reduces nicotine cravings and boosts the level of "good" cholestorel is being introduced into the UK.

The drug is called Rimonabant or Acomplia has been granted a licence accross Europe according to The Times. Well the UK is left out until the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence approves the drug - which could take two years.

The report states that up to 20% of the UK could be eligible for the treatment and which could cost £55.20 per patient per month, this could have a severe impact on NHS costs.

Anthony Barnett, a diabetes specialist at the University of Birmingham said that it would be a “great shame” if use of the drug was limited by funding issues. He continued: "The real question is, can we afford not to treat?"

The drug works by blocking receptors in the andocannabinoid system which controls energy use, the breakdown of sugar and body weight.

Rimonabant is licenced in Europe for treated of obese patients or those that are overweight and have a high risk of getting type 2 diabetes or poor cholesterol readings.

Rimonabant is much needed if we take on board the comments of Professor Barnettwho said that obesity rates in Britain were climbing faster than anywhere else in the world. The proportion of obese people was expected to overtake that in the United States in 20 years.

Rimonabant is scheduled to be launched later this year in Denmark, the Irish Republic, Germany, Finland and Norway and is still awaiting US marketing approval, which it has said could come by the end of this year. American health authorities have requested more information on the drug.

Spinach To Lose Weight?

The Daily Mail comments that researchers have found a compound in spinach which could help in dieting. It works by slowing down the digestion of fat which tricks our body into thinking we have eaten enough.

The only problem is that to get enough of an effect would require you to eat over a pound a day of the leafy vegetable.

If you add the active compound "Thylakoids" to burgers and pies you could stop people getting hunger pangs and combat obesity.

The study by scientists at Lund University in Sweden stated that the rats they studied gained less weight and had lower fat and sugar in their blood than the rats that didn't take the supplement.