The Promise of Fast
Weight Loss

THE COMPLETE SCARSDALE MEDICAL DIET

Overall Philosophy:
Developed by Dr. Herman Tarnower, this diet promises an unreasonable one-pound-per-day weight loss while you nosh on specified amounts of fruits, vegetables, and mostly lean sources of protein. It encourages the use of artificial sweeteners and herbal appetite suppressants to speed weight loss. People with high blood pressure or heart conditions should never take appetite suppressants without the express approval of their physicians. This low-carbohydate, high-protein diet proclaims that chemical reactions in the food combinations offered in the daily menus lead to weight loss. There is no calorie counting, per se, but meals are limited to breakfast, lunch and dinner as laid out in the weekly menus. Snacking is not allowed.

This is basically a fad diet, where reduced caloric intake leads to fast, albeit temporary, weight loss.

Overall Nutrition:
The daily average of 1,000 calories barely provides the body with enough energy to keep the average active person going past 3:00 in the afternoon. The diet is high in protein, low in carbohydrates, and moderate in fat. To say that it is lacking in nutrients wouldn't be a stretch, and based on the food choices, it is definitely lacking in adequate amounts of calcium, folate, iron, zinc and fiber, to say the least.

Duration:
You can be on this diet from seven to fourteen days. The plan itself advocates two weeks on and two weeks off. In between, you're supposed to adhere to the Keep Trim Program, which allows for a few hundred additional calories daily. To stay on this diet more than a month would not only be unhealthy, but unwise as well.

Expense:
Reasonable, given that you eat such small servings of food.

Family Friendly:
In a word, no. The caloric levels are barely acceptable for adults and the diet is way too low in fat and carbohydrate for children. Restaurant dining is possible only if the foods you need for each meal are offered on the menu.

Menu Choices:
Basically, there are none other than what the plan spells out in its fourteen days' worth of menus that you must adhere to. There is no room for improvisation or modification of these menus if you want to lose the amount of weight promised by the plan.

Food Choices:
No guesswork here. Breakfast is the same every day, and no substitutions are allowed at any meal. Flexibility quotient: low to non-existent.

Prepackaged foods:
None required.

Exercise:
This plan doesn't advocate exercise for weight loss. It recommends no strenuous exercise for those over 40, unless exercise has already been an integral part of the day. Truthfully, the limited caloric intake provides inadequate fuel for anyone hoping to even walk vigorously for 30 minutes a day.

Supplementation:
Doesn't recommend any and claims (falsely) that the diet provides all the vitamins and minerals needed for adequate daily nutrition.

Success/Failure Rate:
None known.

Overall rating: 1 fork.
This diet is boring, but if you need to lose weight in a hurry, it will fit the bill. However, I would strongly discourage anyone from using this diet as a means for healthful weight loss or management.

(This article is not meant to replace consultation with trained health care professionals. The publisher and author are not responsible for any adverse consequences of effects resulting from the use of any of the information or suggestions contained in this article.)