The Mayo Clinic diet
After years of fake "Mayo Clinic diets" circulating, ranging from the "grapefruit diet," "cabbage soup diet," and even the "bacon diet," in 2005 The Mayo Clinic finally introduced a Healthy Weight Pyramid, followed by the official Mayo Clinic Diet. It describes the diet as "a new approach to healthy weight," focusing on lifestyle and healthy food choices rather than on numbers on the scale. The Mayo Clinic Diet Book and companion journal were published in January 2010.
Jump-start weight loss with healthy habits
The first portion of the book focuses on the two-week jump-start program, in which dieters learn the basics of the diet. Entitled "Lose It," this part encourages readers to "make five habits" — namely eating a healthy breakfast, focusing on fresh fruit and vegetables to feel full, switching to whole grain carbohydrates and healthy fats (such as olive and other vegetable oils and nuts) and fitting in at least 30 minutes of activity every day.
Equally important to this stage of the diet are the five habits readers are encouraged to break. Watching TV while eating is banned, and the amount of time spent in front of the box should be restricted to match the amount of time spent exercising. The only sugar consumed in the first two weeks is to come from fruit, and the only snacks should be fruit and vegetables. Excessive meat consumption is to be cut, and dairy products chosen from low-fat varieties. Eating out is off the menu, unless you can find food that "fits the program."
Five "bonus habits," designed to focus the mind on the process, also are included. Participants are encouraged to keep a food journal and to record physical activity. Those who are able are encouraged to increase activity levels to 60 minutes per day, although this doesn't have to be one solid block of exercise. Processed and prepared foods should be shunned in favor of "real food," in the form of fresh or healthy canned and frozen options. Finally, dieters are encouraged to set small, achievable, daily goals to keep motivation high.
Donald Hensrud, the editor of the book, defends the inclusion of this two-week kick-start plan and the claims that dieters can expect to lose six to 10 pounds during this period, saying that it helps with motivation and empowers dieters by showing them how to make "broad changes." But Ruth Frechman of the American Dietetic Association says that counting on dramatic results in the early stages may be unrealistic. "In my 20 years of experience helping patients lose weight, most people lose about one percent of their weight in a week," she told WebMD. "So a 200-pound person will average a two-pound loss, and that includes initial fluid loss."
Steady weight loss and maintenance
That's not to say that Frechman doesn't support the diet. In fact, other than her reservations about the expected results in the first two weeks, she is happy to endorse it. "It is a reliable approach for the entire family, whether you want to lose or maintain weight," she says, "because it is based on eating healthy food and becoming more active."
Indeed, the "Live It" maintenance section of the plan simply encourages eating the required number of portions from the food pyramid, maintaining levels of exercise, and continuing to eliminate bad habits that sabotage weight loss. The book also includes a section with "all the extra stuff," which discusses nutrition, includes recipes and also covers emotional issues such as eating triggers.
Although The Mayo Clinic Diet is a weight-loss diet, it is also suitable for use as a long-term maintenance plan. Hensrud tells Dr. Jennifer Ashton in a health and wellness interview for CBS News: "I tell my patients ... if you improve your diet and your physical and exercise habits, your health will improve even if you don't lose a pound."
