Assessing diets is a specialised task and there are now publications available which assist in rating diets and diet plans.
In the US, the National Council Against Food Fraud4 has suggested the following criteria as a basis for assessing diet plans:
F the answer to any of the following is yes’, the program/diet should be regarded as suspect.
1. Does it promise or imply a dramatic or rapid weight loss of substantially more than 1-1.5 kilograms per week?
2. Does it promote a diet that is extremely low in energy (kilocal-ories) without the close supervision of recognised, competent health professionals? As a guide, nutritional adequacy for most micronuuients cannot be met if the daily energy intake is less than 1200 kilocalories.
4. Are the ‘counsellors’ actually salespeople given some in-house training to support the needs of the overfat, and do they have a conflict of interests, given profits are linked to the products they recommend and sell?
5. Do they promote unproven fat loss aids such as human chorionic gonadotrophin, electric muscle-stimulating devices, amino acid supplements, herbal supplements, spirulina, diuretics, starch blockers, passive exercise, acupuncture, body wraps, glucomannan, enzymes, sweating techniques? … The list goes On.
6. Do they claim a special technique for ‘breaking down’ cellulite?
7. Do they encourage the use of appetite suppressants, either prescribed or ‘natural’, or the use of bulking agents prior to eating in an attempt to modify appetite and hunger?
8. Do they claim that their product contains a unique ingredient or component, particularly given the increasing interest in herbs, to achieve fat loss? Many of the herbs induced in products, especially of the powdered or meal replacement type, are gastrointestinal irritants.
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