Scarsdale Diet
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WHAT IS THE SCARSDALE DIET?
The Scarsdale Diet takes a low carbohydrate, reduced fat, and high protein approach to weight loss. Dr. Herman Tanower first unveiled this diet in his best-selling book, The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet: Plus Dr. Tarnower’s Lifetime Keep-Slim Program. While originally published in 1982, this novel continues to fly off the shelves. And, even if you’ve never heard of the Scarsdale Diet, you’ve ran into a diet that capitalized on Tanower’s ideas.
Please note that it’s hazardous to follow this plan for more than two consecutive weeks. But, in that time, this diet estimates an average weight loss of more than a pound a day. Let’s find out if there’s more to that than marketing hype.
SCARSDALE DIET – BASICS
The Scarsdale Diet permits the following foods:
- Lean meats.
- Fresh fruit.
- Vegetables
The substantial amount of proteins in the Scarsdale diet help curb even the heartiest of appetites. After all, protein is the best appetite suppressant out there; it even does a better job than carbohydrates, fats, and fiber. In addition to eating the above foods, the diet also asks you to:
- Have at least four glasses of water a day.
- Drink coffee or tea during dinner and breakfast. This helps boost energy and suppress your appetite.
- Walk three kilometers a day
- Eat until you’re satisfied, not full.
SCARSDALE DIET – EXAMPLE MEAL PLAN
Suggested meals vary little from week to week. Here’s an example meal plan:
Breakfast:
Half of grapefruit, a slice of protein bread sans spread, and a piece of fruit (if no grape fruit is available). Breakfast stays the same for the entirety of the diet.
Lunch
On day one, you get to eat assorted cold cuts and an unlimited amount of tomatoes. For your second day, you can have a fat-free hamburger and limited choice of vegetables. For day three, you get melon, grapefruit, and a salmon or tuna salad. Day four lets you have select vegetables, cottage cheese, two eggs, and a slice of protein bread. On day five, you can look forward to protein bread, assorted cheese slices, and unlimited spinach. Meanwhile, day six offers a simple fruit salad. You finish off your week with turkey or chicken, select vegetables, and seasonal fruit.
Dinner:
For day one, Scarsdale’s dinner allows fish or shellfish, season fruit, a combination salad, and some protein bread. On your second day, you can look forward to a simple fruit salad. Day three, meanwhile, is a bit more substantial. It lets you have some salad and some roasted lamb. The fourth day offers a limited assortment of vegetables and fat-free chicken. Dinner on day five consists of fish or shellfish, salad, and a single slice of protein bread. On day six, you can have roasted turkey or chicken, a piece of seasonal fruit, and a salad. Your last day brings fat-free steak, brussels sprouts, and a hearty salad.
The program never clarifies why it recommends these specific foods. Furthermore, while they offer detailed meal plans, none of them include portion sizes. As a result, this diet makes it very easy to overeat.
QUALITY OF THE SCARSDALE DIET
You cannot stray from the plan outlined above. This diet only allows wholesome, quality ingredients and bans sugary drinks.
The biggest issue with this diet, however, is the lack of justification. The book does not mention why Dr. Tanower chose this particular set of greens, vegetables, and meats. Furthermore, many people can struggle with high protein diets. The Mayo Clinic cautions that little is known about the long-term effect of a high-protein, low carb diet.
The Scarsdale Diet is also a short-term solution to a long-term problem. The diet suggests an average weight loss of 14 pounds in two weeks. If you lose any weight, however, it’s just water weight. Therefore, the second the diet ends, your love handles reappear.
THE SCARSDALE DIET AND YOUR WALLET
The price of this diet depends the quality of fruits, meats, and vegetables purchasedr. While this diet benefits from potentially low prices, it suffers from a lack of science. No evidence exists to support the effectiveness of the menu outlined above. Therefore, there’s no proof that the Scarsdale Diet produces greater results than any other program that cuts out grains and limits fat.
BUSINESS OF SCARSDALE DIET
Herman Tanowner, a deceased cardiologist, created this diet in 1982. As he focused on heart disease, and not nutrition, it’s unclear how he became a dieting “expert.” While this diet was ground-breaking forty years ago, science now doubts many of its claims. Livestrong.com expresses their concerns in [this diet]
It’s clear from the specific foods suggested, that Scarsdale isn’t a sustainable over the long term. While no company website exists, you can still pick up the book on Amazon.
WHAT CUSTOMERS THINK OF THE SCARSDALE DIET
Overall, this diet scores an 4.5-star rating on Amazon. Read below for some recent customer testimony:
“This classic is one of the few diet books which actually works..”
“This is the best diet!”
“Diet book based on the old days using old science. Yesterday’s news.!”
“I didn’t realize it could damage your kidneys.”
“Very restrictive diet. Of course you will lose weight! You are starving!.”
While people lost weight in the beginning, many people mentioned that it slowed near the end of the diet. Some individuals reported experiencing severe to mild side effects while using this diet. The restrictive diet also earned this plan plenty of negative reviews. With only an outdated book to refer to, many customers found that their questions and concerns went unanswered.
CONCLUSION – DOES SCARSDALE DIET WORK?
The Scarsdale Diet revolutionized the dieting world when it first came out. It was one of the weight-loss plans to emphasize a reduced carbohydrate, high protein diet. Modern research, however, proves that this weight-loss strategy comes pre-equipped with plenty of side effects. Furthermore, by focusing on tactics that shed nothing but water weight, any results from Scarsdale are notoriously short-lived.
DIETSiTRIED suggests you try a more lifestyle-oriented diet.
