Disappointing Flat Belly Diet Sales Pitch Offers Empty Promises

New dieting fads are a mark of warmer weather and with spring creeping around the corner, the latest trend rocketing to the top of search engines is the flat belly diet. As someone always on the lookout for a way to get thinner, healthier, and do so without the need to spend a small kingdom's ransom on gym membership fees, the promises put forth by Liz Vaccariello and Cynthia Sass from Prevention Magazine sound appealing!

After all, crunches are specifically excluded and the promise to not only lose up to 15 pounds in just a short month but do so while eating tasty foods and not having to undergo a starvation diet is extremely appealing! Of course, in some ways the flat belly diet does sound a bit too good to be true.

The Delivery

Against the backdrop of a traditional Mediterranean diet that is rich in fish and olive oil, and low in red meat, saturated fat, and refined sugars, the creators of the flat belly diet and authors of the book (aptly named Flat Belly Diet) put forth the suggestion that a daily meal plan comprised of 1,600 calories will ensure that dieters do not feel hungry. Compare that to the typical 1,000 to 1,200 daily calorie diets so many other diet programs are advocating and it makes sense that staying on this diet will be much more satisfying!

Yet it is the loss of belly fat that makes the flat belly diet so amazing to the casual looker on: the claim that without sit-ups you can flatten your belly while losing weight overall as well is simply too good to pass up!

Unfortunately, there is no solid scientific evidence that is cited to support the assertions made. Furthermore, there is an exercise component to the flat belly diet and while it is considered optional, those serious about losing weight and shaping, toning, and looking more attractive are urged to participate in the work out portion of the program that includes walking, lunges, squat curls, side lunges, and pushup rows.

The Low Down (or Let Down)

Essentially, this is a diet that exchanges the American proclivity for saturated fats in their various incarnations with a Mediterranean food intake that stresses unsaturated and specifically monounsaturated fats which will not only encourage weight loss, but also serve to lower cholesterol, as has long since been documented. The claim that the flat belly diet will flatten your stomach is an interesting marketing ploy in that any kind of weight loss will indeed flatten your tummy, and if you stick with a healthy diet of 1,600 daily calories and eschew the junk food that has been going down the gullet thus far, you will lose weight.

Of course, you do not need to buy the flat belly diet book to achieve this. Instead, begin a healthy walking exercise program, download some of the Mediterranean diet recipes that are plentiful online, limit your caloric intake to 1,600 calories (taking care that the fats in your meals come from monounsaturated sources), and yes, you will lose weight.

A healthy fad diet for sure, but a fad nonetheless, this diet will help those who have not yet learned about the Mediterranean diet, but it is nothing new and at first glance appears to be more of a money maker than a breakthrough dieting tool. Too bad, I had high hopes for this one.

Sources:

http://www.flatbellydiet.prevention.com/default.asp

http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=911460

http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=4644