Demystifying Weight Loss Diets

Abstract

For virtually every letter of the alphabet there is a diet book and the numbers are growing. It is becoming increasingly difficult for consumers to make sound choices among the various weight loss books with conflicting weight loss approaches. Embattled by the burden of escalating rates of obesity and limited successes with achieving long term weight loss in a slimness-revered society many consumers opt for the diet that is receiving the most media coverage and word of mouth promos at the time. This article presents a rubric for evaluating weight loss diet books to reduce the likelihood that nutritional, health, and economic status will be compromised by such unreliable decision-making. The criteria of the rubric—nutritional adequacy, balance, calorie control, disease prevention, and economic affordability (A, B, C, D, E) are simple and familiar enough for most consumers to grasp and apply with minimal guidance from nutrition professionals or paraprofessionals.