Diet, eDiets?

Atkins?, Bill Phillips' Eating For LifeT, Blood Type Diet?, Bob Greene's Total Body Makeover, Cholesterol-Lowering Plan, eDiets?, eDiets? Alternative to Jenny Craig, eDiets.com Weight Loss Plan, Glycemic Impact DietT, Healthy Soy Plan, Heart Smart Plan, High Fiber Plan, Hypoglycemia/Low Sugar Plan, Lactose-Free Plan, Living With Type 2 Diabetes Plan, Low Fat Diet Plan, Low Sodium Plan, Mayo Clinic Plan, New Mediterranean DietT, Perricone Nutritional Face-liftT, Slim-Fast? OptimaT Diet, Trim KidsT, Vegetarian Plan, Wheat-Free Meal Plan.

eDiets.com, also known as eDiets?, is an online dieting service, which offers users a variety of information about weight loss plans and wellness programs in exchange for a subscription fee. Although eDiets? has its own eating plan, members may also participate in a variety of other diets. The most unique feature of eDiets? is that it does not endorse one specific diet. The popular diet plans available through eDiets? include the Mayo Clinic Plan, Glycemic Impact DietT, DietAtkins?, eDiets? Alternative to Jenny Craig, eDiets.com Weight Loss Plan, Bill Phillips' Eating For LifeT, Slim-Fast? OptimaT Diet, Blood Type Diet?, Perricone Nutritional Face-liftT, New Mediterranean DietT, Bob Greene's Total Body Makeover, and Trim KidsT. eDiets? also offers weight loss plans for individuals with special medical and dietary considerations, including the Living With Type 2 Diabetes Plan, Heart Smart Plan, Low Sodium Plan, Cholesterol-Lowering Plan, High Fiber Plan, Hypoglycemia/Low Sugar Plan, Healthy Soy Plan, Vegetarian Plan, Lactose-Free Plan, Low Fat Diet Plan, and the Wheat-Free Meal Plan.

The purported goal of eDiets? is to help dieters achieve long-term weight loss and adopt a healthier lifestyle.

eDiets.com offers customized weight loss plans, shopping lists, message boards, nutrition articles, daily email tips, recipes, as well as informal guidance from medical professionals. eDiets? was founded in 1996. Since then, the number and type of weight loss resources available on the eDiets? website has grown considerably. eDiets? now offers a meal delivery service and continues to offer an increasing amount of customizable content.

The eDiets? website aims to be a central resource of weight loss and nutrition resources. Depending on the level of subscription, some of these resources may not be available.

Individuals who are unfamiliar with popular diets designed for weight loss may experience difficulty in learning about the many diet plans available on the eDiets? website. However, some individuals may appreciate the availability of many dieting tools in one location, as well as the ability to switch or combine diets to accommodate personal health and lifestyle preferences. Many currently popular contemporary diets are available on the eDiets? website.

The eDiets? website offers testimonials from subscribers as evidence that its service works. However, for most diets high quality clinical evidence is not available.

The variety of information available to eDiets? subscribers may help some individuals become more educated about healthy lifestyles and long-term weight loss. However, because eDiets? plans are internet-based, individuals who enjoy weekly meetings or check-ins with a weight loss consultant may find adhering to the diets difficult.

There is a lack of available scientific evidence on the efficacy of eDiets? for weight loss. However, limited research has been conducted on several of the diets in this program, such as the Atkins? diet. Please visit Natural Standard's Alternative Modalities database for more information on individual diets.

This information has been edited and peer-reviewed by contributors to the Natural Standard Research Collaboration (www.naturalstandard.com).

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A subscription to eDiets? is necessary to access many sections of the website. However, once a person is registered, they may change diets at any time, and eDiets? simply changes the display of self-tracking tools and menu options, as well as website features.

If a person is unsure of which diet they would like, then eDiets? does offer a diet profile, which is necessary to complete before paying for a subscription. The profile asks the reader a series of questions designed to evaluate dieting and food preferences. Based on the results of this profile, eDiets? suggests several diets available through the website.

eDiets.com contains an article database available to subscribers, which is updated on a daily basis. News articles are written by a variety of authors including doctors, nutritionists, and healthcare writers. Fellow eDiets? subscribers who have experienced success with the website also share their experiences via testimonials and tips on the eDiets.com website. eDiets? does not publish clinical or medical research regarding weight loss.

eDiets? offers a semi-customizable meal delivery plan for every diet currently available through the website. The company Deliciously Yours delivers the frozen pre-prepared meal menu options. Regardless of the dietary specifications chosen by the user, all meals are shipped from the same warehouse. After a diet is chosen, menu options of frozen pre-prepared meals for that particular diet are shown. The customer can choose to order meals at weekly intervals. Mixing foods from more than one diet is also possible, but eating plans should be relatively compatible.

Select eDiets? Plans:

Atkins? Diet: The Atkins? diet proposes that in order to lose weight, one should adopt an eating style that radically departs from the Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) food pyramid. It suggests the elimination of most carbohydrates as a source of energy and advocates significantly increased consumption of fats. The Atkins? diet does not require dieters to count calories, weigh in, or record foods eaten. Despite the apparent simplicity of the Atkins? diet, experts have recently found potential long-term health risks, including type 2 diabetes, kidney impairment, and other serious medical problems associated with this eating plan. Some of the recent popularity of the Atkins? diet was based on the continuing misconception of various fad diets claiming that individuals can lose weight and achieve physical fitness without exercising or controlling food portions.

Blood Type Diet?: The Blood Type Diet? is a diet prescribed by Peter D'Adamo and is described in his book, Eat Right 4 Your Type. Other supporters of the diet include various medical professionals, such as Ann Louise Gittleman, M.S., C.N.S., Christiane Northrup, M.D., and Bruce West, M.D. D'Adamo asserts that a person's blood type is the most important factor in determining a healthy individualized diet. Peter D'Adamo proposes that certain lectins (proteins which specifically bind or crosslink carbohydrates on cell surfaces) may cause blood clots in an individual with a certain blood type. These blood clots are believed to potentially result in serious liver or kidney diseases or dysfunctions. D'Adamo uses this principle to recommend which foods should be included or excluded from a person's diet based on their blood type. According to D'Adamo, varying blood types also affect the body's secretion of digestive fluids. For example, blood Type O is capable of producing a high level of stomach acid, which may result in a greater incidence of gastric ulcers. This is an example of how certain blood types may be correlated with an increased risk of certain diseases.

Eating For LifeT: Eating for lifeT was designed to assist individuals in losing weight while continuing to enjoy many different foods. This eating plan encourages individuals to significantly increase the amount of unprocessed foods in the diet, such as fresh fruits and vegetables, lean meats, fish, and whole grains. Meals are consumed in small portions throughout the day to supposedly boost metabolism. The diet does not purport to offer an immediate solution for weight loss, but rather it educates readers to examine their motivations for eating and to gradually change their lifestyle in three phases. The phases are designed to ease the individual into adopting a healthier lifestyle by eliminating six particular foods, eating until they are only slightly full, and exercising regularly.

eDiets.com Weight Loss Plan: As the eDiets? website's own diet, this eating plan offers a very flexible meal plan, including a variety of foods and allowance of three meals and one snack per day. Convenience and fast foods are permitted to some extent in this diet. The eDiets? plan is not low in carbohydrates; however, high fat foods, whole dairy products, and butter are not permitted. All meals are based on the 2005 U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) food pyramid.

Jenny Craig Alternative: The Jenny Craig diet combines elements of social support, prepackaged meals, food and nutrition counseling, as well as exercise to assist its clients in losing weight. The Jenny Craig diet has recently remodeled its eating plan to follow the 2005 U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Pyramid, and participants are now encouraged to eat fruits and vegetables as an adjunct to Jenny Craig prepackaged meals. Initially, participation in the Jenny Craig diet requires consumption of most foods in the form of Jenny Craig brand pre-packaged meals. A majority of the meals are frozen and are packaged as breakfasts, lunches, dinners, and desserts. In general, the meals contain 50 to 60% carbohydrates, 20 to 25% fats, and 20 to 25% proteins and are packaged based on calorie counting measures. The number and type of food items available via the Jenny Craig diet is relatively pre-set, so participants who value the convenience of not cooking over food variety may experience greater success with the Jenny Craig diet.

Mayo Clinic Plan: The Mayo Clinic plan is based on the principles of the Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Pyramid. This diet stresses consuming low energy density foods as the foundation of one's diet. These foods offer a relatively low amount of calories for a particular portion or volume of food and contain large amounts of fiber and water without increasing calories. As a result, a person may experience fullness without increasing caloric intake.

Mediterranean DietT: The Mediterranean DietT is rich in fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, and antioxidants. The diet generally includes fruits, vegetables, and unsaturated fats, particularly olive oil. Olive oil has been associated with potential health benefits such as lower blood pressure and a lower risk for heart disease. In addition, olive oil may benefit individuals with type 2 diabetes. The Mediterranean DietT is based on healthy eating and lifestyle practices of people living in southern Italy and Greece.

Perricone Nutritional Face-liftT: The Perricone Nutritional Face-liftT is a 28-day program that is divided into seven steps to purportedly prevent wrinkles. The diet was created by a dermatologist primarily to address cosmetic skin concerns by a combination of dietary and lifestyle modifications believed to enhance overall health. Individuals who choose this diet combine a moderate amount of exercise, skin creams, nutritional supplements, and a unique eating plan. Foods such as pizza, bananas, bread, bagels, potatoes, and pasta are avoided because it is thought that foods with a high glycemic index may result in inflammation. The creator of this diet believes that inflammation of the body is the most significant factor in the aging of skin and development of wrinkles.

Slim-Fast? OptimaT: The Slim-Fast? diet aims to assist individuals in losing weight by combining healthy food selection and portion control by consumption of Slim-Fast? brand products. The use of Slim-Fast? diet products as meal replacements is integral to this eating plan, and the products provided include shakes, nutrition bars, pre-mixed beverages, packaged meals, and dietary supplements. The Slim Fast? diet encourages the use of the "Sensible Meal Guide" used for meals that do not include Slim Fast? products. According to this meal guide, half of a plate should be filled with vegetables, such as green beans, carrots, cauliflower, cabbage, eggplant, spinach, peas, broccoli, asparagus, peppers, mushrooms, or squash. One fourth of the plate should be filled with protein, such as lean beef, pork, poultry, fish, eggs, low fat dairy products, tofu, and meat replacements (such as soy meat). The final fourth of the plate should be comprised of starches, such as potatoes, corn, pasta, noodles, rice, or whole wheat bread. A side dish of tossed salad or a dish of fruit along with a calorie free beverage is also considered acceptable. Slim Fast? OptimaT pre-made shakes are available in 6-packs from the eDiets? warehouse.

Trim KidsT: Trim KidsT is a diet plan for children. The Trim KidsT book describes a series of steps that are considered necessary for children to adopt healthier eating strategies and to encourage a greater amount of exercise. The most unique aspect of Trim KidsT however, is the focus on changing habits that may promote unhealthy weight gain. Lifestyle choices of the entire household are examined as well.