Cardiac Diet

When I was a kid we used to watch Alfred Hitchcock presents; later on in my youth, it was professional wrestling. I was always amazed by these shows, put in shock and awe at the lengths these desperate characters would go to, in order to get these seemingly trivial reparations (and Hitchcock was strange too) But as the light of the world began to shine in on me, and I saw life for what it was, I became much more a cynic.

So needless to say, I was quite surprised when the Cardiac diet came across my desk. This plan is a sham, in every possible way of the word, and I’m embarrassed for the diet itself. With its bogus adherence to rigidity (including a scoop of vanilla ice cream after every dinner) and its outlandish claims, this inanimate thing, a diet, seems to have taken on a life all its own.

Known by many names including the Birmingham Heart Hospital Diet, the Hot Dog Diet, and the Cardiac Unit of UAB Hospital diet; this diet is available online with the click of a mouse.

When you first look at the diet, it seems pretty easy to follow and healthy as it includes things like broccoli, carrots, cauliflower, apples, and tuna fish. This is the sham as there is no scientific basis for the “10lbs in 3 days” weight loss claims which run alongside the diet.

There are also fun looking foods including the ice cream as well as peanut butter and hot dogs with such abundance that they drive the caloric intake back sky high. In fact, if you follow the diet and don’t cheat, well then you’re intake per day will be around 1200 calories, so if you’re taking in 1800 calories or more prior to this then you may lose some weight, but it will most likely be water weight or muscle tissue with very little fat lost.

The reason for this is two-fold: There is no exercise regimen along with the diet; there is also a mystical quality to the food selections: “two weenies” which makes it appear as if these pedestrian foods, when coupled together, have some special weight loss powers to which only the diets creators are aware of. This is fallacy at best and a deliberate, hurtful lie at worst.

Finally there is nothing really that nutritious about the food choices. The diet you’re presented with is high in saturated fat and cholesterol and sodium and is low in whole grains.

To lose weight, conventional wisdom wins out: get a high amount of whole grains, a moderate amount of protein and lower your fat intake - none of which is present in this nutrient depleted plan.