This Is the Newest Popular Diet in the U.S.

The U.S. is no exception from the diet-boom. 50 Per Cent Of the U.S. women and 30 Per Cent of men are attempting diet every year, and the diet market is reckoned to worth 40 billion dollars per year. There are 1,200 kinds of diet books in the U.S. bookstores and 88 Per Cent of them are published after 1997. The diet methods that quickly become popular but soon disappear are called `Fad Diet`, and the newest fad is designed by doctors, including Dr. Ornish, Dr. Atkins, and Dr. Sears. Professor Park Yong-Woo introduces them.

Dr. Ornish’s `losing weight after eating a lot`-

This is the method of taking in lots of carbohydrates and least fat. There is no limit on grains, fruits, vegetables, and beans. Meat and dairy products are avoided, and skim milk products are restrictively taken in to lower the fat ingestion within 10 Per Cent.

The problem of this method, firstly, is the possible lack of essential fatty acids and Vitamin B₁₂.

Essential fatty acids must be taken in, because the body cannot generate it. The results that come from lack of Vitamin B₁₂only appears after a long time, and they cannot be provided from only eating vegetable as they are contained in animal foods. Also, another problem is the lack of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol level that prevents arteriosclerosis.

Dr. Atkins’ Diet-

It is the method that brought a remarkable reform in the U.S. diet market, as in the name of his book `New Diet Revolution`. In Korea, it is known as `king diet`, because Samsung corporation’s chairman Lee Kun-Hee used it to lose 8 kilograms.

The point of the method is to minimize the intake of carbohydrates that stimulate insulin secretion, which relates in the storage of fat. When fat and proteins are ingested instead, they are used as energy instead of glucose. Ketone, which suppresses appetite, is produced in the process. Eventually, it is the method of eating less to lose weight.

However, if Ketone increases in blood, it may cause pressure on kidney and also cause the lack of fibroid, Vitamins E, A, B1, B6, folic acid, calcium, magnesium, and electrolytes. Also, saturated fat and cholesterol ingestion may increase in amount to cause danger of cardiovascular diseases.

Dr. Sears’ `The Zone Diet`-

It is similar with that of Atkins, in terms of reducing carbohydrates intake and increasing fat and protein ingestion.

Jin-Yeong Lee ecolee@donga.com