Fit for Life: Diet review

Invented by a man named Harvey Diamond and his wife Marilyn, the Fit for Life diet started life as a diet book in the early 80's which quickly gained fame when 12 million readers became captivated by its theories. In that time, little about the diet's premise has changed. It is still centered on a diet fad that circulated at the turn of the first century: food combining.

The theory of food combining is, in simplest terms, the idea that the consumption of two specific foods in one meal nullifies any nutritional value, and causes the foods to "rot" and turn to bloat-inducing toxins. This, the Diamonds assert, is what causes people to become fat-not lack of exercise or boxes of Twinkies.

Additionally, the Fit for Life diet relies strongly on the theory of "living food" and "dead food". While it sounds like the type of diet a vampire may be interested in, these living and dead foods, supposedly, play a major role in the body's digestion process. "Living foods" are fruits and vegetables, two foods the Fit for Life diet heavily advocates and which must be eaten alone or their nutritional value is voided, while "dead foods" are the proteins and starches which, allegedly, strain the digestive system and waste energy. To lose weight-something the Fit for Life diet has never been proven to do-a 50/50 balance of living and dead foods must be achieved.

With so many followers, it's easy to believe that the Fit for Life diet is the one that may actually help people achieve weight loss success. Is the Fit for Life diet, however, just another crazy concoction cooked up by a natural health freak? Here's our take on the Fit for Life diet:

The Fit for Life Diet

CATEGORYSCORECOMMENTS

COST:* * *Comparable to an average
grocery bill.

GETTING STARTED: * *First you must wade through the
rhetoric-heavy book to extrapolate
all the food-combo and "living food"
"dead food" theories, which will
cause you to completely re-haul your
eating habits, spend lots of time in
produce aisles (with the book for a
guide-there's no way you're going
to remember all that food combo
stuff), and perhaps even question the
Diamond's sanity.

STICKING WITH IT: * *If you've managed to swallow the
theories then you're already a
promising follower. However,
the complicated ideas may eventually be too irritating and contradictory to continue following.
Plus, good luck shaking things up
with the strict regulations on food
choices, including trying to find a
fruit other than an orange or pear
during January.

BUSY LIFESTYLE: * * *It doesn't take much to slurp some
juice or eat fruit-one at a time-
until noon as the diet requires. Lunch
and dinner are pretty easy to throw
together too-just pick a starch or a
protein.

FAMILY FRIENDLY: * *With phrases like "living food" and
"dead food" floating around, you may get your fair share of odd familial looks. Plus, this isn't exactly
the perfect example of healthy eating
for the kids.

POTENTIAL: *Will you lose weight? Doubtful. If
You do however, it's probably
Because you couldn't make sense
of all the food theory mumbo-jumbo
so you just fruit all day.

HEALTH and SAFETY: *Not only does the diet restrict
necessary food groups , eliminate
dairy, and expect you to get all your
nutrition from one starch or one
protein, but the food theories are
farcical, and flatly contradicted
by science.

The Fit for Life diet has done nothing more than show the world that there are more than 12 million gullible people in it, so desperate to lose weight they follow ludicrous, even hilarious, theories about the functioning of foods and the human body.

In reality, no food is living or dead, and no nutritional value is nullified by eating a combination of foods. In fact, the reverse is true. Vitamins and essential nutrients are more readily absorbed by the body when eaten with other foods. For example, iron from natural sources is more readily absorbed by the body if it is eaten with a vitamin C-rich food item. The body's process of digestion does not show favoritism to a piece of fruit eaten alone or with a piece of steak. It all goes to the same place, and the very intelligent human body extrapolates vitamins, minerals, proteins, and energy from both sources, and uses them, stores the, or excretes excess.

With the Diamond's belief in such theories, it is clear the health and safety of the Fit for Life diet would come under scrutiny. Health professionals, nutritionists, and dieticians alike have all lambasted the diet for its ridiculous suggestions and lack of health or safety. The heavy concentration of fruits and vegetables, while good for the body, does not adequately provide the body with the nutrients it must have to function properly. The "one starch or one protein" is never clarified, and dieters are never given suggestions for the type of proteins or starches they should be consuming for maximum nutrition. Dairy products or exempt from the Fit for Life diet, which means dieters must get their calcium and vitamin D from alternate sources. It is doubtful that they'll be consuming over 10 cups of fresh broccoli a day-the amount needed to meet the minimum daily requirements of calcium.

Bottom Line:
The Fit for Life diet was indeed, cooked up by a natural health nut and it offers no bodily benefits. Any weight loss can be attributed to a reduction in calories or loss of muscle mass because no exercise is suggested, although the Fit for Life website touts the diet's ability to increase muscle mass, and no amount of "living food" is going to do that.