In the quest for rapid weight loss, many diets have emerged, each with its own set of rules and promises. Among these are egg-based diets, including the military diet, the egg fast, and the 28-day diet. These diets often attract attention for their simplicity and potential for quick results. However, it's crucial to examine their effectiveness, safety, and long-term sustainability.
The Military Diet: A Quick Fix?
The military diet, despite its name, has no actual connection to military branches. It's a very strict diet plan that claims to help you lose up to 10 pounds in a week. This plan involves a specific diet for the first 3 days ("on" days), followed by 4 days of restricted calorie intake ("off" days").
How it Works
The military diet restricts calorie intake to 1,100 to 1,400 calories per day during the "on" days, significantly lower than the FDA's recommended average of 1,600-3,000 calories for adults, depending on age and activity levels. On "off" days, the plan advises keeping calories below 1,500.
Food Choices
The diet includes foods like canned tuna, hard-boiled eggs, cheddar cheese, and saltine crackers. It excludes superfoods like salmon, almonds, and quinoa. Water, black coffee, and tea are allowed, but soda, milk, juice, and alcohol are prohibited.
Here's a sample of what you might eat on the military diet:
Read also: The Hoxsey Diet
- Breakfast: 1/2 grapefruit, 1 slice of toast, 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, 1 cup of coffee or tea (no cream or sugar).
- Dinner: Two hot dogs (without buns), 1 cup of broccoli, 1/2 cup of carrots, 1/2 banana, 1/2 cup of vanilla ice cream.
Pros and Cons
Benefits:
- Short-term weight loss: Restricting calories can lead to temporary weight loss.
- Convenience: No need for meetings or special meals. Groceries are easily accessible, and minimal cooking is required.
- No food group restrictions: The diet doesn't eliminate carbs, dairy, or other food groups.
Side Effects and Risks:
- Disordered eating: Strict "on" and "off" diets can lead to an unhealthy relationship with food.
- Weight regain: Returning to normal eating habits after a restrictive diet can cause the body to store more energy, leading to weight gain.
- Nutritional deficiencies: The diet isn't nutritionally complete and lacks fiber, phytochemicals, and other essential nutrients.
- Metabolic slowdown: The body may conserve energy due to the low-calorie intake, slowing down the basal metabolic rate.
- Muscle mass loss: Very low-calorie diets can result in muscle mass loss, reducing strength and metabolic rate.
- Unhealthy food choices: The diet includes processed foods like crackers and hot dogs, which are linked to weight gain and are not part of a heart-healthy diet.
Long-Term Sustainability
Experts agree that the military diet is not a sustainable or healthy long-term solution for weight loss. It doesn't address lifestyle habits, provide a balanced meal pattern, or teach healthy eating habits.
The Egg Fast: A Ketogenic Approach
The egg fast is a short-term diet plan that primarily consists of eggs, cheese, and butter. It's a restricted ketogenic diet designed to help break through weight loss plateaus or initiate ketosis before starting a ketogenic diet.
How it Works
The egg fast aims to induce ketosis, a metabolic state where the body uses ketones as fuel instead of glucose. This is achieved through a high-fat, moderate-protein, and very low-carb intake.
Rules of the Egg Fast
- Whole eggs (yolks and whites) are the main source of fat and protein.
- Consume 1 tablespoon (15 grams) of butter or healthy fat per egg consumed.
- Eat a whole egg within 30 minutes of waking up.
- Eat an egg-based meal every three to five hours.
- Eat a meal even if you're not hungry.
- You can eat up to 1 ounce (28 grams) of full-fat cheese per egg consumed.
- Eat at least six whole eggs per day.
- Stop eating three hours before bedtime.
- Limit diet soda intake to one or fewer cans per day.
Benefits
- Appetite reduction: Eggs are filling and can help you feel fuller for longer, potentially leading to reduced calorie intake.
- Weight loss: The diet's restrictive nature can slash calorie intake and promote ketosis, leading to fat loss.
- Belly fat loss: Ketogenic diets may help burn more belly fat than low-fat diets.
- Insulin resistance reduction: Ketogenic diets may improve the body's ability to manage blood sugar levels.
Risks and Side Effects
- Keto flu: Transitioning to ketosis can cause temporary symptoms like increased hunger, irritability, low energy, sleep issues, nausea, poor mental function, weakness, headaches, and bad breath.
- Constipation: The diet restricts high-fiber foods like vegetables and fruits.
- Nutritional deficiencies: The diet restricts many healthy food groups and should not be followed for more than three to five days.
- Weight regain: Weight loss may be regained when returning to a regular diet without long-term weight maintenance strategies.
- Unsuitability for certain individuals: The egg fast is not recommended for people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, cholesterol hyper-responders, eating disorders, or those without a gallbladder, unless supervised by a medical professional. It's also inappropriate for pregnant or breastfeeding women.
Sample Egg Fast Menu
- Breakfast: An egg-cheese omelet made with 2-3 eggs, cooked in 2-3 tablespoons (30-45 grams) of butter or another healthy oil.
- Snack: 1 stick of string cheese.
- Lunch: 2-3 deviled eggs.
- Snack: 2 ounces (57 grams) of a cheese of your choice.
- Dinner: Egg crepe made using just 2-3 eggs, cooked in 2-3 tablespoons (30-45 grams) of butter or another healthy oil.
The 28-Day Diet: A Month-Long Challenge
The 28-day diet, also known as the "28-Day Shrink Your Stomach Challenge," is a four-week eating and exercise program designed to promote weight loss, reduce bloat, burn fat, and shrink the stomach.
Diet and Exercise Components
The diet involves swapping sodas for water and following a meal plan for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks. A "veggie flush drink" made of spinach, cucumber, celery, pear, water, and lemon juice is encouraged throughout the day. The "28-Day Plank Challenge" is also part of the program, gradually increasing planking time from 20 seconds to four minutes daily.
Read also: Walnut Keto Guide
Sample Meal Plan
- Breakfast: 1/2 avocado paired with a protein or whole grain (e.g., eggs and avocado, a chocolate smoothie made with avocado, or avocado toast).
- Lunch: Focus on fruit and fiber (e.g., a shredded Brussels sprout and apple salad or raspberry and cabbage salad).
- Dinner: High-protein meal with whole grains and veggies (e.g., 3 ounces of lean meat or 1/2 cup of beans; 1/2 cup of grains such as quinoa, buckwheat, millet, barley, farro, or soba noodles; and unlimited nonstarchy vegetables).
- Snacks: Allowed twice a day (e.g., 2 tablespoons of nut butter or 1 ounce of nuts).
Foods to Eliminate
The diet advises eliminating bloating foods, including sugar, diet soda and artificial sweeteners, packaged and processed foods, dairy, and alcohol.
Fitness Recommendations
The 28-day diet recommends incorporating at least 150 to 300 minutes a week of moderate-intensity or 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity cardiovascular exercise and two or more days of strength-training sessions.
Dr. Perricone's 28-Day Anti-Inflammatory Diet
Another variation of the 28-day diet is Dr. Perricone's Anti-Inflammatory Diet, which aims to reduce inflammation through nutrition, supplements, exercise, and skincare. This diet eliminates foods linked to inflammation and weight gain, such as breads, cereals, crackers, fried foods, fruit juice, jelly, pasta, pizza, potatoes, rice, snack foods, soft drinks, tortillas, tacos, ice cream, frozen yogurt, and sorbets. Each meal includes lean protein and carbohydrates in the form of fruits and/or vegetables, and essential fatty acids from olive oil or fresh, unsalted nuts.
A Sample One-Day Anti-Inflammatory Menu
- Breakfast: 3-4 ounces smoked Nova Scotia salmon, 1/2 cup slow-cooked oatmeal, 1 teaspoon slivered almonds, 8 ounces green tea or water.
- Lunch: 4-6 ounces grilled turkey burger (no bun), lettuce and one tomato slice, 1/2 cup three-bean salad (chickpeas, kidney, black beans dressed with olive oil, fresh lemon juice and a minced clove of garlic) served on a bed of cabbage leaves, 8 ounces water.
- Snack: 6 ounces unflavored Greek yogurt with 1 tablespoon mixed-in pomegranate juice, 8 ounces water.
- Dinner: 1 cup lentil soup, 4-6 ounce salmon fillet, green salad dressed with olive oil and fresh lemon juice, 2-inch wedge of cantaloupe, 8 ounces water.
- Bedtime: 1 hard-boiled egg, 2 celery sticks, 3 Brazil nuts, 8 ounces water.
Are Eggs Good or Bad for You?
Eggs have been a subject of debate due to their cholesterol content. However, research suggests that saturated fat in food, rather than dietary cholesterol, is the primary factor that raises cholesterol levels. Simple carbohydrates and sugars are also significant contributors to increased cholesterol and triglycerides.
While eggs are not exceptionally high in saturated fat, consuming them as the majority of your diet could lead to elevated LDL ("bad") cholesterol levels. Individuals with high LDL cholesterol should consider reducing sources of both saturated fat and dietary cholesterol.
Read also: Weight Loss with Low-FODMAP
The Role of Eggs in Weight Management
Eggs are rich in minerals, vitamins, bioactive compounds, and high-biological value protein. They can have antimicrobial, antioxidant, and anticancer effects. Some researchers suggest that egg-rich diets may have protective effects against metabolic syndrome by increasing HDL levels and reducing inflammation. The high protein content of eggs may also aid in weight management.
However, a systematic review and meta-analysis of 32 controlled clinical trials found that whole egg consumption had no significant effect on body weight, BMI, waist circumference, and fat-free mass. Subgroup analyses showed that whole egg consumption had an increasing effect on body weight and BMI in studies that lasted more than 12 weeks and in unhealthy participants.
DASH Diet
The DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet is designed to help people lower sodium intake and is rich in nutrients that help lower blood pressure. Vegetables, fruits, and whole grains are the foundation of the DASH diet.