SubscribeCSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet: Is It For You?
The Total Wellbeing Diet will be released in the US on May 2, 2006. Many believe the Australian diet may be the next "big thing" - but only time will tell. As popularity has grown, so has controversy - so what exactly is all the fuss about?
When Diet-Blog first mentioned the CSIRO diet in July 2004, I observed that it seemed odd for an independent research agency to have funding from the Meat and Livestock board. However this was not enough to discount the research that was behind the success of the diet.
Now (5 months later), an editorial in a scientific journal makes a similar comment, and the news media goes into a frenzy - with many health authority figures criticizing the "high" protein intake.
One of the Wellbeing Diet's authors - Dr Manny Noakes - makes a superb response:
"Whenever science goes into the public domain and becomes a commercial success, there's always criticism from the establishment," she said.I wholeheartedly agree - and happen to think that the CSIRO diet is a useful book. I personally feel there is too much red meat in the diet, and it would be beneficial to vary the protein sources (i.e. poultry, seafood, and plant proteins). I believe that the CSIRO diet will be helpful to some - but not as a fad - and, when accompanied with weight training and cardio - you have a useful recipe for physique improvement.
Points to Ponder:
- The trials of the diet were done only on women. Men following the diet will need more food!
- According to the research, it was only(?) women with Syndrome X symptoms that lost twice the amount of body fat than on a high-carb diet - not just anyone!
- Vegetarians will find it difficult to use the diet due to high amounts of meat.
- The book contains 85 recipes and meal plans for 12 weeks.
Useful Resources:
- Official brochure of the diet - with a full weeks meal plans. (PDF)
- MP3 interview with the author
- Over 350 consumer reviews of the diet - giving an average rating 4.5 stars (out of 5).
- A full 7 weeks of meal plans from the diet.
I get the feeling that you might have reviewed this diet based on the free downloadable booklet rather than the book. You make a number of comments that are covered in the book.
1. The book provides an outline for four levels of intake, plus an equation for working out which you should use, based on height, weight, age, gender and activity level. The authors state that women will normally lose weight on level 1 or 2 and men on level 3 or 4. They are currently working on evaluating the diet more fully for men. Most diets that have been scientifically tested don't bother to tell you the gender of the test subjects.
2. The book also looks at the fact that women who did not show symptoms of Syndrome X/Metabolic Syndrome did not have the dramatic weight/fat losses on Total Wellbeing, but women with Metabolic syndrome typically find it difficult to lose weight. On the high carb diet they lost about half the amount of weight that they did on the Total Wellbeing, whereas women without these symptoms lost the same (high) amounts of weight on either. They also commented that they did not feel hungry.
3. The authors acknowledge that the diet has not been tested for vegetarians and probably won't work well because almost all non-meat forms of protein are associated with carbohydrate, so getting the appropriate carbohydrate/protein/fat ratios is probably not possible
There is a lot of extra information available about the research in the diet FAQ which you can find at http://www.csiro.au/csiro/content/file/pf8o,,.html
I have been following it for over five weeks, with very good results. I looked into it because quite a few of my friends and colleagues had followed it with a great deal of success. I have a graduate diploma in human nutrition and dietetics and the documentation satisfied me.
ReplyI really enjoy following the diet and found immediate results. When I tried the South Beach Diet, i was light headed and felt bad. The goods, are that the food is mostly tasty and delicious. I was concerned about the amount of red meat so I just ate chicken or buffalo (a very very lean red) in place of some of the fattier options. The downside that I experienced had to do with food prep. Some recipes took up to an hour to prepare and on a weeknight, that's just not happening on most nights. The good news is you can always find something on a different day to swap out, just remember that you get x amount of grains, x amount of fats and so forth to keep you honest.
ReplyI really think this is a plan I can stick to.
I cannot begin to tell you how thankful I was to find the CSIRO well being diet. At the age of 36, and at 103 Kilograms I was on target for either a stroke or a heart attack. This diet was the easiest diet to follow. I was never hungry, infact I was surprised at the amount of food you were required to eat. I lost the bulk of my weight in the first 12 weeks. Now I am maintaining my weight six months on, at 77 Kilograms, and that's a huge 26 Kilogram difference. To maintain my weight I still follow the principles of the diet, and I feel great. The only downside of the diet is that I have had to give ALL of my clothes away to the Salvation Army as I was swimming in them.
ReplyI have lost this amount of weight before whilst on an Optifast milkshake diet, but found that the weight loss was not sustainable. I believe that the secret to weight loss is to learn how to cook properly and eat sensibly, and the CSIRO well being diet teaches you these skills. If you really want to lose weight and keep it off, the CSIRO well being diet will teach you some great skills. Good luck.
I started the CSIRO Wellbeing diet in January 2007, I follow the guidelines and adapt the food I buy to the guidelines, and so far with regular excerise I have lost 14kg, I have found the red meat to be a bit much, but the book does say protein not necessarily red meat, so I have fish 3 times a week, chicken 2 times a week and lamb or beef 1 or 2 times a week for dinner. I have tried pretty much every diet around and I would like to thank CSIRO for their wonderful diet it has become a lifestyle change for me and I know I will stick to for life. keep up the great work CSIRO!!!
ReplyThanks
ReplyThis is a pretty good diet. I have had dialogue with the authors on this book and i have included some of the recipies on my online product. The feedback from clients who have followed these recipes has been positive.
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