Book Review on 3 Popular Diets and Programs

The Spectrum by Dean Ornish M.D.
Dean Ornish is famously known for his non-fat to very low-fat diet approach. He takes a holistic approach to life and nutrition. He pushes mediation as a major stress reliever as well as the importance of looking at food on a spectrum ranging from what is best for you to what is not. The Spectrum ranges from 1-5. Fruits and Vegetables are Spectrum 1, while junk food is Spectrum 5. However, I have a tough time with his spectrum. Protein is corner stone of proper nutrition and yet he has chicken and poultry listed in spectrum 4. I found this very interesting. The best source of meat he has listed is fish, which quite honestly he doesn’t even a corporate that much in his daily meal plans. Unless you enjoy eating lentils and wheat grass you probably won’t enjoy his diet. I believe in the overall guiding principles of making good food choices and eating your fruits and veggies, but I am a firm believer in PROTIEN! I also believe in upping your vegetable intake and eating certain fruits. I find it fascinating he is anit-sugar yet he has no problem with putting a number of fruit pretty high on the glycemic index in his number 1 choice for food selection. I think if you’re a couch potato and don’t move around much; clearly this is the first step to good health. However if you want to be fit and LOOK real in shape you will need something more than mangos and yogurt and a walk around the park to get you there.

The Perricone Prescription by Nicholas Perricone, M.D.

Who isn’t concerned about their weight and their skin? I loved reading this…and it made me even re-think my coffee addition (yes I love my am and pm coffee!)Perricone shows through science and years in dermatology the effects a great and poor diet can have in skin and overall beauty. He explores the use of a variety of supplements and the importance of salmon. He offers a 3 day and 28 Total Body and Face Rejuvenation Makeover. Having read through both the research and the diet plan, he is pretty spot on. While I absolutely love his grocery list, I believe that his 28 program probably could only be followed for only 28 days based on two big factors. Practicality and Budget. I love salmon, but unfortunately my bank account does not allow it morning, noon, and night. Not to mention the recommended snacks are often a mixture of green olives, cantaloupe, and some piece of meat. The Diet can be hard to follow and involves a lot of food prep, and the food in this diet can’t be stored that long. The diet is a bit on the higher fat side, which isn’t necessarily bad given that your carbohydrates are low, be careful because when you mix high carbohydrate and high fat combinations the outcome can be catastrophic and pants may not button up. I recommend the read and incorporating salmon, berries, almonds, omega-3, and cantaloupe into your diet! If you can manage to follow the diet more power to you-it’s a good one and an expensive one! In addition, Perricone offers a list of supplements to take, I would love to have all of them on hand but that would require me to get a second job to afford them all. If you can’t afford them all, I think few can; just pick out what you think you need the most of.


P90X Extreme Home Fitness

At last the latest craze, that I think honestly is the real deal in terms of hard core fitness that can be done in the privacy of your own home! The reality is this if you want a 6-pack, you want the v-tapper or the ability to kill it in a mini-skirt, it goes beyond following general health principals and it takes more than a light workout on the treadmill with your favorite soap on the tube. The P90X offers several programs: The Classic, Doubles, and Lean. All three programs have an adaptive phase, a mastery phase, and a recovery phase. Not only is this excellent in terms of building up to a point and actively recovering but all three programs have you constantly moving from one workout to another. You are not continuously repeating the same workout, your actually constantly changing it! The P90X offers great variety! And since you’re constantly changing your workouts it’s causing “muscle confusion” this prevents the body from ever really plateauing. However, this program is not for everyone. Its something if you have taken a hiatus from or just getting into working out you are going to want to build up to. The P90X has a fit test its asks you to take before jumping into the program. Overall, the P90X is my favorite method of fitness because they are hard, tough workouts that can be done anywhere and is constantly confusing the body. However, it’s a program that one must work up to in order to enjoy. It’s a great goal for new comers to fitness and a great challenge for active people!