Weight Loss

The Rice Diet is part of the program followed at the medically-supervised residential facility at Durham, North Carolina. It is designed for quick weight loss of 20-30 pounds in the first week and about three pounds per week thereafter. It is a diet helpful for obesity, heart diseases, high blood pressure, renal problems and diabetes. Salt, sugar and fat are almost eliminated.

Foods you can eat
Although the name sounds like there's only rice in the diet, there is actually more but in lesser quantities. There are more than 30 foods to choose from which include fruits, vegetables, whole grain, beans, nonfat dairy products, and some lean protein. Fiber content is kept high to give the feeling of fullness and satisfaction.

Sample menu for a week
Day 1
Basic rice diet (gives 800 calories and 50mg sodium a day):
Two starches, two fruits for breakfast, lunch and dinner

Day 2 to day 7
Lacto-vegetarian diet (gives 1,000 calories and 300mg sodium a day):
Breakfast: 1 starch, 1 non-fat dairy product, 1 fruit
Lunch and dinner: 3 starches, 3 vegetables, 1 fruit

Starches can be bread, cooked rice, cooked beans, or cooked pasta. Vegetables could be cooked or uncooked. Dairy products could be milk, yogurt or cottage cheese.

Low salt
Salt (sodium) causes retention of water and the body swells as a result. The human body requires only half a gram of sodium per day, but most people eat 4 to 7 grams a day. Salt also causes high blood pressure and is hard on the kidneys. Salty food is addictive and needs to be cut out. The Rice Diet limits the use of salt to 150 milligrams that results in lesser health risks and more weight loss.

Low fat
Apart from being low in salt, the Rice Diet is also low in fats and contains less than 5 grams a day.

Low protein
The Rice Diet includes a maximum of 20 grams of protein a day.

At the residential program, diet contains 800 calories for the first few days and is increased gradually to 1,200 calories a day. This is the level which dieters are expected to maintain for the rest of their lives. The facility at Durham consists of trained medical supervisors to look after every parameter of the dieters. On completion, the dieters are advised on how to continue with the lifestyle taught during the program.

Negatives

* The diet is extremely low in proteins and could be harmful to health, especially muscle mass.
* The diet can be very difficult to follow at home. It is best suited for residential camps with medicos all around you.
* The diet stabilizes at 1,200 calories a day which is low and could cause craving and low basal metabolism.
* Weight loss is mainly fluid and not fat.
* Food is very bland and can get boring very quickly.