Oatmeal Diet Review

There really is no certified "oatmeal diet", there are fad plans based on a general concept (growing in popularity) that incorporating oatmeal into your daily diet can be an effective way to lose weight, reduce cholesterol and lower the risk of certain types of cancer. Why is this? Oatmeal is high in soluble fiber (creating a feeling of fullness, reducing appetite), oatmeal is a good source of low glycemic carbohydrates (stabilizes blood sugar levels), oatmeal has been effectively proven to aid in lowering LDL (bad) cholesterol and oats contain phytonutrients called lignans, which are known to be beneficial for heart health.

One oatmeal diet method requires that you eat only oatmeal and a serving of fruit for two out of your three meals per day until you reach your goal weight. Another version requires that you eat nothing but oatmeal for all of your meals for a week - a 1/2 cup combined with a 1/2 cup of skim milk, and only whole oatmeal is permitted. (No instant oatmeal or granola bars allowed for the first seven days on this plan.) You'll be at a calorie max of between 900-1,200 calories per day. For the next month, you'll have a 1/2 cup of oatmeal three times a day in addition to your regular diet - but you must keep your calorie maximum at 1,300 per day, which obviously doesn't allow for much. Instant oatmeal is permitted in this phase, as are daily snacks of a 1/2 cup of fruit and a 1/2 cup of raw vegetables.

The bottom line? As noted above, oatmeal is good-for-you food on a number of levels. There's a reason we feed it to babies and children. Additionally, oatmeal is inexpensive food - a bonus in these recessionary times. Will you lose weight on an oatmeal diet? On one of the very low-calorie fad plans mentioned above, yes - if you don't cheat on it. But realistically, how long do you think you can go eating oatmeal and essentially nothing else? The single food faddish plans like the Oatmeal Diet are totally unsustainable. Nonetheless - if you are working on a balanced, realistic nutrition/eating plan, there's every reason to believe that incorporating nutritious and filling oatmeal into it will aid in reaching your goals.