T-Factor Diet Review

 

The following review was sent to chasefreedom.com

"The T-Factor Diet" by Martin Katahn (also author of Rotation Diet). Originally published in 1989 and updated in January 1994, this was one of the first widely-read books which promoted reducing dietary fat as a practical way to achieve and maintain a healthy weight and good health. Dr. Katahn was one of the first to tell us that the total number of calories you eat is less important than the source of those calories.

T-Factor has a bit of everything: information and advice to achieve and maintain a low-fat lifestyle, recipes, exercises, an activity program, a program for kids and adolescents, a supermarket guide for quick and easy low-fat meals, a fat and fibre counter and a low-fat fast food guide.

His studies have shown that the average overweight woman eats between 80 and 100 grams of fat per day; the average man about 20 grams more. For weight loss, he recommends between 20 and 40 grams of fat per day for women and 30 to 60 grams per day for men.

Dr. Katahn explains why exercise is so important and that some exercises are better than others -- whole body exercises, such as walking, swimming or biking are preferred over start-stop exercises, such as tennis, or aerobics. The reason: start-stop activities burn more carbohydrates than fat; whole-body movements burn more fat than carbohydrates. And we'd sure all rather burn fat!

The book provides two daily diet plans, one for people who want moderate, slower weight loss and the Quick Melt, for people who want to lose quickly. These diet plans seem too much like traditional diet plans (that don't work) for me but some people may like the structure and the ideas.

One other small gripe: it took me a while to get used to the fat and fibre counter. The foods are listed according to food type, not just alphabetically by name. You have to look up the food type and then the particular food, which seems to me to waste some time.

If you only want to get one book, T-Factor is a good choice-it's got a bit of everything-information, recipes, exercise and an invaluable fat and fibre counter.