Have y'all looked at Dean Ornish? He seems to think he has the answer.
http://www.webmd.com/content/pages/9/3068_9408.htm
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You can lose weight on just about any diet. Keeping it off is a lot harder. A few years ago, the government reviewed all of the different weight loss plans. They found that the two-thirds of people gained back all of the weight they lost within a year, and 97% gained it all back within five years.
However, we found in our research that the average person lost 24 pounds in the first year and kept off more than half that weight five years later, even though they were eating more food, and more frequently, than before -- without hunger or deprivation. Simply. Safely. Easily. They not only felt better, they were better. We also found that they had even more reversal of heart disease after five years than after one year, and 2.5 times fewer cardiac events such as heart attack, stroke, bypass surgery, and angioplasty. The more closely people followed the program, the better they were. Clearly, if you can reverse heart disease by eating this way, then you can help prevent it.
Most weight loss plans are based on deprivation: counting calories, restricting portion sizes, and eating less food. Sooner or later, people get tired of feeling hungry, so they get off the diet, regain the weight, and usually blame themselves for not having enough discipline, willpower, or motivation, when the real problem is that they were going about it in the wrong way.
Here's a better way: if you change the type of food, you don't have to reduce the amount of food. Fat has nine calories per grams whereas protein and carbohydrates have only four calories per gram. So if you go from a 40% fat diet to a 10% fat diet, even if you eat the same amount of food, you consume far fewer calories. You feel better and you become healthier. You really can eat more and weigh less if you know what to eat.
In short, when you switch from a diet based on animal protein and simple carbohydrates to a whole foods, plant-based diet, you get a quadruple benefit:
the high fiber content of fruits, vegetables, grains, and beans reduces insulin levels, so you lose weight and lower cholesterol levels;
when you eat less fat, you eat fewer calories without eating less food;
you avoid the animal-based products rich in substances that cause illnesses; and
you get thousands of other substances that are protective.
Part of the value of science is to help you sort out conflicting claims, to distinguish fact from fancy, what sounds good from what is real. I'm not trying to tell you what to eat; just to provide scientifically based information so that you can make more informed and intelligent choices. To the best of my knowledge, none of the high-protein diet authors have ever published any studies in any peer-reviewed journals documenting that their approach can help people lose weight safely and keep it off. In contrast, my colleagues and I at the nonprofit Preventive Medicine Research Institute have published our findings in the leading peer-reviewed medical journals.
If you eat a low-fat diet based on whole foods, you are likely to lose even more weight than on a high-protein diet, your cholesterol levels may come down even more, and you may feel better, look better, and love better. It's not all or nothing -- the more you move in this direction, the more benefits you receive. And you will significantly reduce the risk of heart disease, cancer, and other illnesses rather than increasing it. You can lose weight and gain health.
Dean Ornish, MD
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His plan has got to be worth a try, if you have weight problems. I know his diet is considered austere, but hey.... why not?