What is it?
The Cambridge Diet was developed in 1970 by Dr Alan Howard at Cambridge University (hence the name) and promised dieters a fast and effective way to lose weight fast without depriving your body of important nutrients.
What does it involve?
The eating plan is based on a range of bars, soups and shakes. It involves several different stages. The first relies on a strict diet of shakes and soups, and each stage then slowly re-introduces solid food. The first step is named ‘sole source’ and the final step is known simply as ‘maintenance’.
The first stage can last from 1 week to 12 weeks. The second stage allows the dieter to have up to 810 calories day and include some solid vegetables into their diet. The final stage lasts for 2 weeks and allows 1000 calories a day along with solid foods at breakfast and lunch. Maintaining the diet involves a healthy, balanced diet and consuming a Cambridge diet product once a day as a meal.
How extreme is it?
The start of the diet is quite extreme, with just 440 calories a day. Calorie intake can then range from 440 calories to 1500 calories.
Forces your body into a state of ‘ketosis’. The body doesn’t get all the calories it needs t function so starts to burn fat stores. When you start step one, your body goes into this state of ‘ketosis.’
Ketosis, says Medical News Today, is when "the body switches from being a carbohydrate-burning organism into a fat-burning one. The fat stores become a primary energy source, and the person loses weight."
Will I lose weight fast?
You will almost certainly lose weight quickly if you stick to the diet plan to the rule. Not sticking to the plan will compromise your results. Weight loss can be instant and results can be dramatic within a short space of time.
Will I keep the weight off?
The weight should stay off but ONLY if you follow the plan to re-introduce solids. Returning to unhealthy habits will simply cause you to gain al of the weight back on. You may even gain extra pounds as you metabolism will be functioning differently.
What are the side effects?
Meal replacements are all nutritionally based, which means your body isn’t being deprived of important nutrients. They are also designed to minimise cravings and hunger pangs.
Will it damage my health?
Some experts believe that ‘ketosis’ can cause the body to burn valuable muscle mass as well as fat.
Some dieters have suffered from side effects including hair loss, nausea, dizziness and upset stomach.
How expensive is it?
Compared to a simple healthy eating diet plan, the Cambridge Diet can be expensive to maintain costing around £44 a week.
On a positive note, the Cambridge diet is cheaper than many other mainstream diet plans.
Is this the diet for you? Find out more about the Cambridge Weight Plan.
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