Atkins Diet May Be History's Most Popular Low-Carb Diet

The ancient Asian diet is a time-honored way of eating plant-based foods, such as rice, vegetables and fresh fruits. For thousands of years, people of the Asian world rarely included meat as a main dish. Unlike Western diets, meat was used as an accent and flavor compliment for more vegetarian menus. Everything in Moderation is a modified quote of the Greek physician Hippocrates that criticized the harm done by excessive drinking and overindulgence in luxury foods. When Hippocrates convinced gout sufferers to temper their eating and drinking habits, the inflammatory disease would often subside.

Listed below is a chronology of popular fad diets:

• BANTING LOW-CARB DIET - The first popular diet that was released to the public in print was the Banting diet in 1863. An English undertaker named William Banting wrote a pamphlet entitled Letter on Corpulence, Addressed to the Public, where he discussed his own diet.
• CALORIE BALANCING DIET - American doctor and author Lulu Hunt Peters grew up as a hefty child weighing over 200 pounds. Aware of the problems that being overweight presented, she was the first to popularize the concept of the calorie in balancing food intake and energy expended. Peters book Diet & Health: With Key to the Calories is considered to be the first best-selling diet book.
• FLETCHERISM - Similar to the Banting Diet, Fletcherism became a dietary lifestyle, where food is consumes only when hungry and in small amounts. The key component involved extensive chewing of one's food between 32 and 100 times per mouthful.
• ATKINS DIET - The Atkins Diet is one of the most popular diets of the twentieth century. It was conceptualized in the 60s, but the high-fat, low-carbohydrate eating plan came full circle when Atkins for Life was published in 2003.
• FRUITARIANISM - Fruitarianism is a subset of dietary veganism where no animal products are consumed. The diet consists almost entirely of fresh fruits in the botanical sense and sometimes allows followers to eat nuts or seeds, but no grains.
• PALEO DIET - The Paleo Diet emulates the food intake of the caveman and consists primarily of fresh fruits, vegetables, meats, seafood and nuts. Absent from the diet are protein and calcium as well as fiber and micronutrients.
• MIND DIET - The MIND diet was created to help prevent dementia and slow the loss of brain function that can happen with aging. It encourages dieters to consume green leafy veggies as well as other vegetables and nuts, berries, beans, whole grains, fish, poultry, olive oil and wine. The MIND diet recommends one glass of wine a day... but only one.

Even ancient physicians developed an understanding that when you treat the whole person, weight loss becomes much easier to deal with. So, whether you are trying to lose or have reached the maintenance phase of your weight loss plan, the food you consume should come from a combination of healthy macronutrients. Your consumption of good carbohydrates, healthy fats and protein should be based on your body's unique needs. Contact the Metabolic Research Center for your personalized diet.