The X-Factor Diet
| The name says it all |
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Not the most original name and true to form the diet itself is not that original. You would think that if they cannot come up with an original name they could at least use some innovative ideas. Another low carb diet which isn't necesarily a bad thing, but as always be careful with the health issues of this category of diet. With the glory days of the Atkins diet and of many other low carbs diets waning, have a look at this one, it has a few of it's own quirks and is slightly better than the Atkins. However, this doesn’t mean that low-carbs diets have stopped working. You must make sure you do not wind up depriving yourself of vital minerals or vitamins. For this reson you must be careful if you try this plan. |
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| So, what else is it to this X-Factor Diet beside the rather out of place use of the letter X? Well, not much. The same old idea that cutting off the carbs will help bring blood sugar levels under control and reduce the amount of insulin released into the cardiovascular system. This will, of course, prompt the body to start burning up the energy stored as fat in order to make up for the difference in energy levels. By controlling insulin levels, the user can prevent or even treat the condition known as Syndrome X (hence the book title) or insulin resistance, which diminishes the effect of insulin on fat and promotes obesity.
The diet features two programs to choose from, depending on how much fat you’re planning to shed, but both of them are basically the same low-carbs, high-protein diet. The biggest difference between the X-Factor and Atkins is the fact that X-Factor avoids the fried foods and butter promoted by Atkins and focuses instead on healthier fats obtained from lean meat, chicken, eggs and fish. Bread, pasta, wholegrains, rice, beans and most fruit and vegetables are out. However, the Insulin Balance eating plan allows a bit more vegetables and fruits than the Ketogenics plan.
Following the stricter plan women can expect to shed between 4 and 12 pounds in the first two weeks, followed by 1 to 2 pounds later on. Men are likely to lose between 8 and 16 pounds during the first phase of the diet. Overall, this diet is a little better than the Atkins diet, but still not very healthy for users. Healthy eating requires you to split the intake of calories between carbs (50 percent), fat (35 percent) and protein (15 percent). A diet that replaces carbs with proteins is likely to mean trouble later on, especially since no studies have managed to prove that low-carbs diets are better than low-calorie diets.
Verdict
Not original, and certainly not one of the healthier diets around, but better than the famous Atkins. If followed correctly, it will achieve some weight loss, but the longer term health issues out balance this out so we suggest you don't take this one any further.
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