Fit Fare

When it comes to simple diet advice to improve diet quality and help one maintain a healthy weight, “eat more fiber” tops the list. To hit the fiber goals set by the Food and Nutrition Board, one needs to eat lots of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans or other plant foods, leaving less room for refined grains, high fat meat and dairy, and empty calorie sweets and fats. A very healthy diet, indeed!

The F-Factor Diet, by Tanya Zuckerbrot, is based on that very concept. Specifically, the program uses high fiber foods and lean protein foods to help individuals lose weight, maintain weight loss, and reduce their risk for chronic disease.

As with any diet book thrown into that saturated market, the book boasts a program that is many things - easy, flexible, delicious, and, this is the most alluring part, instead of restricting foods, the plan “adds foods to your diet to help you lose weight.” While a high fiber diet is a healthy goal, The F-Factor Diet doesn’t necessarily deliver the on it’s promises to be full of choices and something different than a low-carb diet.

The F-Factor Diet Program

The F-Factor Diet program consists of three steps. Step one lasts for two weeks and is very low in carbohydrate, allowing only 30 grams of non-fiber carbohydrate each day. Step two allows an additional 45 grams (three small servings or one large serving) of carbohydrate and is to be followed until you reach your weight goal. Step three adds another 45 grams of carbohydrate and is the maintenance phase to be followed indefinitely for weight maintenance.

Throughout the entire program, fiber is maintained at 30-35 grams per day, which is enough to meet the DRI goal for most people. To help dieters implement the program, Ms. Zuckerbrot makes use of newly defined food groups and food exchange lists with carbohydrate and fiber content of foods. Past dieters will be familiar with this exchange group approach to dieting, although the F-Factor Diet has a few novel categorizations.

What’s Good About the Program

The book gets bonus points for allowing unlimited intake of non-starchy vegetables. Even though they do not, these vegetables are grouped as having 0 grams of non-fiber carbohydrate in order to fit into the diet plan. And in addition to sample menus for each step, she offers tips for eating out, reading food labels, exercising, and keeping food logs. Plus, there is a lengthy section with recipes.

The F-Factor Diet also goes into some depth to educate the reader about what fiber is and how it improves health. The book’s claims about fiber are true – from delivering a sense of satiety to help with weight loss and improving digestion to lowering the risk of diabetes, aiding heart health, and possible protecting against cancer. You will learn something about fiber reading this book.

Ms. Zuckerbrot has experience as a dietitian and touts a track record of helping clients lose weight and maintain weight loss. As the reviewer, I didn’t try to lose weight on the plan, but following the diet plan should lead to weight loss in overweight individuals.

Warnings

Be warned, though, that the diet is quite restrictive in carbohydrates. Other than a single piece of fruit allowed per day during step one, the only carbohydrate foods allowed are three specific brands of high fiber cereal are one specific brand of cracker. In fact, specific brands were used throughout the book, sometimes with reasoning that is suspect, giving a feeling of brand promotion and advertising.