Healthy Diet Plans: Weight Loss & Nutritional Balance

Healthy diets range from structured plans like the Zone or Daniel Fast to high-protein regimens for bodybuilders. Learn how to lose weight sustainably using lean proteins, or gain weight quickly through balanced nutrition and meal timing.

full healthy breakfast

The 21-Day Wonder Diet Plan

You can lose as much as 22 pounds in three weeks by following the 21-Day Wonder diet, claim the plan's developers at "Australian Women's Weekly."

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Homemade Strawberries and ricotta cheese on sourdough toast

2-Day Fasting Diet

Fasting two days each week induces your body to burn fat and promotes weight loss, say writer Mimi Spencer and Dr. Michael Mosley, the people behind the 5:2 diet, also known as the Fast diet.

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How Much Weight Can I Lose in the Induction Phase of Atkins?

The theory behind the Atkins diet is that by strictly limiting your intake of carbohydrates, you can force your body into burning stored fat for energy, resulting in weight loss. Followers of the plan move through four phases. The first phase, known as the Induction phase, is the most restrictive.

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Jug of lemonade

Side Effects of the Lemonade Diet

Followers of the Lemonade Diet -- also called the Master Cleanse -- forgo solid food and drink only saltwater, herbal laxative tea and a lemonade beverage made from water, fresh lemon or lime juice, cayenne pepper and maple syrup for 10 days.

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Homemade Cooked Lamb Chops

What Is the BALi Diet?

The key to curing medical conditions like heart disease, cancer and diabetes is your diet, claims former Texas physician Roby Mitchell, M.D. Mitchell calls his plan the BALi diet, short for the Basic Antioxidant/Antifungal Low Insulin diet. While the plan includes some aspects that conform to the U.S.

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Cottage cheese

Three-Day Military Diet

Three-Day Military diet proponents claim you can lose as much as 10 pounds in a week on the plan. However, nutrition experts such as British Heart Foundation senior dietitian Victoria Taylor say it's a fad diet that won't lead to healthy or sustainable weight loss.

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Close-up portrait of an attractive young woman eating yogurt

The Weetabix Diet

A popular British breakfast cereal brand since the early 1930s, Weetabix is made from 100-percent whole wheat and malted barley extract. The original variety supplies nearly 4 grams of fiber and 4.5 grams of protein per serving and is a rich source of iron and B vitamins.

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Tofu and seaweed in Miso soup, close up, white background

Hiromi Shinya Diet

After practicing as a gastroenterologist for decades, Dr. Hiromi Shinya claims he has discovered the key to better health: a diet heavy in plant-based foods with few or no dairy products or animal-based protein. His theory, which he detailed in his 2007 book "The Enzyme Factor,"

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Side view of a businessman sitting on a bench and eating an apple

3-Apple-a-Day Diet

An apple a day may keep the doctor away, but three apples a day might help you lose weight, claims registered dietitian Tammi Flynn. Flynn developed a 3-Apple-a-Day diet plan that, she says, can help you lose an average of 17 pounds in 12 weeks.

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Raisin Cereal

The All-Bran Diet

If you eat plenty of fiber, you'll be less likely to become obese or to develop diabetes, stroke, heart disease, high blood pressure or digestive disorders like gastroesophageal reflux, reported a 2009 article published in "Nutrition Reviews."

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Baked seabass with fried potatoes

Two-Week High-Protein Diet

The average adult should obtain between 10 and 35 percent of her daily calories from protein, says registered dietitian Cara Rosenbloom.

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Chicken with grilled vegetables

Warrior Diet Food List

The reason you have trouble losing weight -- especially fat -- is because you're not eating like our warrior ancestors did, says Ori Hokmekler, creator of the Warrior diet. According to Hofmekler, that includes consuming the bulk of your daily calories in a four-hour "overeating"

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Bottle of red wine and wineglass, close-up

The Tamasic Diet

The Tamasic diet consists of a list of foods that practitioners of the ancient Indian medical system of Ayurveda consider to be Tamasic--meaning that they may cause certain potentially harmful mental and physical conditions to occur.

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