If you've followed a low-fat, low-carb diet, you know it's challenging to stick to. While it leads to rapid weight loss, it's not something most people can adhere to long-term. Shreela Sharma, a registered dietitian and an associate professor at UTHealth School of Public Health at Houston, explained the diet's pitfalls to U.S. News & World Report. "While low-fat, low-carb, high protein diets may work for weight loss in the short term, they are essentially 'deprivation diets' and could have short- and long-term negative healthy impacts," Sharma explained. Ultimately, Sharma noted that restrictive diets set people up for failure, and she suggested a focus on eating more whole grains and plant-based foods along with lean protein and healthy fats.
Dr. Now's low-calorie diet also produces rapid weight loss, a necessity for his patients whose needs are vastly different than the average person looking to drop some extra weight. The rapid low-calorie weight loss plan isn't the healthiest way to drop pounds for everyone, however (via Mayo Clinic). Healthy, lasting weight loss is usually one to two pounds per week, a 500 to 1,000 calorie daily deficit. The only way to drop pounds and keep them off is by making healthy, sustainable lifestyle changes. The restrictive 1,200 calories per day diet that Dr. Now recommends isn't one that most people can stick to long-term.
