Weight Loss & Diet Plans

17 Day Diet: Diet Review

The 17 Day Diet: What Dietitians Say

Experts give thumbs-up for the food choices, overall message of clean eating, avoiding unhealthy carbs, enjoying foods that you love, and regular exercise. But thumbs-down on the weight loss theory and restriction of healthy foods like fruits and low-fat dairy.

“If you can get beyond the gimmicky title and past the weight loss theories, which are very loosely based on science, it is a good plan resembling what most people try to do on their own," Nodvin says.

American Dietetic Association spokeswoman Keri Gans, MS, RD agrees. "There is no evidence that you can fool your metabolism by calorie-shifting but the low-calorie plans featuring healthy foods are a good approach to weight loss," she says.

Gans cautions that the weight loss is not because of metabolism confusion but primarily due to cutting calories, and that the initial water weight loss may be short-lived and not sustainable once you bring carbs back into your diet.

Anyone who exercises strenuously may require more snacks and calories, Gans says.

The 17 Day Diet: Food for Thought

Despite the plan's title, you will not lose weight quickly and keep it off after being on this plan for only 17 days.

Alternating between cycle 1 and cycle 2 might prevent boredom, but it really is just a strategy to cut calories and give you staying power to stick with the plan.

Although the evidence is lacking to substantiate Moreno’s weight loss theory of metabolic adjustment to burn fat, the principles of the diet are the foundation of all good diet plans: Cut calories; eat healthy foods; limit sugars, alcohol, and refined starches; and get regular exercise. That's solid advice that will lead to successful weight control.

Eat fruit whenever you want and add a once-daily multivitamin mineral to fill in nutritional gaps and the 17 Day Diet could be your answer to long-term weight control.

Kathleen Zelman, MPH, RD, is director of nutrition for WebMD. Her opinions and conclusions are her own.