About The 3-Day Diet

The 3-Day Diet is a strict plan with a precise menu, after which people should have at least four or five days of normal eating before resuming another 3-Day Diet. Proponents of this diet say people can lose up to 10 pounds in those three days. Skeptics say the weight loss is probably all water weight.

Features

The 3-day diet has a menu plan that includes fruit, vegetables, toast, meat, eggs, dairy products and coffee. In this respect, the menu differs from most other short-term diets, which typically prohibit bread products or animal products or both. Four four-ounce glasses of water daily also are essential. Condiments such as salt and pepper, ketchup, vinegar, lemon, herbs, soy sauce and mustard are allowed. There are several variations of this diet, but this is the most common. See the Resources section below for a link to the specifics for this diet and some variations.

Theories/Speculation

The combination of foods at each meal includes a low-fat component and a high-protein one, such as a vegetable and some meat. These specific combinations are theorized to burn fat, increase metabolism and cleanse the digestive system, but no explanation is made of how this works. Most diet experts say any weight loss is due to the low-calorie menu, along with elimination of water weight.

Benefits

The 3-Day Diet can be a good beginning to a longer-term weight-loss plan by providing a head start. It also has the benefit of creating specific menus for three days so people do not have to come up with their own. Because the diet is of short duration, people can avoid cheating as they look forward to their favorite foods on the fourth day.

Considerations

The 3-Day Diet menu has to be followed exactly or it will not work. This means not overeating or undereating or skipping any of the components. The purpose of not following the diet longer than three days is so the body's metabolism does not slow down in response to the low-calorie nature of the diet. People who do this diet must be cautious not to overeat once they finish, which is a very common problem with low-calorie plans.

Misconceptions

The 3-Day Diet is often called the Cleveland Clinic Diet. The Cleveland Clinic has an official statement on their website that they did not invent this diet, and that they wish achieving weight loss and other health benefits could be so simple. This clinic advocates traditional Mediterranean dietary practices concentrating on fruits, vegetables, whole grains, legumes and unsaturated fats such as olives and olive oil, nuts and seeds.