3 Diets Explored: Atkins Diet, Fricker Diet, & Mediterranean Diet

I don’t know about you, but there are so many diet plans out there, it can sometimes be hard to keep them all straight.

Atkins, Fricker, Mediterranean, Best Life, Eat Right for Your Type, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegetarian, Vegan, Zone…

There are so many with so many people claiming amazing results and others screaming that it did nothing for them.

Why is that?  Because we’re all different.  One diet plan doesn’t work for everyone.

That’s why, in this post, I’ll be exploring 3 different dieting plans:  The Atkins Diet, the Fricker Diet, and the Mediterranean Diet

The Atkins Diet

Eat more fat in order to lose weight! Wait…what?  Yes, that is the Atkins Diet.  Eat more meats, eggs, and dairy, full fat foods, and non-starchy vegetables, and you’ll lose tons of weight and feel great, according to Dr. Atkins and his somewhat controversial diet plan.   What is forbidden? Grains, high carbohydrate & starchy vegetables and sugar.

Dr. Atkins Diet plan, supported by others such as Dr. Mercola’s “No Grain Diet” and Sally Fallon’s acclaimed book “Nourishing Traditions” states that consuming too many carbohydrates causes us to increase our blood sugar.  Our body will burn off the carbohydrates quickly and retain the fats that we consume, making us fatter and often obese.  As our body burns the carbs quickly, we crave more in order to gain more energy.  We eat more and gain more weight as a result.

Dr. Atkins says that if we eat more fats from meats and dairy, our body will use the fat for energy instead of the carbohydrates. This energy will be sustained longer, eliminating food cravings and over-eating.

This particular diet is a favorite of mine. I watched my mother and grandmother lose a lot of weight on this diet, and they both looked fantastic.  Many people who benefit from a gluten free diet may also benefit from the Atkins Diet.

The Fricker Diet

Like the Atkins Diet, the Fricker diet recommends a total elimination of all starchy foods and grains, aiming for only lean meats, dairy, fruits and vegetables.  The difference between the Fricker Diet and the Atkins Diet, however, is that the Fricker Diet has a low to moderate alternative in its program for those who have a more difficult time eliminating these foods from their diets.  Weight loss will be slower, of course, but it allows the dieter to gradually break free from the addictions and cravings of grains, starch and sugars.

In the moderate meal plan, the Fricker Diet allows for a serving of whole grains in the morning with breakfast and some starch with dinner.  Leaner pieces of meat, however, are recommended.

The Mediterranean Diet

The Mediterranean Diet is the polar opposite of the Atkins Diet in that it recommends basing your meals on grains in addition to fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, and oils.  When consuming protein, they recommend first and foremost beans, fish, and shellfish.  Fish and shellfish are to be consumed about 2 times per week.  Dairy products and eggs should be limited to only moderate portions during the week, and meat and sweets should be the last and smallest thing you consume in your diet, if at all.

This is a diet that is promoted with great vigor by many modern nutritionists, though I personally disagree with the diet from my own personal experience.  Consuming many grains without a lot of animal based protein is the type of diet that makes me very ill.  However, for others, the diet may work wonders.  As I said in the beginning, we are all different.

3 Diets, 3 Different Requirements, Results May Vary – This is important to note in any diet program.

If you are looking for information on these diets in Spanish, please visit the links below:

En Espanol:

Dieta Atkins

Dieta Fricker

Dieta Mediterranea

Question:  Have you ever tried the Atkins Diet, Fricker Diet or Mediterranean Diet?  If so, what were your results?