Scarsdale medical diet

Cover of The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet

The Scarsdale medical diet was created in the 1970s by Dr. Herman Tarnower, named for the town in New York in which Tarnower conducted his medical practice, described in his book The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet plus Dr. Tarnower's Lifetime Keep-Slim Program.[1]

Scarsdale Medical Diet

The Scarsdale Medical Diet specifies a very specific and structured diet that is to be followed exactly for the first 14 days, another 14 day period follows that still specifies certain foods to eat, but is less structured and allows additional foods. Caloric intake is proportioned to the dieter, divided between a macronutrient split of 43% protein, 22.5% fat and 35.5% carbohydrates.

Critics acknowledge that diet protocol gives quick weight loss results but argue that low carbohydrate intake is irrelevant to the apparent weight loss and shows little benefits pertaining to body recomposition.[2] In addition, critics argue that the diet is no better than any other diet that changes eating behavior. [3]

Book

The book (ISBN 978-0553268867), originally published in 1978, received an unexpected boost in popular sales when its author, Herman Tarnower, was murdered on March 10, 1980, by his long-time lover Jean Harris, the headmistress of The Madeira School, a fashionable boarding school for high school girls in McLean, Virginia. The murder was the subject of a 2005 made-for-TV movie called Mrs. Harris.

References

  1. "Scarsdale Diet, Ketosis Research". Retrieved 2014-12-24.
  2. Swartz, Jacqueline (March 15, 1982). "The sense and nonsense of the best-selling diet books.". Canadian Medical Association Journal (Canadian Medical Association) 126: 696–701.
  3. Wing, Rena R.; Epstein, Leonard H.; Shapira, Barbara (Jun 1982). "The effect of increasing initial weight loss with the Scarsdale Diet on subsequent weight loss in a behavioral treatment program.". Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology (American Psychological Association) 50 (3): 446–447. doi:10.1037/0022-006x.50.3.446.

External links