The combination diet for abdominal fat review
October 12, 2011 by Alex Chris, Reviewed by our Editorial Board
A new diet has arrived in the weight loss world. It is written by H. Hagikalfa and reviewed by Dr. A. Slee. In a market saturated with weight loss diets, can’t help wondering if adding one more it is just too much. You will find diets in every corner you look; magazines, books, internet sites, eBooks, and television they all have to offer a weight loss regime which is guaranteed to change your life forever.
So what does the ‘Combination Diet’ has to offer that other diets haven’t done so far?
The details
According to the authors, the Combination diet is designed to provide dieters with flexibility, by choosing what they want to eat and when they want to eat it. How? I guess you can say it is a little bit of a mix and match style. The diet includes tables with food choices for main meals and for additionals. Dieters can choose any foods from the main tables and combine them with any foods from the additional tables as they please.
The idea is that dieters will be following a range of calories depending on how much weight they want to lose. They can then make their food choices and eat within that range of calories.
Does it work?
As a first view it can appear fiddly and confusing. What do I eat with what, calorie counting, how many calories I follow…etc. The authors do provide a detailed user’s guide which explains how to work the diet step by step. Put aside all complicated thinking in its bases is quite simple. You have the food tables and you can mix and match as you please.
In addition, it does provide some flexibility in respect of calories so dieters do not have to be playing around with grams of food to match the exact calorie target every day.
Moreover, it appears to be quite hard to over eat in calories as most of the choices have quite a low calorific content so unless you eat the entire menu at once you should be fine.
The deal
The Combination Diet is actually sold as a package of a bigger deal. What you get is access to a number of services such as calorie counter, food journals and experts’ advice. Money for value seems to be good as part of a package which would either wise cost a lot more than the £19.99 price of the deal. The question to be asked is how user friendly these services are and if services will be updated through time.
The book itself also contains a section for practical weight loss tips and an exercise section which is mainly focused in improving abdominal fitness. Although the tips section is not very big it has some valued points which can be used in everyday practice.
Scientific basis
The authors have included a list of references upon which the diet and the book contents have been based. The diet regime is designed upon the Mediterranean dietary pattern. A number of studies do support that The Mediterranean style of diet, can have a number of health benefits and can lead to weight loss.
It must be noted that what is the ‘Mediterranean diet’ is very hard to define as it includes around 18 countries and their different dietary styles. Some of the main elements considered beneficial and part of the ‘Mediterranean’ dietary pattern is olive oil, ample amounts of plant derived foods (i.e vegetables, nuts), and omega 3s (fish oils). The Combination diet seems to include majority of the ‘Mediterranean diet’ elements and to provide a balance of nutrients for the period it is aimed to be followed for (2 weeks).
In summary Pros and Cons
Pros | Cons |
| Good value for money, tide up to a package with a number of online services. | Only available through the internet and someone would require internet access for the services and a computer / book reader for the book. |
| Balanced healthy style of diet providing a range of nutrients. | It is only for 2 -3 weeks. Dieters could follow it for longer but the menus would become boring after a while. |
| It has tips for a lifestyle change and ways to eat carry on eating healthy and balanced to sustain weight loss. | As with everything new it needs to be tested to see how easy it is in practice. |
| Provides flexibility for dieters and it should be easy to follow. | Can’t criticise yet but it would be a con if the quality of support and services is poor. |
| Even if the menus are not to your taste the rest of the services included should still be good enough for the money. | The menus may not be to everybody’s taste. |
| Has a scientific basis and it has been reviewed and approved by a Nutritionist. | It is not a fast magic pill, but then I doubt that exist. In a healthy form anyway. |
| Dieters can increase/ decrease portions and amount of food as they please. | It can contain a higher amount of protein so it may not be suitable for some people especially those who suffer from kidney conditions. |
| It well explained and it is a promising weight loss guide. |
Overall outcome…
Well it will not suit everybody but that goes with everything in this world. It is a good solution for those who can’t follow rigid diets and like some flexibility. That flexibility could feel as if you are not on diet at all as it doesn’t really restrict too many foods apart from takeaways, burgers, chips, cakes etc. Well it is a diet after all, for losing weight, so can’t ask too much.
It is not for those who want to lose a lot of weight as it is not meant for a long period although it can be followed for longer if wished and it does include tips on how to continue a healthy diet. In addition, it is not meant for those who want to lose 100lbs in a week.
However, it seems to be a good start for healthy weight loss and lifestyle change and it is part of a good package deal which includes just about everything you may need to lose weight. I guess if you are looking for a healthy multifaceted solution to weight loss and abdominal fat then it is worth trying the Combination Diet.
If you want to ask any questions about The Combination Diet, post your comment below and our experts will reply to the questions.
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