Cereal Diet: Does It Work

Since weight loss is a big concern, people often keep on searching for various easy ways to lose weight in no time. One such fast weight loss diet is the breakfast cereal diet. Most of you must be aware about the newest extreme cereal dieting, which is in vogue. People following the cereal diet claim that one can actually lose more than 14 pounds a week with the help of the cereal diet, which is quite overwhelming! Before learning about its effectiveness, let's just get to know what a cereal diet is all about, in the first place.

What is a Cereal Diet?
In simple words, cereal diet is associated with replacing two basic meals of the day with a cereal. It is advised to have a bowl of breakfast cereal twice a day and one regular meal a day. This eating pattern is found to be effective in losing 2 pounds in the time span of 2 weeks, which is quite heartening in comparison with other weight loss diets and techniques. It is the same reason this diet is suggested to be used as a main weight loss diet. A cereal diet for weight loss is designed in such a way that the dieter consumes 3 different high fiber cereals with equal amounts of protein rich foods.

The Diet Menu
Breakfast cereals which are used for this cereal diet are combined with fat-free milk so that the person is not deprived off all the important vitamins and minerals. According to the creators, one should take 2/3 bowl of cereal and fill the remaining of it with fat-free milk. One can drink as much water and have plenty of low calorie snacks on the go. It is also necessary to have at least 3 healthy snacks per day. While a light dinner consisting of lean meats, baked potato, cottage cheese or fat free cheese and light salad dressing and plain lemon juice is also recommended, it is advised to avoid any heavy oils and creams from the food when one is on a cereal diet for weight loss.

How Does It Work?
Cereals make you feel full even with the minimal amount which you consume, which is the reason you don't feel hungry and lethargic. Due to the vitamins and minerals which are present in the combination of cereals and milk, you get the required amount of energy throughout the day. When a person chooses a variety in the cereal diet menu, he doesn't get bored of having the same food on a daily basis. This deliberate selection of different cereals also maintains the amounts of carbohydrate, iron and other essential nutrients. For better results, the creators advice you to have a combination of 3 different cereals, amongst which, 2 cereals must contain whole grains. This total equation ingests about 150 to 200 calories (per meal) in the body, instead of those whopping 500 to 700 calories.

Is it Safe in the Long Run?
The biggest question is - cereal diet does it work? Is cereal diet for weight loss safe to have on a long term basis? Not much research has been done on this aspect yet, but for most dieters, this has actually worked wonders. Experts, on the other hand, say that, a cereal diet for weight loss lacks the basic vitamins and minerals that are essential for a healthy person wich is the reason they also claim it to be a totally unbalanced diet. Some also claim that a person can successfully lose weight with 5 - 6 small servings of a healthy diet that mainly consists of a low calorie breakfast, moderate lunch and light dinner, with plenty of exercise.

A few cereal diet followers also complain that cereal diets does show some really positive effects only at the start but its effects start to fade away soon after the body gets adjusted to the new eating pattern. Another issue raised by the critics is the quality of the breakfast cereals which are used in this diet. According to them, the cereals that are used for this special diet for weight loss, are not actually whole grains and hence, they lack natural fibers which are available in fruits and brown rice. It is a fact that the dieter is allowed to have one meal of his choice per day (within the limitations) but a single meal is not enough to cater to the total required amount of nutrients.

I think it is a good idea to make your own breakfast cereals rather than opting for those prepackaged and processed ones. This way you can also escape the high calorie sugar corn syrups that are added to the prepackaged cereals. However, it is suggested that you use cereal diet as a detoxifier. People who want to detoxify their body from heavy junk food are advised to stay on the same cereal diet for a few weeks.