Jenny Craig Beats the Rest

There are many popular diets, and it’s hard to choose between them.  The magazine Consumer Reports reviews their success record every 4 year or so, and their latest review has just issued.  The diets assessed were Atkins, Jenny Craig, Ornish, Slim Fast, The Zone, and Weight Watchers. 

Jenny Craig was the clear winner this year, largely because of a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association in October 2009.  It involved 442 overweight or obese women, of whom 92% were still on the Jenny Craig program after 24 months, and had lost an average of nearly 8% of their bodyweight.  Consumer Reports described these results “remarkable”.  The other diet manufacturers protested that the results in this study couldn’t be compared with real-life conditions of dieting – e.g. the subjects received (free) a portion-controlled supply of pre-packaged meals delivered to their home, along with in-person or personal phone counseling; in real life, they’d be charged about $ 6,000 over the 2 years.

Second place in the Consumer Reports rating was Slim Fast, and third was Weight Watchers.

As one of the reviewers said, ‘the diet that works is the one you can stay on’, and that implies it has to be very user-friendly.  And remember, you must burn up more calories than you take in, no matter what kind of diet you’re on.  But also remember that satiety isn’t necessarily a matter of calories.  Equal calorie amounts of cream puff and chicken breast will have very different effects on your feeling of fullness, which is also an important factor in the ability to stick to a diet. In this respect, Weight Watcher’s PointsPlus diet scores – it steers dieters to the most filling foods.  Low saturated fats and low refined carbohydrates are also important factors to consider when choosing your diet.  Good luck in your choice, and much success!