The Sonoma Diet: A New Spin on the Mediterranean Diet

The Sonoma diet has billed itself as the "most flavorful diet under the sun." The Sonoma diet has been created to package and sell the benefits of the Mediterranean diet, using the principles described in the Lyon heart study.

Like the Mediterranean diet, the Sonoma diet emphasizes fruits, vegetables, whole grains and nuts. In fact, it singles out 10 "super foods" based on recent scientific research suggesting health benefits of each of these foods. They include: almonds, bell peppers, blueberries, broccoli, grapes, olive oil, spinach, strawberries, tomatoes, and whole grains. The Sonoma diet also encourages the moderate intake of wine.

Like other popular diets, the Sonoma diet is structured in 3 phases. The first phase is very restrictive with tiny portion sizes to provide a fast initial weight loss. The second is a longer weight loss phase, with slightly larger portion sizes. The third phase is designed for weight maintenance, and is intended to be life-long.

The Sonoma diet book describes the diet and 3 phase structure, and provides a step by step guide with over 500 recipes. The recipes are very well thought out, tasty, and easy to cook. Because of the types of foods included in most recipes, it is not by any means a low cost diet, but the health and weight loss benefits may make the cost worth it. The online diet program provides more recipes, and helps by putting together printable shopping lists. Costs of the online program are $5 a week.

Overall, I think that the Sonoma diet is one of the better commercial diets. It is based on scientific research showing significant health benefits of the Mediterranean diet, and recent studies showing benefits of specific "super foods." The recipes are healthy and tasty.

My only concern about the Sonoma diet for weight loss is that the 3 phase structure seems to be a gimmick employed by many popular fad diets. The very restrictive 1st phase is a weight loss trick, used by most diet gurus, to provide a very rapid weight reduction so that dieters will start talking about how much weight they are losing. I am disappointed that the author fell prey to this gimmick. The science of dieting shows very clear that this kind of "crash" dieting is not beneficial and contributes to the yo-yo dieting phenomenon.

With this criticism aside, I think that overall the Sonoma diet is an excellent weight loss program based solidly on the science of healthy eating. The whole family can enjoy the health benefits of the Sonoma diet.

As Obesity In Children Increases, The Incidence Of Fatty Liver Disease Rises
Indiana University School of Medicine researchers are taking a closer look at a disease whose incidence is rising as obesity in children increases. Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis, more popularly known as Fatty Liver Disease, occurs in approximately 15% of obese children. Fatty Liver Disease, in which fat accumulates in the liver, while not life threatening in children, can lead to cirrhosis (scarring) of the liver, sometimes requiring transplantation by adulthood. [click link for full article]

Research In Childhood Obesity In Children Highlights Physical Activity Levels
A British study, involving 5,500 children and published in the latest issue of PLoS Medicine, used accurate methods to measure the 'fat mass' of the children and the amount of physical activity they were taking. The researchers, based at the University of Bristol, concluded that low levels of activity, particularly moderate and vigorous activity, play an important role in the development of obesity. [click link for full article]

Be Inspired: Shannan's Story
Some people have it tough, and others have it very tough. Shannan Hutchinson is one of the latter. Shannan has Multiple Sclerosis - yet despite the phenomenal challenges posed by her illness, Shannan was able to lose over 90 pounds - by eating right and exercising. Here is her story....

Even Light Exercise Helps Smokers Quit
Even short bouts of light exercise such as strolling can help smokers quit by reducing cigarette cravings and withdrawal symptoms, say scientists at the University of Exeter in the UK. The study is published in the April edition of the journal Addiction. The scientists suggest that a short session of moderate exercise, lasting for as little as five minutes, is sufficient to reduce cravings for a cigarette. [click link for full article]

Obesity Surgery Can Lead To Memory Loss And Movement Problems
A new US study suggests that obesity surgery such as gastric bypasses can cause vitamin deficiency that leads to memory loss, confusion, co-ordination, and other neurological problems.The study is published in the journal Neurology.A neurological sydrome called Wernicke encephalopathy occurs mostly in patients who vomit a lot after they have had weight loss surgery (also known as bariatric surgery). [click link for full article]

First UK Study To Determine How General Practice Professionals Can Tackle Adolescent Obesity
Academics at the University of Hertfordshire are conducting the first UK study to investigate how health professionals based in general practice can help adolescents who are obese to lose weight. [click link for full article]

Fruit Juice: Making Kids Fat?
Research from Australia has concluded that children who drink 2 cups of fruit juice or fruit drinks per day were more likely to be overweight or obese than those who did not. It seems that the more fruit juice consumed, the more chance of being overweight: "Children who drank more than three glasses of soft drink - three quarters...

How to Display a Picture in Your Comments
I've finally enabled avatars / pictures for commenters. Here's how you do it. Go to a site called Gravatar. Follow the instructions by entering your email (make sure it is the same email address that you use for your diet-blog.com comments!). Once registered you can upload a picture. From then on your picture will display next to your comment (see...