Does Birmingham 3 Day Cardiac Diet Work?

Do you want to lose 10 pounds in just 3 days? Birmingham hospital at Alabama may have the answer for you. The Birmingham 3 day cardiac diet is designed to help patients to lose weight fast without surgery and weight loss pills. In 3 days you may lose as much as 10 pounds! You may have heard about this diet before, as it carries various names, including 3 Day Tuna Diet, Alabama Diet, Tuna Diet and so on. Before you start the Birmingham 3 day cardiac diet, you really need to find out: does this diet work? Will the weight loss be permanent?

Firstly, let us look at the menu of Birmingham 3 day cardiac diet. During the 3 days, you have to follow the menu very strictly to achieve maximum results. The foods are designed based on the concept of chemical breakdown to help you burn fat. Thus, you are not allowed to vary the amounts or make substitution of the menu. After 3 days, you can resume your regular meals. Then, after 4 days of regular meals, start the Birmingham 3 day cardiac diet all over again if you wish to lose more weight.

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Now, the problem with this 3 day diet is: it is extremely low in calories. I added the calories and got this number (rough estimation):

Day 1: 1035
Day 2: 1020
Day 3: 1040

In reality, you may lose weight. However, much of your loss may be water and muscle loss instead of fat loss! As soon as you resume your regular meals, you may gain all the weight back. In addition, low calories diet may hurt your metabolism. In addition, you may feel hungry with this diet as it is low in energy and calories. Unless you have rock solid will power, it is unlikely you will stick through the diet. In the following section you may refer to some of the users' experience.

User's Review
Dove from About.com Health: "Seriously, anyone thinking of doing this diet, take it from me, don't do it! You will feel like hell, and probably won't make it the 3 days.  It is just horrible!"

Does Birmingham 3 Day Cardiac Diet Work?

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3 Birmingham Cardiac Day Diet - What is It?

What is the 3 Birmingham Cardiac Day Diet? That's an interesting question addressed time and time again by health professionals. Some swear it is bad for you, while others swear it works. Which one is correct?

One thing is certain: Though the diet is often attributed to the Cardiac Unit at the UAB Hospital in Birmingham, doctors there have gone public to say it is not a product of their hospital. They have advised, furthermore, that it might actually be dangerous. Those who follow the diet, however, swear that they have suffered no ill effects and have lost weight quickly and easily.

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It's entirely possible that people have lost weight on this diet, and here's why: The most popular version of the 3 Birmingham Cardiac Day Diet floating around on the internet calls for about 1200 calories per day. If you were on a typical diet of 1800 calories or more before you started it, of course you will lose weight! The fewer calories you take in, the more weight you will lose.

Those who love the diet also say that the combination of foods is what triggers the weight loss. This might not seem to make sense, as there are some selections that are high in fat, such as peanut butter, and some that don't seem to make sense with a diet, such as ice cream. However, it has long been recognized that certain combinations of food will help burn fat, thanks to the way the foods interact in your body. This might be the case here, though there isn't much in the way of long-term studies to prove the theory.

Those who subscribe to the diet follow it for three days, then use the rest of the four days of the week to eat what they like, within reason, of course. Then they begin using the diet again, and do another three days of it. Some people feel like doubling up, and so they spend six days of the week on the diet, and use their seventh day as a "cheat" day. Some report weight loss of over 40 pounds in one month!

Though losing 40 pounds in a month might seem like a dream come true, beware of diets that allow you to lose so much so quickly. You should always be under a doctor's supervision when you are dropping weight, because as you lose weight your body makeup changes, and that could lead to serious issues if you have any underlying health problems.

The 3 Birmingham Cardiac Day Diet might seem to be a good jump-start to healthy eating, but it is warned about in medical circles. If you want to try it for a few days, do so at your own risk - but don't make it your lifelong plan to lose weight! That can only come with a lot of patience, hard work and lifestyle changes in your eating and exercise habits.

3 Birmingham Cardiac Day Diet - What is It?

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Birmingham Cardiac 3 Day Diet - Hospital Created Diet Helps You Lose Ten Pounds in Just 3 Days!

The Birmingham Hospital wanted a healthy way to help patients lose weight before undergoing a surgery. The Birmingham cardiac 3 day diet was created to be an effective way to lose ten pounds within three days. And it does work. The only catch is that you have to follow a strict diet regimen for the entirety of the program.

The Birmingham Cardiac 3 Day Diet:

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Day one

Breakfast
- 1/2 Grape fruit or Juice
- 1 tbsp Peanut Butter
- 1 Slice of Toast
- Tea or Black Coffee

Lunch
- 1/2 cup Tuna
- 1 Slice Toast
- Tea or Black Coffee

Dinner
- 2 Slices of any Meat
- 1 cup String Beans
- 1 cup Carrots or Beets
- 1 small Apple
- 1 cup of Ice Cream (vanilla)

Day Two
Breakfast
- 1 Egg (hard boiled)
- 1/2 Banana
- 1 Slice of Toast
- Tea or Black Coffee

Lunch
- 1 cup Cottage Cheese or 1/2 cup Tuna
- 5 Saltine Crackers

Dinner
- 2 Wieners
- 1 cup Cabbage or Broccoli
- 1/2 Banana
- 1/2 cup Turnip Greens or Carrots  
- 1 cup of Ice Cream (vanilla)

Day Three

Breakfast
- 1 Egg (hard boiled)
- 1 Slice Toast
- Tea or Black Coffee

Lunch
- 1 Slice Cheddar Cheese
- 1 small Apple
- 5 Saltine Crackers
- Tea or Black Coffee

Dinner
- 1 cup Tuna
- 1 cup Cauliflower or Green Beans
- 1 cup Beets or Carrots
- 1 small Apple or 1 cup Cantaloupe
- 1 cup of Ice Cream (vanilla)

In order to successfully lose weight with the Birmingham Cardiac 3 Day Diet, you just need to follow the diet exactly. By being able to discipline yourself for three days, you will be reward by the fact that you are ten pounds lighter.

Birmingham Cardiac 3 Day Diet - Hospital Created Diet Helps You Lose Ten Pounds in Just 3 Days!

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Hospital 3 Day Diet - Birmingham Hospital Diet Review

The Hospital 3 Day Diet, which is also known as the Birmingham Hospital Diet, has become popular due to claims that the diet was created as a means of enabling patients intended for surgery to lose up to 10 lbs in weight over a period of three days. Other sources attribute the origin of this diet plan to the University of Alabama.

It should be noted that these institutions do not make that claim and do not accept any responsibility towards those who follow the diet.

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Notwithstanding the uncertainty of its origins, there is little doubt that this simple diet plan has become widespread and that many people have used it, often coming across the weight loss strategy under one of its many names. Apart from the Hospital 3 Day Diet, it is also known as Alabama 3 Day Diet, 3 day Tuna Diet, Tuna Fish Diet, 3 Day Cardiac Diet, and others.

The content of these weight loss diet plans is very similar and will here be treated as essentially the same.

A key element of the Hospital 3 Day Diet is that it contains a low daily calorie level of about 1,000 calories with specified ingredients to provide the protein, carbohydrates, fat (very little) and other nutrients that we need to survive. For a full description of the menu plan, do a quick search for my article "3 Day Tuna Fish Diet - Menu and Diet Plan".

In brief, the plan outlines the foods to be included for breakfast, lunch and dinner over a three day period.

There are many reports of weight reduction from those who have followed the diet. The amount of claimed weight lost during that time varies, as might be expected with so many differing metabolisms and food requirements being involved. However, a minimum weight reduction of at least 2.5 lbs does seem attainable and likely.

Much of the weight loss from a diet of such a short duration probably comes from water loss. As well, with a calorie count of about 1,000 this would be well below normal requirements for most adults, so energy expended would also account for some of the loss.

However, whilst not a 'starvation diet', the Birmingham Hospital Diet is likely to generate user problems if continued beyond the recommended 3 days. For instance, it is normal for our bodies to make adjustments when a food shortage is detected. This is a survival mechanism which protects us when little food is available, as in times of famine. The body slows metabolism and conserves fat stores to enable us to survive longer with less food. This actually makes it harder to lose weight, we have less energy and tire more easily. Not a satisfactory long term condition!

Although there may be some short-term loss advantage, the feelings of hunger experienced by the end of the diet encourage extra food intake after the diet has been completed. A better alternative is a program that does not produce a craving for food, does not cause the body to slow its activities, and takes into account nutritional requirements so that changes in eating habits would allow fat loss to happen over a longer period and be lasting.

Rather than following a simple, low calorie diet plan, losing weight over an extended period allows other tactics to be employed in the plan, such as 'calorie shifting', placing greater emphasis on fat loss and adequate nutrition. This is more likely in the long run to provide health benefits and sustainable weight loss.

Hospital 3 Day Diet - Birmingham Hospital Diet Review

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