Free Diet Plan

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While diet books are prevalent, especially in the self-help area, many free diet plans exist.

Free diet plans are generally shunned by the public at large, primarily due to the old saying, "you get what you pay for." Free diet plans also suffer because they don't promise immediate results, and their advertisement budget is limited.

What do free diet plans offer? Some of the most basic provide a calorie counter, along with a generic table that informs dieters how many calories per day they should consume in order to lose weight. This is usually presented as a range. Other free diet plans also present sample menus and serving sizes, as well as what foods to concentrate on and what foods to avoid. Exercise suggestions are also common with high-end free diet plans.

Some of the best free diet plans are widespread movements. The trend toward eating whole foods, for instance, provides the public with opportunities to eat foods that are high in nutrients and fiber, and provide the body with its essential vitamins and minerals, thus reducing its need to take in more food to have healthy nutrition.

One of the most prevalent free diet plans is the food pyramid, distributed to schools everywhere by the Department of Agriculture. The food pyramid improves on the previous model of the four food groups by providing the rough number of servings to be provided per day. Grains are at the bottom of the food pyramid, and as a result the USDA recommends five servings per day. The next level contains fruits and vegetables, which should be served three to four times per day. Dairy products and meat make up the next level, served two to three times per day, and at the top is the category of fats, oils and sweets, which should be served at a maximum of once per day. While this has been helpful in certain cases, criticism has been leveled at the food pyramid for failing to keep up with the latest studies in nutrition. A newer version of the food pyramid has been introduced by the USDA, called MyPyramid, which eliminates general suggestions for food servings in favor of a fully customizable food pyramid, designed to be interacted with through the Internet. The MyPyramid also provides a graphic to illustrate physical exercise.

Always check with your doctor or physician before starting any nutrition or diet plan.