A Review Of The Eat More Weigh Less Hawaii Diet Essay, Research Paper

A Review of The Eat More, Weigh Less, Hawaii Diet

The Eat More, Weigh Less, Hawaii Diet claims that you can “eat all the food you want, never have that feeling of hunger, still lose weight, and be healthier than you ever have been” simply by eating the traditional foods of Hawaiians. The Eat More, Weigh Less, Hawaii Diet was developed by Dr. Shintani at the Waianae Coast Comprehensive Health Center in Hawaii. He treated native Hawaiians with diseases such as obesity, diabetes, atherosclerosis, and other serious diseases, by merely altering their diets to traditional Hawaiian food instead of the “junk food” they had been consuming. In only three weeks most participants showed marked weight loss, lower cholesterol, diabetic patients lowered their amount of medication, and overall health improved.

To make the program work for a variety of people Dr. Shintani broadened the variety of foods to follow the preferences of Americans using foods that have an important characteristic that causes weight loss. He devised the Eat More Index (EMI) helps to determine which foods will sate your hunger and give the most calories.

The EMI number given to foods usually represents the number of pounds of that food it takes to provide 2,500 calories which is one days quantity of calories for an average active woman or an average inactive man. The foods with a greater EMI number are the foods that you can eat more of. The more pounds of food it takes to provide your daily calories, the more satisfied you will be by them. Since you are more likely to eat more of the foods that you like and be satisfied by them this helps promote weight loss. Dr. Shintani?s research shows that if you select foods with an EMI rated higher than 4.1, you can eat as much of this food as you want without gaining weight.

Dr. Shintani inverts the food pyramid as an example of the EMI. Foods at the bottom of the traditional food pyramid such as fruit, vegetables, and breads have a higher EMI value while the foods at the top of the traditional food pyramid such as dairy, meats, and fats have a low EMI value. The efficiency of the EMI was studied in a research project and published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a highly regarded journal on nutrition. The Eat More Weigh Less, Hawaii Diet teaches five basic ways to help people loose weight:

? Teaching how to “Eat More, Weigh Less” while choosing foods that leave you feeling less hungry and promote weight loss.

? Teaches how to stay away from foods that increase body fat.

? Helps teach you three ways to lose weigh in your sleep.

? How to keep your diet balanced using the pyramid.

? How to make the Eat More, Weigh Less diet an eating habit to promote lifelong healthy living.

I believe that if followed properly and monitored by a doctor that this system could help a person lose weight reasonably. This is not a starvation diet or a diet that restricts what you can and cannot eat. The emphasis on fresh fruits, vegetables, breads, and whole grains leads me to believe that this would be a healthy lifestyle choice to make. The variety of foods available on the program would help you to maintain the diet because you are not getting bored eating the same thing all the time. This diet will allow you to get all the necessary vitamins and calories that your body needs to stay healthy. With the proper balance of diet and exercise anyone can be healthier. This program would be an excellent choice of a lifelong diet to follow.

“Lose Weight and Never Be Hungry”, Dr. Shintani?s Eat More, Lose Weight, Hawaii Diet, [http://www.hawaiidiet.com/program.htm], (10/28/00)