[.ca] The False Fat Diet: The Revolutionary 21-Day Program for ... (ISBN 0345443152)

From Amazon.com:
If you know you swell up after bee stings, you avoid bees. If you know a close encounter with poison ivy will leave you itching and scratching for a week, you keep your eyes open for three-leafed plants. But, according to The False Fat Diet, many of us spend our entire lives eating foods that "don't agree with us," and as a result carry around extra pounds, put up with allergies, and go through life looking older and feeling less energetic than we should. Of course, the hook here is weight loss. If you eliminate the foods that make you gassy and bloated, you can probably drop pounds instantly--up to 10 pounds of "false fat" in a week, Elson Haas says--and then keep dropping weight in subsequent weeks and months, the real fat, all without feeling hungry or deprived. Haas offers two ways to figure out if you've got food sensitivities: a medical blood test or an elimination diet, in which you cut out certain foods for a while, then gradually reintroduce them to see if they're the ones causing the problems. (The usual suspects: dairy, wheat, corn, sugar, eggs, soy, peanuts.) The False Fat Diet offers detailed instructions on how to eliminate each of these foods, and also offers ideas about supplements to take and other strategies to deal with the strangeness of not eating what are probably your favorite foods. Although the basic idea behind The False Fat Diet is counterintuitive--that the foods you like and crave the most are causing you the most severe physical problems--the potential benefits are enormous. Haas and Cameron Stauth tell numerous stories of patients (including Stauth and his sister) who lost weight instantly, looked younger, and felt better by following the diet that makes the most sense for them. --Lou Schuler

This Does Work:
I tried this diet out about 2 years ago. I thought that it might be good for people to see a review that has some experience behind it. One of my comments about diets was always, how long will it work. I have lost 60 pounds by following the guidelines of this plan. It works amazingly well. There are different ways to get started according to the book--you can do a fast or an elimination. I elected to do a 3 day fast and detox that way. After that I went into the elimination phase and then introduced new foods after that. I figured out what was causing me the most trouble and tried to eliminate those foods. I have not been religious about following this forever, but stick close to what works from me. That's also how Dr. Haas presents things as well. No plan is going to work all the time if you don't allow some flexibility. I would also recommend combining this with an exercise plan. Walking is easy and putting together a plan isn't too hard. This plan will work and you will see immediate results. I took measurements week after week and was surprised. The results are the reinforcement and you won't miss the chocolate after that. The only drawback is if you like to go out to eat. It can be hard to find things that are good and fit in the plan. Best bets were ethnic foods and, of course, vegetarian entrees.

Dr. Elson's books are fantastic.:
I have several of Elson Haas' books, and this one is one of my favourites. I bought it a couple years ago and read it, but didn't do much about it for a while. I suppose I wasn't ready to make the effort. Then, a year ago I decided to get tested for food sensitivites and combine that information with the elimination diet and program as outlined in the book. Up until that time I had been struggling with increasing weight and decreasing energy, despite exercising and "eating healthy". Within one week of going off the "sensitive seven" and the highly intolerant foods as shown by my test, I had dropped almost 10 pounds of bloat. Over the next couple months I lost another 10. By now, I have gone down 3 sizes. My skin improved, (I haven't had a pimple in a year!) my hair stopped thinning and I no longer have that nauseated-aching-bloated-miserable feeling after eating. My journey to better health is still ongoing, but this book has been a tremendous help. If you are interested in this book, I also highly recommend Dr. Elson's Detox Diet book, and Staying Health with Nutrition.

False Fat Diet:
I didn't lose a whole lot of pounds, but many inches. My husband did actually lose a fair amount of weight. That is incidental, however to how much better we feel and what we learned about foods that "don't agree with" us. We now do Haas' program once or twice a year and are so happy we found this book.

I've tried every diet - this one works!!!:
By following this eating plan I have lost 20lbs in 3 months and have discovered I was not able to lose weight probably because I am sensitive to dairy. I have cut dairy from my diet and the lbs are melting off and I know I will lose the rest of the 35 lbs I have been trying to lose for 3 years, since my daughter was born. This is more than a diet it is a lifestyle change and I highly suggest trying it.

Excellent book:
I always believed that certain foods cause negative reactions and health disorders but this question was not discussed in the numerous books on diets and nutrition that I read to be knowledgeable about health and fitness. This book is a great source for me. The author gives explanations to his statements and they are logical and convincing. I like this book very much and recommend it to everyone who is interested in their health knowing that nutrition is crucial. My dauhgter-in-law suffers from ecsema but she doesn't agree that the cause might be reactive food so she keeps eating bad food and cares more about her intellectual food than healthy one meanwhile having red itchy skin. I hope she will change her mind one day. This book can help her and others. Author of The Truth About Caffeine