TV show about rapid diet plans

I'll say straight off that this may mean less to my non-UK readers. Please don't let that put you off. 

Channel 4 has a series called "Will My crash Diet Kill Me?". This week they followed four plans, Lighter Life, the Dukan Diet the Juice Diet and the Elimination Diet. Each plan involves some radical changes to your eating patters, but in every case the people who were featured lost from 1lb to 2.1lb a day during the first nine days. (That's 500g to 1kg a day). 

All these diets find ways of restricting calories and help the body live from its fat reserves. The rapid weight losses they all achieved for these people show how effective any disciplined diet programme will be.

There is a belief that rapid weight loss plans - crash diets - are dangerous. As with all these things, the truth is more complicated. There is a body of science which now believes rapid weight loss plans are a good idea for many people because they encourage good motivation and can be a good foundation to improved eating habits. 

The important rules to follow in all cases are:

1. seek medical advice in case of underlying health problems;
2. research the plans you are considering and be aware of any drawbacks;
3. follow the plan exactly;
4. avoid excessive exercise. This last one is important because any plan which severely limits your calorie intake can put a strain on the body and therefore extra stress is unwise.

Look at what we know about the Dukan Diet - the only one I know well. All these points are in the plan. The third point - follow the rules - includes the requirement to drink plenty of water. This is because processing a lot of protein puts stress on the body, but extra water will resolve this. Some people on high meat diets have complained of bad breath, constipation and fatigue. All of these problems will be lessened if you drink over a litre and a half of water a day. 

The Dukan Diet recommends that you should take only light exercise - walking. Dr Dukan advises against taking up sports or other physical activities while on the diet. 

If you live in an area where you can get 4OD to watch this programme, try it. For the rest of us, I'm sorry you haven't been able to see this excellent show. It would be of great help if you need some more encouragement to tackling your weight problems.