Trend Tracker: The Bread for Life Diet

The Bread for Life Diet by nutritionist Olga Raz claims you can eat 16 slices of bread every day and lose weight. Can this really be true? Raz developed the diet after researching serotonin - a chemical in the brain that controls our hunger and satiety.

The Bread for Life Diet: The High-on-Carbs Weight-Loss Plan
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Raz’s theory for The Bread for Life Diet is that a high-carb, low-glycemic diet of six small meals every three to four hours will increase serotonin levels in the brain. And high levels of serotonin will make you feel full between meals, plus you won’t crave sweets… so you’ll eat less and lose weight without having to count calories.

Here’s the plan:

There are two stages in the diet. The main foods are whole-grain bread products, but you can substitute other comparable complex carbohydrates. Women must eat eight to 12 slices of “light” bread a day; men need 12 to 16 slices. Light bread is defined as 35 to 40 calories per slice.

During Stage 1 of the diet - which lasts up to two weeks - you have to eat all allotted slices of light bread without substitutions. You can have small amounts of sandwich fillings like low-fat cheeses, cottage cheese, and avocados. You can also eat three meals a week that include meat, fish, and poultry. And you’re allowed one serving of fruit and no more than an eight-ounce serving of a dairy product a day. During Stage 2, you can start substituting other complex carbohydrates for the light bread.

The fruit and dairy allotments are much less than what the Dietary Guidelines recommend - considered the gold standard for Americans. The Guidelines say you should have four servings of fruit per day and three eight-ounce servings of dairy products products a day for optimal health.

Andrea Giancoli, MPH, RD - a spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association - reviewed The Bread for Life Diet. She says, “While applauding vegetables and whole grains, Raz undermines the health benefits of consuming additional fruit, saying their high sugar content causes the dieter to eat them in excess, thus limiting weight loss. No explanation is offered for the restriction of calcium-rich dairy products. Likewise no explanation is given as to why the dieter can consume as much meat, fish and poultry as he or she likes during allowed meals.”

Giancoli notes while scientific research supports high-carb foods raise serotonin levels, and high levels of serotonin make you feel full, the science is less clear that a high-carbohydrate diet will make you lose weight due to increased serotonin from the carbohydrates alone.

As far as not needing to count calories, Giancoli estimates the six meals on a non-meat, fish and poultry day are about 1,200 calories, and will more than likely result in weight loss due to a low-calorie intake. She says there is no telling how many calories the dieter will have during a meat meal.

Giancoli also found the diet lacking in some nutrients, most notably calcium. But she says presumably the multivitamin and calcium supplements are included to fill those deficits.

“Excluding the limitations of fruit and dairy products, The Bread for Life Diet does promote a healthful high-fiber way of eating by putting emphasis on whole-grain foods, unlimited amounts of vegetables, unsaturated oils and lean protein sources,” concludes Giancoli. “The many rules, substitutions and stringency of sticking to six small meals per day may take more planning than most dieters are willing to do. To her credit, Gaz spends much of the book offering excellent behavioral tips on how to combat diet blockades and acknowledges it’s not easy.”

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