Book Review

La Dieta del Gordo

By Raul De Molina Grijalbo (Oct 2008) Reviewed by: Ximena Jimenez, MS, RD, LD

Claims:

This book is the story of how after being diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2005, Raúl de Molina -- a well-known Hispanic television celebrity -- changed his eating habits and lifestyle. He writes about his struggles with weight and provides nutrition and exercise tips that helped him lose 70 pounds.

Synopsis of the Diet Plan:

The diet recommendations can be summarized as follows: Consume mostly protein foods and large amount of vegetables, eliminate carbohydrates and exercise five days a week.

In addition, the book includes a meal plan for 30 days that includes three daily meals and snacks. However, no portion sizes are mentioned and it would have been beneficial to include recipes for some of the suggested dishes.

Nutritional Pros and Cons:

The author clearly wants to help other overweight people make food and lifestyle changes to improve health and some of his recommendations such as portion control, eating more fiber foods such as vegetables and beans and exercising are fine.

However, he has a tendency to blame obesity on a single offender: the carbohydrates. Does it sound familiar? He even refers to carbohydrates as "a non-essential nutrient."

The meal plans are largely protein-based and include lots of vegetables, but they lack balance and variety. For instance, they do not provide enough dairy and whole grains and fruits are practically nonexistent. Therefore, while theoretically people could lose weight following this diet, the meals are deficient in vitamins and minerals important for health.

Bottom Line:

The author's good sense of humor and good intentions may well motivate people to get fit. However, his simplistic tips for weight loss are based solely on his personal experience; some suggestions are not for everyone; and the meals plans need to be improved for overall nutritional content.