October 23, 2005 --

Elizabeth Alvarez-KFOX Morning News Anchor/Reporter

Every time you turn around a new diet pops up that promises to take excess pounds off and keep them off. In this Consumer Watch Report, we check out popular diets to see which ones work best. Here are the findings on South Beach, Atkins, Slim-Fast and more.

Meals prepared in Consumer Reports' test kitchen show the vast differences in diets. The low-carb Atkins diet is heavy on protein and fat, with no rice or potatoes in sight. The super low-fat Ornish diet calls for lots of vegetables and grains, but no meat. There is a Weight Watchers' with meals like skinless, roasted chicken breast, broccoli and rice and a salad topped with low-fat dressing.

Consumer Reports' Nancy Metcalf analyzed those diets along with six others, including Slim-Fast and South Beach, as well as Jenny Craig.

"We took a week's worth of menus from each diet and calculated exactly what was in them every calorie, every, everything and measured to see how well they conformed to the new 2005 U.S. dietary guidelines," said Metcalf.

For nutrition, Metcalf reports the Atkins diet did poorly.

"The main thing that was wrong with Atkins nutritionally is it had about twice as much fat as the dietary guidelines call for and also about twice as much saturated fat."

Consumer Reports also reviewed clinical research to see how well people stick to the diet as well as how many pounds they lose. It turns out some, including the Jenny Craig and South Beach diets, have little research to back their claims.

"South Beach has been studied only short-term, two clinical trials lasting about three months each. And the Jenny Craig diet has never been studied in a clinical trial," said Metcalf.

As for the Slim-Fast diet, it calls for having its shakes or bars with two meals a day. Consumer Report found it meets the new dietary guidelines and is good on short-term weight loss, but not long-term.

"The problem is that people don't seem to be able to stick with it for the long term. We think maybe they're just getting sick of it," said Metcalf.

In the end Consumer Reports top-rated Weight Watchers. Studies show people tend to stick to the program long term. Weight Watchers provides balanced nutrition, with a strong emphasis on fiber, fruits and vegetables.

If you think you may need more fruits and vegetables in your diet, you are probably right. The government's new dietary guidelines now call for nine servings of fruits and vegetables a day.

For helpful consumer information, visit Consumer Reports on the web.

http://www.consumerreports.org/

Consumer Reports is a fee-based Web site. Many of the articles require a subscription.