Weight loss q and a

Shape, Oct, 2005 by Suzanne Schlosberg

q My friend says the Mayo Clinic diet can help me shed pounds fast. Does it really work?

a "Versions of the so-called 'Mayo Clinic diet' have been around since the 1940s," says Donald Hensrud, M.D., M.P.H., a nutrition and weight-management specialist at the Mayo Clinic, a not-for-profit organization based in Rochester, Minn. "One year it was a grapefruit diet, another year it was cabbage soup. But none of the diets have been endorsed or developed by Mayo Clinic." In fact, 2005 marks the first time that the Mayo Clinic has published its own plan, called Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight for EveryBody (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research; bookstore.mayoclinic.com). It's not a quick weight-loss diet, but a "lifestyle-change program."

questions?

Send your weight-loss questions to Shape, Weight-Loss Q & A, 21100 Erwin St., Woodland Hills, CA 91367; fax: (818) 704-7620; e-mail: WeightLossQ&A@Shape.com.