Who Created the Egg Diet?
The egg diet is sometimes known by other names such as the Hollywood Egg Diet or the Adrien Brody Egg Diet.  It really isn’t clear who first came up with the concept of the egg diet.  Like many nutritionally unstable diets, there are more variations to the egg diet than there are people lining up to take credit for it.  The basic gist of the diet remains the same even if there is a changeup in the endorsement.  Some variations of the name include the egg diet, the Adrien Brody Egg Diet, the Hollywood Egg Diet, the Boiled Egg Diet, the Atkins Egg Diet (improperly attributed), the Mayo Clinic Egg Diet, or the Grapefruit and Egg Diet.

Some of the science behind the egg diet is relatively sound even if the diet remains incomplete.  Most dieticians will label this as a crash diet or a fad diet with any lost weight returning as soon as regular eating resumes.  Anecdotal accounts generally appear to be happy with their weight loss and do not indicate yo-yoing.  Speaking strictly in terms of its stature in the medical community, there are very few dieticians that would hold nutritional fasting as the safest, fastest, or most reliable form of weight loss.

What is Nutritional Fasting?
Nutritional fasting is the science that drives the endorsement of the Adrien Brody or Hollywood Egg Diet.  In simple terms, nutritional fasting is the severe exclusion of a particular food group or type of food.  For the Boiled Egg Diet, carbohydrates are virtually eliminated.  As carbohydrates serve as the body’s chief source of fuel, the body then turns to scavenge muscle mass (protein) to convert to energy.  The Egg Diet is supposed to provide the necessary protein to preserve muscle mass and force the body to turn to its fat reserves for energy.

The Boiled Egg Diet assumes the position that the conversion of excess glucose (sugar from carbohydrates) into fat is the chief source of fat production and the reason that many dieters fail to lose weight.  By eliminating carbohydrates, the Egg Diet attempts to short circuit fat production by the body.  Supporters of the Egg Diet claim that fat is broken down in the absence of carbohydrates, as is shown by the presence of ketones in the urine.  Testing for ketones in the urine requires a simple test strip.

What are Ketones?
Ketones are created through complex metabolic processes that essentially breakdown fat.  At any given time during the day ketones are present in the blood.  In healthy individuals, ketones are virtually completely broken down in the liver.  When more ketones are produced than the liver can break down, excess ketones are eliminated by the lungs and the kidneys.  When ketones are present in sufficient levels to be registered by a urine test, it is a possible indication that there is something wrong.

Common causes for ketones present in the urine include

  • Diabetes or other metabolic disorders
  • Starvation or fasting (over 18 hours without food)
  • High protein or severely low-carbohydrate diets
  • Illness, vomiting, or anorexia

Long term levels of elevated ketones (ketoacidosis) can place a serious strain on the liver and kidneys.  The body tends to lose fluids during low carbohydrate diets to the point of dehydration.  Between the dehydration and the higher levels of ketones in the urine, most doctors will advise that such diets are not followed for more than two weeks at a time, and that people with Type 1 Diabetes, alcoholism, or mothers who are pregnant or still lactation never undergo a ketogenic diet.  To clarify, ketones are present in the blood at any given point in the day, but when the level of ketones elevates to the point where they are detectable in urine for a prolonged period, then some doctors raise the concern that it may not be healthy.

Is the Egg Diet a Safe or Effective Long Term Diet?
The simple answer to the above question is yes, the Adrien Brody Egg Diet is effective but certainly does not maintain its safety for a long term sustainable diet.  The fact that Adrien Brody lost 30 pounds on the egg diet for his role in The Pianist is proof enough that the diet will promote weight loss, and proof enough that it certainly lacks long term sustainability.  According to Brody, he lost roughly five pounds per week for six straight weeks, which is indicative of starvation.  This diet is virtually devoid of fiber, carbohydrates, and certain vitamins.  No unbalanced diet is recommended for long term weight control, and one may indeed hope for a very short life if they were restricted to the following foods for the rest of their life.

Beyond eggs, lean protein sources are allowed such as fish and chicken, skin removed and not cooked in oil.  A modest amount of vegetables are allowed but virtually no fruit is permitted, since this is a still a source of carbohydrates.  A variation of this is the Egg and Grapefruit Diet, where half a grapefruit is eaten with every meal.  In this diet you can virtually forget about bread, pasta, sugar, potatoes, or corn.  In some variants of the Egg Diet, high-fat meats such as bacon or sausage are permitted once daily to prevent a sense of deprivation.  Thus, a dieter could still fill up on bacon and eggs for breakfast.  This diet claims that while the egg is high in cholesterol it does not raise the level of cholesterol in the blood, since both fat and glucose is needed to produce cholesterol in the body.

Skipping meals out of boredom is not recommended at all, as experts of the egg diet claim that skipping a meal causes more harm than good.  Eat three times per day, even if not hungry (excess ketones can reduce appetite).  On the egg diet, exercise is neither encouraged nor discouraged.  It is left to the dieter’s discretion though it should be noted that weakness and fatigue are the two most commonly reported side effects during the first few days.  Also with severe carbohydrate restriction the body does not have the energy it needs to burn before and after a good workout.  Chances are the dieter will not be able to exert much energy before needing a rest.  Likewise, there are many doctors that will say exercise is not recommended during severe caloric restriction

Dieters may consider slowly converting away from the egg diet to regular eating by slowly adding more fruits, vegetables, and complex carbohydrates back into their staple protein diet.  The emphasis is on slow; after several weeks of not eating carbohydrates, the biological response is to generate a craving and binge.  This of course is the beginning of the end for any long term weight loss the diet was intended for, and why the egg diet in spite of its dietary principles is still labeled as a crash diet.

A Final Word
The Egg Diet also recommends drinking at least two liters of water per day, and drinking this at regular intervals so the kidneys are easier able to pass the excess protein.  It is important to remember that rapid weight loss does not always equal healthy weight loss.  Crash diets such as the Hollywood Egg Diet will promote weight loss because they create an imbalance that the body has to work to correct.  And while the induction phase of the Atkins Diet relies heavily on eggs or egg whites as the primary source of protein, even the Atkins Diet does not permanently keep the levels of carbohydrates as low as are present in the Egg Diet.  The bottom line is that the Egg Diet nutritionally incomplete at the very least and does not rank very well compared to more balanced diets.

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