The Rice Diet Solution: The World-Famous Low-Sodium, Good-Carb, Detox Diet for Quick and Lasting Weight Loss

by Kitty Gurkin Rosati, Robert Rosati

Draws on the "good carb" principles of the Rice Diet Program as introduced in 1939, explaining how healthy carbohydrates are an essential part of weight loss and outlining a low-sodium meal plan consisting of whole grains, fruit, vegetables, legumes, and lean proteins. 75,000 first printing.

Genres: Nonfiction, Cooking, Diets, Cookbooks

368 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[Teena in Toronto · Rating 3 out of 5]

With this diet, there are three phases:

Phase One (Detox for a week)

For 1 day a week
Breakfast - 2 starches and 2 fruits
Lunch - 2 starches and 2 fruits
Supper- 2 starches and 2 fruits

For 6 days a week
Breakfast - 1 starch, 1 non-fat dairy and 1 fruit
Lunch - 3 starches, 3 vegetables and 1 fruit
Supper- 3 starches, 3 vegetables and 1 fruit

Phase Two - Do this until you lose all the weight you want

For 1 day a week
Breakfast - 2 starches and 2 fruits
Lunch - 2 starches and 2 fruits
Supper- 2 starches and 2 fruits

For 5 days a week
Breakfast - 1 starch, 1 non-fat dairy and 1 fruit
Lunch - 3 starches, 3 vegetables and 1 fruit
Supper- 3 starches, 3 vegetables and 1 fruit

For 1 day a week
Breakfast - 2 starches and 1 fruit
Lunch - 3 starches, 3 vegetables and 1 fruit
Supper- 3 starches, 3 protein, 3 vegetables and 1 fruit

Repeat

Phase Three - Maintenance

For 1 day a week
Breakfast - 2 starches and 2 fruits
Lunch - 2 starches and 2 fruits
Supper- 2 starches and 2 fruits

For 4 days a week
Breakfast - 1 starch, 1 non-fat dairy and 1 fruit
Lunch - 3 starches, 3 vegetables and 1 fruit
Supper- 3 starches, 3 vegetables and 1 fruit

For 2 days a week
Breakfast - 2 starches and 1 fruit
Lunch - 3 starches, 3 vegetables and 1 fruit
Supper- 3 starches, 3 protein, 3 vegetables and 1 fruit

Repeat

I love rice so could do this diet. One thing I found annoying, though, was that they claim that people lose at least twenty pounds a month on this diet, but they don't give their starting weights. There's a big different between weighing 300 pounds and 150 pounds so your weight loss can't be the same.

Even if you don't buy into this diet, the book itself was good because it explained about nutrition. There is a chapter devoted to making time for yourself (yoga, meditation, tai chi, etc.). There's another chapter devoted to preventing disease. So I would recommend it just for the info they included.

Blog review: http://www.teenaintoronto.com/2007/04...

[Christi Winkelman · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the last 10 years experts and diets came out saying rice and bread were bad for you... which prompted me to remove it from my diet and steadily I gained weight. This last year I refused to engage in any more "diets". I decided to think about what I ate when I was naturally thinner and listen to my body more. Rice and bread have never tasted better!

Reading this book gave me more confidence that what I was doing was on the right track and why. Plus the weekly menus were reasonable. The recipes simple and diversified. My biggest problem is this book is now 10 years old and needs to be updated. Especially the "helpful" info in the appendix. Those who expressed how unreasonable the program might be probably have a harder time with the life style changes this book calls for. Especially in stage one and two. (There was a reason people without self control paid $3,000 a week to be supervised on this program!) With that in mind I do give myself more room to fail than necessary. So far the best results I have achieved is that I feel full even though I'm eating less and I have more energy.

The only thing that truly irked me was the jump to spiritual healing... in the final note. There must be a way to address stubbornness and debilitating attitudes without relying on mysticism. You can't talk about developing self discipline and awareness of their actions and then jump to allowing a higher power to heal you... before you can progress.

Basically this book is about good carbs and why they are important if you want to lose weight and keep it off. Even though this book is outdated and lacks the hyped up pitch most diets carry with it, it is one of the few that have been scientifically proven to achieve results. It's still worth reading today.

[Harry Lockhart · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoughtful, helpful and informative.

This book was clearly a work of inspiration with the intention of helping
people suffering from eating and health disorders. I lost 10 lbs in 5 days by strict adherence to the protocol. Yes, mostly water weight but, ten pounds ? No major hunger issues and cravings have not yet been overwhelming. The edema so obvious around my ankles is gone. Easy? Maybe not. Simple? Yes. There is no easy solution to this weight problem thing. Aggressively facing the demon is what we have and this book provides the armory to do so.

[Genia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is laid out well. The writing is done well. The plan is explained very well. I have not jumped in to try the diet itself but this diet seems as though it would work...low calories but enough fruit to keep you full. I'll let you know if/when I actually implement the diet how it goes!

[A · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would like to give this a try, but haven't yet.

[Lisa (Harmonybites) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This does have all the hallmarks of a fad diet. WebMD calls it "an extremely rigid approach to reverse disease and cause weight loss." The site warns ominously that the "diet is not recommended for anyone who has had a colon resection or impaired kidney function" and observes that even the "authors... note the diet is too low in calcium and vitamin D and suggest a once-daily multivitamin." The site also warns that given this is a very low calorie diet--it starts at about 800 calories a day--it'll lower your basal metabolism (making it even harder to lose weight) and you'll risk losing lean muscle mass. I noticed when I used this diet I was constantly cold and tired--probably due to that very effect.

So, why am I even keeping it on my shelves and rating it as high as three stars? Well, it does have some advantages, particularly psychological. For one, its very rigidity is a blessing beginning a diet--you don't have many choices to agonize over. That can be maddening at times, but at least the diet increases in variety over time. You start in Phase One able only to have rice, shredded wheat, and almost any fruit. All spices and salt and condiments are eliminated other than artificial sweeteners and fresh lemon juice. You graduate in Phase Two to being able to add tomato, onion and bell peppers, then in Phase Three you can add almost all vegetables, then Phase Four you add proteins: Poultry, Fish, Legumes.

What's good about this? Well, for one, your body gets used to very low fat food--you then try "normal" food, at least at first, it'll seem very greasy and unappealing to you. Second, and I think this might have been the most valuable part of the diet, this forces you to learn and love your fruits and veggies. When fruits are your only option, you get to know fruits and appreciate them--I even gave rhubarb a try. When you finally can have vegetables, it's like a taste of heaven. And again, you explore vegetables you might not have before, from Arugula to Zucchini. I even learned what is in season when. I think that if you do have a weight problem, and want to lose weight and keep it off, then certainly making friends with fruits and vegetables are a good thing.

Oh, and I did find this produced rapid weight loss--on average about 10 pounds a week, at least in the beginning when I was at a high weight. And if you're really obese, that can really help encourage you in the beginning when psychologically you need some quick payback for giving up your favorites foods that are your best friend and coping mechanism. But I never was able to stand this diet long enough to reach my goal weight, and only achieved that and stopped yo-yo-ing when I moved to healthier, more balanced and less extreme diets and exercised. But the experience in learning to love my fruits and veggies--and a quick start to a diet--did help.

[Erica · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm rating this just 3 stars for now...that rating may change depending on how effective this is. I know it will be, because this is something that I will be sticking to. I will be changing my habits and eating well for the long haul. Doing this for my family, my future children and most importantly, for me. This book has already helped me put myself in a state of mind that things need to change, my diet, eating habits, change in activity, a change in my life. The first step is to get into that frame of mind otherwise I would not succeed in my attempts to control my destiny. Can't wait until I start feeling better I'm definetely excited for this lifestyle change! Hopefully later I can add more notes to this review sometime in the near future to advise others whether or not they should pick up this book :-)

[Fredrick Danysh · Rating 3 out of 5]

The authors recommend a diet heavy in rice and other cereals. Regardless of weight and metabolism, they start off at 1000 calories or less per day. They do advise exercise in conjunction with the diet and include spiritual recommendations. They do not address consequences of rapid weight loss. A collection of recipes is included.

[Kat Jedlicka · Rating 2 out of 5]

save me from myself!!!

[Genpren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've lost 16 pounds and I'm enjoying my food better.

[Ricki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent...very good suggestions for someone like myself with medical issues that has some weight o take off!