ARTICLE - TONY FERGUSON WEIGHT LOSS PROGRAM REVIEW...A FAD DIET?

SUMMARY

THE ARTICLE

Television has been bombarded with all the latest gimmicks to aid weight loss - from abdominal machines to protein shake diets.  In recent history these products may last on the market for a year or two and then suddenly disappear, only to be replaced by the latest fad.  One product that I have seen consistently advertised on television recently is the Tony Ferguson Weight Loss Program (often referred to herein as the Tony Ferguson Diet).

I have published numerous articles on fad diets on the Amino Z website.  Just the other day I was mailed the latest copy of "The Australian Personal Trainer", a magazine for fitness professionals within Australia.  Aloysa Hourigan (Senior Nutritionist for Nutrition Australia) published an excellent article entitled "Personal Training for Weight Loss - What nutrition advice do you give?".  In here, Aloysa discusses the numerous problems with fad diets (many of which are discussed in my articles, Fad Diet, Fad Result and Yo-Yo Dieting - No-No Dieting).  Aloysa furthermore states that fad diets "are generally a mix of fact and fiction and include a complicated list of rules and regulations."  Aloysa Hourigan continues to provide the following typical traits for a fad diet:

1. Promote or ban certain foods or food groups and are generally nutritionally inadequate in the long term
2. Place food in special combinations for effortless weight loss
3. Recommend supplements or health products for all [in other words, a one-size-fits-all approach]
4. Recommend strategies not supported by the public health guidelines and usually promise rapid, dramatic or miraculous results which sound too good to be true
5. Enable weight loss initially, mainly due to decreased variety, palatability and frequency of eating out
6. Rely on case histories, testimonials or subjective evidence that produce short term results, than being of solid scientific support of claims or proven published research studies

I could not agree more with what Alyosa Hourigan suggests above.  Unfortunately I need more fingers and toes to count the amount of popular "fad diets" currently available on the Australian market that meet one, a few or all of the above guidelines.  Referring to The Tony Ferguson Weight Loss Program specifically, from my interpretation of the program (based on their forum, website and advertising) it seems to:

1. Promote high protein foods and discourage consumption of carbohydrate rich foods¹
2. Suggest that weight loss is effortless²
3. Recommend Tony Ferguson's Meal Replacement Formula and suggest a relatively generic dietary plan³
4. For example, the Tony Ferguson Diet does not recommend to "Eat plenty of cereals"³  as suggested by the Dietary Guidelines for Australian Adults, endorsed 2003 and published by the National Health & Research Council⁴
5. I believe that this diet is extremely restrictive due to the generic plan on their website, suggesting to consume: Tony Ferguson's Meal Replacement Formula, three cups (minimum) of vegetables with a protein portion or shake, two pieces of low GI fruit, alongside Simply Fibre, Simply Balanced and Simply Chromium.³  "Extra's" are permitted, but again I believe that this list is very restrictive in nature.
6. The Tony Ferguson Diet promotes many testimonials of significant short-term weight loss results (ie. less than a year)⁵. Meanwhile, I am yet to find one single objective scientific study on the effectiveness of the diet relative to other strategies.

The Tony Ferguson Weight Loss Program is one product that I cannot envisage lasting on the Australian market for many years to come.  This diet is what I consider to be a fad diet - something that may result in substantial short-term weight loss...but one or two years down the track it may very well be a completely different story!

Before I continue, I will admit that some people have lost considerable amounts of weight on the Tony Ferguson Diet and my congratulations goes out to them.  A few of these people have posted messages on Amino Z sharing their successes and I wish them all the best.  However, as with most "diets", I do not believe that this is a typical result.

Ultimately, when seeking to lose weight, you need to consider your ultimate goal.  Is it to lose as much weight as quickly as possible?  Many fad diets will achieve this remarkably!  However, according to a BBC report entitled "Many Dieters finish up heavier", a review of 31 scientific studies conducted by the University of California concluded that up to two thirds of people who undertake diets actually gain more weight than what they have lost¹⁵!  This is achieved through weight cycling (or yo-yo dieting) which can significantly increase the risk of heart disease and stroke according to the American Psychologist Journal¹⁵.  Have you ever been guilty of weight cycling this yourself?  Alternatively, is your goal to lose weight in a safe and healthy manner whilst sustaining these results for life?

A protein shake based diet is, in my opinion, a very poor choice for long-term weight loss.  Think about it - how sustainable is a diet like The Tony Ferguson Weight Loss Program, one, two or ten years down the track?  Would you be able to adhere to such a strict diet and ultimately sacrifice a whole array of great, tasty, carbohydrate rich foods in the long run?  If so, then this may be the diet for you.  For many, I believe that the Tony Ferguson Diet is not a good long-term weight loss solution.

The Tony Ferguson Weight Loss Program does advocate a state of ketosis in order to encourage fat loss⁶.  According to the European NHS Direct, "Prolonged severe ketosis can be dangerous as it can change the acidity of your blood, which may eventually lead to serious damage to your liver and kidneys."  Furthermore NHS Direct states "Because long periods of ketosis can be dangerous to your kidneys and liver, ketogenic diets are never recommended by health professionals for more than short-term use, typically no longer than 14 days."⁷ .

The Tony Ferguson Diet, a low carbohydrate diet¹, also advocates that it is "nutritionally sound"⁸. Meanwhile, the nutritional advice according to the Official Dietary Guidelines for Australian Adults, endorsed 2003 and published by the National Health & Research Council has an entire section entitled "Eat plenty of cereals (including breads, rice, pasta and noodles), preferably wholegrain"⁴.  Carbohydrates are an essential nutrient for the normal functioning of the human body.

The Official Dietary Guidelines for Australian Adults, endorsed 2003 and published by the National Health & Research Council advises to "consume only moderate mounts of sugars and foods containing added sugars".  According to food.com.au, each sachet of the chocolate Tony Ferguson shake contains 25.5g of sugar (91% of the total carbohydrate content!)¹².  However what concerns me the most is the information provided by a person belonging to the "forum moderators" group on the Tony Ferguson Forum in the "Questions for Tony Ferguson Staff" section.  When being queried on "about the level of carbs and sugar in this diet", Lizzyq wrote the following information:

"We also use Fructose and Glucose in our program, these are a natural low GI sweetener. We do not use Sugar in our shakes."¹³

There are two aspects to this response that concern me deeply.  Firstly, glucose has a high GI - not a low GI as stated above¹⁴.  However more concerning is the inaccuracy of the statement "we do not use sugar in our shakes".  It is scientific fact that both fructose and glucose are forms of sugar!

Furthermore, it is stated that The Tony Ferguson Diet "can cause a dull headache and an unusual taste in the mouth resembling acetone"⁹.  If you are considering the Tony Ferguson Weight Loss Program, ask yourself - would you really choose to suffer these unpleasant symptoms?

When it comes to sustainability of the Tony Ferguson Diet, the numbers don't look too promising.  According to their forum, as of the time of writing of this article, there have been over 8,500 posts in the "Fallen off the Wagon?" Forum¹⁰.  In this forum there is also a report of one person not even being able to last one whole day on the Tony Ferguson Diet!¹¹  Sustainability is a crucial factor to weight loss.

With all this said and done, I do believe that there are very specific and extreme case studies where the Tony Ferguson Diet could be an appropriate option - so I am not out to dismiss this program altogether.  For example, a person may be morbidly obese and be recommended by the doctor to follow such a restrictive program.

Whilst television advertisements can make weight loss seem easy (and even trivial), the fact of the matter is that, often, weight loss can be a long and hard road.  Is this the case in your situation?  The seemingly easy way out can often lead to further discouragement, lost money and wasted time.  I have written a number of articles that pertain to this subject to hopefully raise awareness that "diets" don't necessarily work for everyone:

Fad Diet, Fad Result
Yo-Yo Dieting - No-No Dieting
Do you believe that the Tony Ferguson diet is healthy and maintainable? 

Losing weight through a healthy, sustainable manner often requires a shift in lifestyle habits.  Rather than restricting your nutritional intake, it may be much more effective to consume the foods that you love (whilst watching portion sizes), performing a little exercise that you enjoy and incorporating more physical activity into your day.  Education is essential for long-term success, so I strongly recommend that you read our completely FREE course, Introduction to Physical Freedom

Alternatively, if you are seeking professional health related services to get your body and health back on track, we offer highly cost effective and intensive online and face-to-face personal training services, click here!.

¹ http://www.tonyferguson.com/ "The Low Carbohydrate, Low GI Weight Management Program That Works!"
² http://www.tonyferguson.com/ "Easy to follow"
³ http://www.tonyferguson.com/Page.aspx?P=Plan
⁴ http://www.nhmrc.gov.au/publications/synopses/_files/n33.pdf
⁵http://www.tonyferguson.com/Testimonials.aspx
⁶ Tony Ferguson FAQ http://www.tonyferguson.com/Faq.aspx "Our Program works by calorie and carbohydrate reduction which forces the body into the natural process of Ketosis a lot faster than normal"
⁷ http://www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk/articles/article.aspx?articleId=221
8 Tony Ferguson FAQ http://www.tonyferguson.com/Faq.aspx "Our diet is different to most other diets because it works quickly, is nutritionally sound"
9 Tony Ferguson FAQ http://www.tonyferguson.com/Faq.aspx "Our diet is different to most other diets because it works quickly, is nutritionally sound"
¹⁰ http://forum.tonyferguson.com/
¹¹ http://forum.tonyferguson.com/Topic294545-16-1.aspx
¹² http://www.food.com.au/food.php?category_id=49290&brand_id=1594&food_id=206419&partner=
¹³http://forum.tonyferguson.com/Topic166039-8-1.aspx
¹⁴http://ziag4.mmb.usyd.edu.au/FMPro?-DB=GIDB2.fp5&-lay=TableView&-Format=detailsV4.htm&FoodID=F0964&-Find
¹⁵http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6540493.stm

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