Be aware: this is only the goal of this diet, not necessarily its outcome. Results vary from person to person. Consult your doctor or dietician before starting this (or any other) diet.
The Dr. Ian's Diet is an umbrella name for several books published by Dr. Ian Smith. This can be compared with the Sonja Bakker diet, about which many books have also been published as well.
In Dr. Ian Smith books different strategies are used to lose weight. These strategies include detoxing, intermittent fasting and the use of ‘clean’ (healthy) products.
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In 2001 Ian Smith published his first book: The Take-Control Diet. This book focuses on optimising your metabolism, effective ways of exercising and products that make you feel 'full'. The book provides a menu and an exercise programme for 30 days.
The second book Dr. Ian Smith wrote is 'The Fat Smash diet'. The diet was also used in the American TV programme 'Celebrity Fit Club'.
The diet consists of 4 phases. The first phase is called "Detox" and is a vegetarian and detox diet that lasts 9 days. In this phase you exercise about 30 minutes a day.
The second phase is called 'Foundation'. In this phase, you can eat meat and fish again. Furthermore, healthy grains and fats a little bit of alcohol is allowed here. This phase also includes more exercise.
In the third and fourth phase more products can be consumed. Here, the focus is more on portion size. The phases are called 'Construction' and 'Temple'.
This book is a sequel to the Fat Smash Diet and consists of 3 phases. Depending on your dietary goal you can follow one or more phases. Each phase lasts one week.
The first phase is the most limited in what you can eat. The second and third phase are more varied. When following this diet, you follow daily menus from the book and you exercise every day (about 45-60 minutes per day in the first phase). The goal is to lose about 2-7 kg.
Contrary to what the name suggests, this diet lasts 28 days. The 4 Day Diet consists of 7 phases of 4 days each.
You can decide which stages you want to follow and can decide to repeat certain phases. Below an overview of the 7 different phases:
The first phase (Introduction) is a detox, in which you only eat fruits, vegetables, legumes and beans. A separate book has been published about this first phase: The 4 Day Detox.
In the second phase (Transition), different products are reintroduced, just like in phase 3 (Protein stretch), in which protein-rich products are allowed again.
In 'Smooth', the fourth phase, unhealthy products are allowed. You can think of pizza or hot dogs.
The fifth phase (Push) is a harder phase, as it is very limited in the number of calories allowed. Additionally, you are supposed to do one hour of cardio a day. Phase 6 (Pace) tries to facilitate a balanced diet and enough exercise.
‘Vigorous’, the last phase, is a hard phase. You mainly eat vegetables and fruits and the phase includes a lot of cardio.
In 2011 a new book came out: Eat: the effortless weight solution. In this book Dr. Ian Smith gave 10 rules to eat well. Among other things, the rules stated that you should go for products with colour, should not avoid food groups, use whole grain products and pay attention to portion sizes.
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Between 2012 and 2015, several books came out for the 'SHRED programme':
The SHRED diet combines a low GI diet with meal replacements, a detox diet (like the Fat Smash diet) and ‘meal spacing’. Meal spacing means that you take enough time between two meals. The programme lasts about 4-6 weeks.
Depending on the type of Shred programme/phase, the idea is that you eat 4-5 meals (or meal replacements) a day. You should keep about 3-4 hours in between meals. In addition to the 4 meals, you are allowed 3 snacks per day.
With SHRED, Dr Ian also introduces the term 'diet confusion'. The idea of diet confusion is that you eat a varied diet to keep your metabolism high. In the menus there’s also a difference in how many calories you consume per day.
In 2017 Dr Ian published 'Blast the sugar out', a 5-week diet that focuses on reducing sugar in your diet and controlling carbohydrate intake.
In the book 'The clean 20', Dr. Ian came up with a list of 20 healthy ('clean') products that are best to eat.
The clean 20 gives a number of tips, including the tips to use whole grain products, colourful foods and dairy products.
This website names the 20 products that are seen as 'clean foods' by Dr Ian. For some products, alternatives are offered. The list is therefore actually much longer than 20 products.
In addition to the 20 clean products, it is also recommended to exercise at least 20 minutes a day. Examples of ‘enough’ exercise given are: taking 15 thousand steps or doing 150 jumping jacks.
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An example of a daily menu with these products is given on goodmorningamerica.com. In this daily menu, you start the day with a scrambled egg with vegetables or an omelette with vegetables.
For lunch, you eat a grilled (wholemeal) sandwich with lettuce, tomato and a 'clean' mayonnaise or kale (or spinach) with tomatoes, quinoa, cucumber and beans.
For dinner, you eat whole-wheat spaghetti with courgette or pumpkin (possibly with chicken or fish) or fish with sprouts and steamed carrots.
There’s also the option of eating a snack of 150 kcal or less. Examples given are: cucumber with hummus, pieces of tomato with olive oil.
After the Clean 20 diet 'Clean and lean: 30 days, 30 foods, a new you' was published. This diet combines intermittent fasting and the concept of Clean 20.
The goal of this diet is to lose 6.8 kilos (15 pounds) in 30 days.
During the fast you are allowed to drink water, tea and coffee. You can decide for yourself how long you want to fast (for example: 8 hours, 10 hours or 12 hours).
In 2021, the book "Fast burn: the power of negative energy balance" was published. This book contains prescribed daily menus (with various options, also for vegetarians) for a total programme of 9 weeks. It has the aim to lose about 6-7 kilos. Intermittent fasting is also used in this diet.
Consult your doctor or dietician before starting this (or any) diet.
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As you see fit
With the professional help of a dietitian it should be easier to reach your goals. Please contact a dietician in your area or talk to a doctor before starting any diet.
Please take note that most diets do not have a scientific basis.
Consult your doctor or dietician before starting a diet, especially if you have a chronic condition like diabetes, cardiovascular disease, lung disease or kidney disease.
If you think you might have an eating disorder (like anorexia or bulimia), it is important to look for professional help. Contact your (house) doctor or find help elsewhere. Here you can find a list of several websites that can provide (online) help. These sites also provide information for people that know someone with an eating disorder.