Review: Dr. Connelly’s Body Rx

With Body Rx, Dr. Scott Connelly enters the weight loss arena with what is probably the best diet program I have seen in some time. Of course, Dr. Connelly arrives with near-instant credibility. Not only is he a M.D., but he’s also the main man behind Met-Rx, a highly successful sport and weight loss supplement company recognized for their quality formulations.

With that said, let me get to fundamentals of the Body Rx diet plan…

1) No calorie counting. Sounds odd, doesn’t it? After all, calorie counting is something you expect to do on any diet. But calorie counting is one of the real drawbacks on any diet-it’s tedious, boring, and downright impractical.

According to Connelly, caloric intake actually has very little to do with weight loss or weight gain. The type of foods you eat, and the metabolic responses they stimulate within the body are the contributing factors (he calls this “nutrient partitioning”).

Connelly’s absolutely right, of course—eating well, eating plenty, and eating often is a surefire way to prime the metabolic furnace. Conversely, restricting calories only serves to slow the metabolic rate as well as threaten lean body mass.

Calorie counting becomes important when your diet is lacking in quality. When a large percentage of your daily calories come from “less than optimal” sources, extra calories WILL be deposited as fat. On Connelly’s Body Rx diet however, it almost impossible to over-consume calories (the bulk of your food intake will come from lean protein, and low G.I., high fiber carbs).

But if you stop in to Burger King to order a “double whopper with cheese” you may be interested to know you are about to consume 1100 + calories!

2) Implement a weight training program: In Body Rx Connelly advises: stay off the treadmill. Again, research bears him out-aerobic activity is a very inefficient method of burning extra calories. Additionally, aerobic activity often sacrifices as much lean tissue as fat, so your metabolic rate drops as you lose a combination of both fat and muscle. Weight training, of course, builds lean muscle, which increases both caloric requirements and the metabolism.

3) Increase protein consumption: In my article on this site, “Much Ado About Protein” I discuss how recent research correlates increased protein intake with weight loss and fat burning. Increased protein intake is a huge part of Body Rx. In fact, lean protein (chicken, turkey, lean beef, whey protein, etc.,etc.,) should comprise a major part of each meal.

And don’t worry; new evidence indicates that increasing protein consumption has no adverse effects on kidney function (International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders, 23(11):1170-7., 1999)

4)  Eat well, eat often: Small, balanced meals every 2-3 hours keep blood sugar levels balanced, cravings eliminated, and energy levels on an even keel. 6-7 small meals is a very important part of any successful weight loss plan, and the foundation of Body Rx.

5) Avoid fructose (specifically the high fructose corn syrup used in so many processed foods): According to Connelly, fructose is a metabolic poison, and a “negative partitioning agent”. Again, Connelly is correct—recent research indicates that fructose consumption is indeed a bad idea.

In fact, Arizona State University research headed by Dr. Mike Pagliassotti indicates it is fructose that is the main ingredient behind the problem of insulin resistance. Over-consumption of fructose often leads to obesity and Syndrome X. Symptoms of such include hypertension, diabetes, and heart disease. Fructose use is widespread in the food processing industry—you’ll find 8-10 teaspoons in a can of pop, and plenty even in processed white bread.

Only one problem… why doesn’t a guy who is so dead set against fructose find a suitable sweetening alternative for his own supplement line? Must of this supplements do contain plenty of fructose.

6) Increase fiber content: A dieting no-brainer, fiber increases satiety, lowers blood sugar levels, and may even contribute to colon health and lower cholesterol levels. I’ve written more about fiber here!

Bottom line on Body Rx?

What I like best about Body Rx is its downright simplicity. In my opinion most diets are inherently impractical and complicated, and a far bigger contributor to dieting failure then usually acknowledged. In Body Rx, foods are divided into 3 categories…

1) Red: Foods to be avoided (sweets, and fatty foods in general)

2) Yellow: Foods to be eaten ONLY in moderation (moderate to high rated GI (glycemic index) carbs for the most part).

3) Green: Foods you can eat to your heart’s content (low GI carbs and veggies, lean protein and so on).

So eating is simple on this diet; avoid “red” category foods, eat small, infrequent servings of the “yellow” foods, and “pig out” on the green foods.

Forget all about calories. Wonderful!

This diet is very easy to follow, and it will work. All in all, well worth trying. You can find Body Rx at Amazon.com!

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