Customer Reviews

The Calcium Key: The Revolutionary Diet Discovery That Will Help You Lose Weight Faster

5 star:		(17)
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3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(5)

 

 

There are 24 reviews of "The Calcium Key" diet as I write this review. Sadly not one of them tells you about the diet, because if it did I would not have purchased the book.
"The Calcium Key" is a well researched (though the studies were sponsored by the dairy industry), well written book on how calcium when added to your diet can help you lose weight.
The authors obviously spent a lot of time writing the text which is very easy to understand and clarifys the calcium-weight loss connection.
Putting aside any self serving interests that perhaps the author benefited from the support of the dairy industry and the results were skewed, I decided to trust in the authors expertise and focus on the plan.
Sadly the plan is a labor intensive one that very few people will be willing and able to follow long term. It involves as the author puts it, writing down every thing you eat and using an exchange system.
The author lists calorie levels and how many exchanges you can eat for your level (similar to the old Weight Watcher progam).
For example if you are on 1200 calories (and the author teaches you how to determine your caloric level) you get 3 breads, 2 meats, 3 veggies, 3 fruits, 3 dairy and 3 fats.
3 graham cracker squares would equal 1 bread group. 1 cup milk would be a dairy. Sounds simple enough...but then you get into mixed foods like a butterfinger candy bar and you have 1 bread group, 2 fruit (dont ask) and 2 fats.
In order to keep it all straight you must keep a diary and write it all down.
Now that said, I think the author is on to something when he suggests adding dairy to your diet. The combination of protein and fat is much more satiating than say a slice of cake or a cookie.
But very few people want to micromanage their diets the way this book proposes.
So though it introduces the calcium weight loss connection, the actual diet is not one that many will succeed with. Just try adding calcium rich foods to your diet 3 times per day and don't increase calories.

I wouldn't have been considered overweight at all except for a stomach so plump I wouldn't wear a bathing suit. I had tried every diet, every exercise--even running. Until The Calcium Key I was firmly convinced that stomach fat is impossible to lose. After just one month, I have lost 4 inches across my stomach. What is extra great about this diet is that it is rich in bone-building calcium that every women needs, especially those like myself who are in their mid-years. Hats off to Zemel and Gottlieb!

You have got to read this book! I have had a weight problem my entire life, tried the Low Fat, the Low Carb, the Atkins, the Grapefruit, every diet that came along. I am an older person, and until I found the Calcium Key, I had a fairly sedentary life style with the result that my bones were getting brittle. I was overweight, and whatever exercise I managed to get energy for was minimal and a huge ordeal. After a week or so of following the advice from the authors, my entire existence began to take on a different quality, my attitude changed from negative to positive, because I've lost 25 pounds in 3 months!! I have MUCH more energy, I'm even dating again!
Read it, follow the advice, and start a new life.
Yours truly

Sonja Cannon
Berkeley,
California

sonja64@earthlink.net

As always, there is the usual onslaught of diet books in January and my need to lose weight after overeating during the holidays. I am constantly struggling with my weight, and so I often feel skeptical and some despair when beginning a new diet and bombarded by all the new books around. After browsing through the book store for a diet book, I was drawn to The Calcium Key based on its scientific evidence. The Calcium Key is a great diet, and I think there is much merit to the calcium-weight loss connection. I adore diary foods -- for me they are the "comfort" foods. With Michael Zemel and Bill Gottlieb's book, my "comfort" foods are now structured, delicious, and actually help me to lose weight. My girlfriend is also thrilled that I have been cooking again (and impressed with how tasty and satisfying the meals are), and she is also losing some weight, too. Check out the menus! My favorite (and I have a lot of favorites on this meal plan) is Stuffed Chicken with Creamy Pesto Sauce. I can't begin to tell you how easy it is to stay on. Another reviewer mentioned negatively the pages of the food diary being unnecessary, but I love having the Food Diary in the book -- it has been enormously helpful, and I have actually printed additional pages and clipped them into my book. I love the whole integrated package. We just had the Baked French Toast with Maple Yogurt and Fruit for brunch, and now we are about to do our Moderate-Intensity Excercise -- what a way to start the day! I feel great and very, very hopeful! I highly recommend this book to everyone.

I've seen some of the other reviews that state this plan is labor intensive and I write back to you "life is work". Writing down your food is key. You will be amazed at what you "won't eat" if you have to write it down. As for the exchanges, it's like using the food pyramid, which is recommended already. This is not a fad diet plan. The book gives scientific studies, ranging from years of research. The book also states that you can eat what you want, "but portion is key". So, if you are willing to keep track of what you eat and exercise, you can be successful at losing the weight. Also, for those who can't imagine cuttng back 500 calories a day,it's like eating a candy bar and 1 cookie less than you already eat. Now you can replace that with several cups of veggies, just read this book. It's great.

For years, I wondered whether there weren't more successful ways of dieting than those that we hear about from the press, and from friends who are constantly dieting. I lost fourteen pounds on the calcium diet and maintenance of weight afterwards is easy. And this book is very interesting reading about things many of us have never considered.

I bought "The Calcium Key" about a month ago, and have had spectacular weight loss within an abbreviated period of time. I love the meal plans, and I am also thrilled with a diet that includes additional calcium in my daily food intake. What an interesting book, too. I have recommended it to all my friends, and feel that everyone will find this book extremely beneficial. It is tough wading through all the weight loss books on the market today, but I think that "The Calcium Key" should be way up there with the best of them!

First a little background on why I bought the book. I have lost 65lbs in the past year and have another 30 to 40 to lose. I have hit a plateau and was looking for a way to move off it. I bought this book with great anticipation as I was getting no calcium and thought this might be my missing link. What a disappointment. The author has 1 discovery to tell you about - increase your calcium to 3 servings per day. Thats it. Could have done it in 1 page. Instead you a forced to read chapter after chapter of his scientific research, which is clearly written for another research partner - not the average reader. After he shares his life saving secret with you, he then fills blank pages with meals plans. Also - if you read his diet to the letter, you will be eating a total of 4 ounces of protien per day. He states in the book that all ther fad diets (Atkins, etc) work because at the heart of them they are all calorie restricted diets with a twist. Hey Doc - so is yours. BTW, after 2 weeks of adding 3 servings of calcium to the same diet I lost my 65 pounds on - I gained weight.

It is nice to have a book with reasonable scientific theory and actual test results. My only real interest here is if dairy/calcium really are proven to be so beneficial and the biological mechanism explaining it. This goes for blood pressure as well as weight loss. I was satisfied on these accounts.

The rest was typical diet book follow-up on the theoretical, recipes and all. Whatever. I like almost all dairy products, so implementation is easy for me.

On a personal level, I was a skinny kid and drank milk like crazy. I also devoured cheese and ice cream. I grew into a lean athlete as a teen and more muscle in my twenties. Still loved my milk and cheese.

But about 34 I started gaining fat. I had money finally and was eating richer. I was no longer a kid either. Injuries cut way back on athletic pursuits. And I stopped drinking milk. Any relation? Hard to say given all the other factors.

I'm not convinced this is much of a weight loss trick, likely a minor factor to add to exercise and cutbacks in calories. But it likely is good for your overall health more than taking the same calories in bread/pasta or corn/soy oil.

I love dairy products -- milk, cheese, yogurt -- but rarely allowed myself to have them because I (incorrectly) thought that in order to "diet" I had to stay away from dairy. That's why I'm so happy to have found "The Calcium Key" because it shows me how to incorporate all of my favorite dairy products into a healthy diet that helps me lose weight. Not only that but I'm also getting lots of calcium -- something that was lacking in my diet before.