How good and how safe is the Cambridge Diet?

One of the hottest diet trends right now – the Cambridge Diet (or Cambridge Weight Plan) – claims it can help dieters shed weight faster than most other plans. But is it safe, are there side-effects, and will the weight stay off long-term?

What is the Cambridge Diet? Promising fast and effective results, this rapid weight-loss plan advocates regular consumption of meal replacement shakes, soups, porridges and snack bars, designed to fulfil all of your daily nutritional requirements, while cutting out hundreds of calories.

The plan dates back to the 1960s and was devised by biochemist Dr Alan Howard at Cambridge University.

By following its strict rules, it claims it can help dieters lose up to a stone a month, without depriving them of important nutrients or protein to keep lean tissue.

How does it work?

There are six variations, ranging from 440 to 1,500 calories a day. Step one, or “Sole Source”, is the most austere, asking dieters to cut out all “normal” daily foods and solely eat from Cambridge Weight Plan’s own-brand, low-calorie range of products, along with 2½ litres of water.

Later stages – like step six, or “Maintenance” – are more flexible, allowing room for some healthy foods/meals, interspersed with a few meal-replacements. So, you start at step one, and then slowly introduce solid foods as you begin to shed weight.

The idea is that you eat so few calories your body is forced into a state of “ketosis”, where it starts to burn fat stores as a survival method.

The plan comes with guidance and supervision. As it’s extreme, this diet is not to be entered into without supervision, and some steps might even require written consent from your doctor.

You can only get your hands on the products – which typically cost about £2.40 per meal – by meeting with a Cambridge Weight Plan consultant.

What is a typical day’s food like? At stage one, a typical day on the diet could include a strawberry shake for breakfast, a banana shake for lunch, and chicken and mushroom flavoured soup for dinner. As the diet progresses, dieters can introduce coffee and tea, and low-calorie meal ideas like Vietnamese prawn curry.

Is it safe?

Under one-to-one supervision from one of their trained consultants, the Cambridge Diet claims to be safe and healthy to follow, but some experts and nutritionists say they do not recommend diets restricted to under 600 calories per day.

Max Bridger, a personal trainer from LDN Muscle, says: “It’s not something I would recommend to any of my clients. Sure, eating under 500 calories for 12 weeks will make you drop weight fast, but you’ll also lose a lot of muscle too – so don’t expect an athletic, toned physique at the end.”

He adds: “Don’t expect to keep the weight off when you return to normal eating. You may put the weight you lost back on.”

Before making any extreme changes to your diet, you should always speak to your GP to discuss any potential concerns or side effects.