Best Diets That Work for Us

The January 10 Us Weekly is their annual “Diets That Work” issue. The cover story is an 8-page photo spread of semi-naked Hollywood actresses that promises to reveal the “Secrets of Sexy Star Bodies.”

As we did for the special issue of People, we’ve summarized these “secrets” in a table, below, in the order in which they appear in Us Weekly starting on page 49 of the magazine.

First of all, there are only two celebrities featured this year that were also featured last year, Jennifer Aniston and Carrie Underwood. However this year Us Weekly gives us less information about Ms. Aniston’s diet and it’s not even consistent with what they reported last year. The information on Carrie Underwood is pretty much the same from 2010-2011.

One of things that really stands out about the stars’ fitness regimens is that they spend many hours per week (in some cases several hours per day) on training and often with the help of a personal trainer.

There were a number of unusual dietary practices that also stand out. For example, since Olivia Wilde is a vegan who avoids carboydrates, dairy and meat, what exactly is left that she can eat? Pure vegetable oil? The article doesn’t say.

Jenny McCarthy reported eats “Montel Williams’ vegetable soup.” What the heck is that? We looked into this and it turns out the Mr. Williams is a spokesperson for the “Health Master Blender” As Seen on TV. (It’s not known whether anyone’s tried Montel’s medical marijuana in the soup.)

Kendra Wilkinson-Baskett reportedly uses a non-prescription, “fat-burning” dietary supplement. It’s main ingredient is CLA or conjugated linoleic acid, a substance that has been shown to reduce body fat in laboratory animals. There are currently 18 clinical research trials in humans studying possible effects of CLA in health and disease.

Will any of these diets and exercise plans work for you? Maybe, if you’re born with a certain body type, your livelihood depends on your appearance, you’re younger than about 40, you are wealthy enough to afford personal trainers and/or chefs, and you have enough spare time to work out for 60 to 90 minutes per day, 5 to 7 days per week.

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