Having listened to the constituents of the various diets, I have to say that I was really surprised by the results. And it certainly confirmed my suspicions that following faddy diets - such as the LA diet followed by many 'A List' celebrities and actors - is not only the worst form of dieting, but can be positively bad for you. It confirmed that my own plan was a good one.

In essence, the two diets that came top for weight loss were 1) the LA diet and 2) the Mediterranean diet BUT the state of your body after following the Mediterranean diet for six weeks was extremely positive healthwise - the opposite was true for the LA diet. Not only did the celebrity on the Mediterranean diet loose a significant amount of weight, but the diet also corrected and improved his cholesterol and boosted his Vitamin D (read on to see why this is so important health-wise).

So in conclusion yo would be better off following the Mediterranean diet and continuing a steadier weight loss than going for the quick weight loss of the LA diet (judging by Carol and her husband's suffering whilst on the LA diet, I guess it's be better for your relationships too!).

I can hear all of you who love Italian food cheering like mad! In fact, I do love italian food and I was so inspired by this conclusion, that I'm going to make a concerted effort to research the Mediterranean Diet more and hopefully will post some recipes here on our website in the future in a 'Mediterranean Diet' section. My hubby and I already eat this way quite alot, so I'm going to 'up the ante'. The only problem is, I think I may have to drop the wine!

Delia Swift

22nd March 2010.

If you want to read more ... here is some background taken from an internet blog plus the transcript from ITV's website (we're transcribing it here in case they take it down in the future, but we take no credit for it - thanks ITV for a really informative programme).

The average British diet is making us fat and unhealthy, with nearly one in four of us in the UK diagnosed clinically obese. In contrast, people in some other countries stay slimmer and live longer, healthier lives. So what's their secret?

In the new two-part factual series World's Best Diet, presenter Jonathan Maitland and four celebrities — Linda Robson, Cheryl Baker, Darren Gough and Carole Malone – set out on a journey to discover why these other cultures are bucking the obesity trend and how they compare to the UK.

From raw fish in Japan to the low-carb diet in California; from vegetarian curry in India to the Mediterranean diet in Italy – each of the celebrities travel to a different nation, immersing themselves in the local cultural attitude towards healthy living and learning to cook their food. They are then challenged to maintain their regime when they return to the UK for a further five weeks.

At the same time, presenter Jonathan examines what has happened to our eating habits in the UK by reverting back to the typical post-war diet that his parents would have followed.

Which one of our contestants will lose the most weight and emerge the healthiest? And which one of the diets could turn out to be a new way of life?

In part one of the series, we meet our participants who are all desperate to shed the pounds.

Former cricketer and champion dancer Darren Gough may not look overweight at first glance, but his measurements put him in the obese category.

“I've suddenly retired and I need to nip it in the bud now before it gets out of hand,” he says. “I like my drink…I like my food…It's the snacking for me and when I have a lump of cheese it's a proper lump not just a thin slice.”

Buck's Fizz singer Cheryl Baker has always felt fat. “I've always been the big girl in Bucks Fizz. There was this advert years ago “can you pinch an inch?” I can pinch loads. I can pinch yards and I hate it.” Dietician Dr Catherine Collins reveals that Cheryl would be in the healthier range if she lost 10 centimetres off her waist.

Celebrity columnist Carole Malone says she's been on “every diet known to man” but still measures in a borderline obese. “I can't be hurtling towards retirement eating donuts or I won't make it.”

Birds of A Feather star Linda Robson, who is classified as obese at 13 stone 11 pounds, explains her attitude towards food. “I wake up in the morning and I'm worried about what I'm having for a lunch and then as I am having lunch I'm worried about dinner that night.”

“I feel heavy…I feel sluggish. I just want to feel a bit lighter and feel a bit healthier.

And finally presenter Jonathan Maitland, who admits to a big dessert and cake problem, is weighed and measured. Catherine gives him the bad news. “This shows that you have 50 per cent more body fat than you should have and it's concentrated around your middle. You're about 16 stone 2 and you're technically obese and because you're obese you're at risk of heart disease and stroke and some cancers and definitely increased risk of diabetes.”

Gathered at a last supper of their favourite foods, each celebrity is handed an envelope revealing their mystery destination.

Linda likes her traditional British roast dinner so how will she cope with eating raw fish in Japan? Carole will be flying to LA to put the rigorous low carb diet to the test. Cheryl Baker, an enthusiastic carnivore, will follow a vegetarian diet from Kerala, in southern India. Darren, who hates pasta and coffee, picks Abruzzo, Italy, the birthplace of the Mediterranean diet. And Jonathan will hark back to more traditional fare from post-war Britain, cutting out the snacks and processed foods and slashing his portion sizes.

In this first episode, we follow Darren and Cheryl as they travel to Italy and India respectively.

Authentic Italian cuisine is very different from the frozen pizzas and bottled pasta sauces eaten in the UK. Italians eat 50 per cent more fresh fruit and vegetables than we do.

“Not only that but you're using healthy oils like the monounsaturated olive oil or rape seed oil, you've got herbs and spices. But particularly, you are including oily fish. And that's particularly important because the oils in oily fish are good to help stabilise heart rhythm, help protect you against heart disease,” says dietician Dr Catherine Collins.

Darren has never been to Italy before and as someone who never cooks, knows very little about ingredients. But he's going to get some expert instruction from Aldo Zilli, one of Britain's best-known Italian chefs who also runs a cookery school in Abruzzo. Darren gets a lesson in pasta-making and later must do the shopping on his own at a local market.

“Everything is healthy, you only have to look at their shopping list, what their weekly shop is, consists of lean meat, and fish, lots of vegetables. I've never seen so many vegetables on a weekly shop,” he marvels.

Darren is convinced that he will easily be able to stick to the Mediterranean diet for next five weeks when he returns to the UK.

But will Cheryl be as confident? The singer arrives in Kerala to sweltering temperatures and the supreme challenge of identifying and cooking with a completely new array of vegetables and spices.

In the UK, Cheryl's default setting curry-wise, is chicken Tikka Masala but here food is done very differently. Eating involves a variety of tastes, small portions, a balance of carbohydrates, proteins, starches and vegetables.

Nutritionist Amanda Ursell says: “They only have 2 per cent obesity rates in Kerala which is extraordinarily low. This way of eating, because it's low in fat and low in calories, is probably why they are so much healthier than we are in Britain. In Kerala, some of the spices like tumeric for example have been linked with their compounds actually helping to reduce the risk of cancer.”

The food is all cooked in coconut oil, which is cholesterol-free and boosts metabolism. The dishes are served on plantain leaves and as Cheryl soon finds out at a meal with Indian nutritionist Dr Smitha, eaten with the hands.

“I'm not getting the hang of it at all,” she laughs, trying to scoop up rice and curry with her fingers. “Oh, give me a fork; I'm struggling without a fork.”

On the table is a glass of hot vegetable soup – made from lentil and plenty of garlic. Dr Smitha says that it improves digestion and appetite and has the added bonus of relieving flatulence.

“You have obviously heard of my condition,” says a blushing Cheryl.

The singer explains her “condition” in a video diary entry back at the hotel. “When I arrived, I unpacked my case. This was hidden in my case,” she says holding up a picture of her family. “If you look at the message it says, ‘leave the gas in India.' So from that you can gather that I have a bit of a problem and I do. And eating curry for a week probably isn't going to help. But I'll give it my best shot and see what the outcome is.”

Meanwhile back in the UK, presenter Jonathan Maitland is getting his head around how he can possibly lose weight by eating fish and chips or toad in the hole.

Top chef Ed Baines, who will be shepherding Jonny through his six-week test, explains: “The key to this diet is you must not snack because your body after about two weeks is going to get used to having three meals a day.”

Post-war, Britons limited their eating to three meals a day. Very little was processed, even less contained salt or sugar. Now it's estimated that in the UK we eat more than half of all the crisps, crackers and nuts consumed throughout Europe each year.

Over the week, Ed gives Jonny a lesson on how to make a Lancashire hotpot using lamb and lamb kidneys and cuts Jonny's “gluttonous” portions down to size.

Jonny also joins the butchers of Hampshire on the hunt for his rabbit dinner – a healthy white meat that has few calories than chicken…and is lower in fat and cholesterol.

“I can't believe it. This morning, what I'm eating was running around with a fur coat and gloves on. Cor, it don't get more British than this, does it? There's a whole new world of cuisine that I'm discovering and the irony is, it's under my nose.”

All three of our dieters are really enjoying their “exotic” food experiences.

And Cheryl has fallen in love with the vibrant colours and relaxed lifestyle of Kerala.

She says: “This has been quite an eye-opener India and I love their way of life, their frame of mind I think we rush about too much in the UK and here they eat slower, have time for each other, — and we should take a leaf out of their book and just sit back and enjoy our life a bit more rather than rushing and tearing around all the time.”

But perseverance is key in a six-week challenge. Can they incorporate these new diets and cultural attitudes into their everyday lives for five weeks when they return in the UK? The programme follows Cheryl, Darren and Jonathan as they try to replicate their new cooking skills for friends and family, avoid the temptation of alcohol and junk food at the various work functions, personal appearances and parties that are part of their celebrity lifestyle.

How much weight will they lose and will their new diets have any impact on their overall health ?

Source: http://primetime.unrealitytv.co.uk/worlds-best-diet-itv/

Unfortunately, we could not find the programme on the Internet ITV Player to watch online, but if you have BT Vision, it is available on that ITV Player until early 2011. Please note that the text below is an exact copy of the text taken from the ITV Website:

The goal of the diets was to see which one generated the greatest benefit to health based on common markers of good health, such as cholesterol levels, liver function tests, and body mass index (a weight:height ratio which can be useful to determine if you're carrying extra fat weight).

Blood cholesterol, along with blood sugar and blood pressure, all affect artery health. Damaged arteries can cause heart attacks or stroke. We measured three types of cholesterol in this trial:

Total cholesterol – a global value. Ideal levels less than 5 mmol/l

LDL cholesterol – ‘bad' cholesterol made from saturated fat in our diet. A large fat ball that takes long to clear from the bloodstream and can deposit cholesterol into arteries, causing them to furr up. A value of less than 3 mmol/l is considered ideal

HDL cholesterol – ‘good' cholesterol, made by our bodies from bad cholesterol can ‘hoover up' cholesterol deposits, preventing cholesterol damage to the blood vessel walls. A level of HDL cholesterol greater than 1.5mmol/l is considered protective against heart disease and stroke.

Two other tests were measured as well. One was the anti-oxidant capacity of the blood, given our general interest in how anti-oxidant status may protect us from cell damage and perhaps the age-related illnesses such as heart disease, stroke, cancer, Alzheimers disease and AMD (age-related macular degeneration) blindness. What became obvious throughout the diet trials was that it did not matter what the celebrities ate, their anti-oxidant status remained constant. This remained true even for those, such as Darren, who increased his normal 5-a-day fruit and veg intake by even more. This clearly demonstrates that the body can absorb anti-oxidant substances from our diet, but there comes a ‘ceiling' at which we have ample and need no more. This is reassuring for most of us that try to eat a varied diet that we are on the right track regarding our anti-oxidant status.

The second, slightly unusual blood test we measured was vitamin D. Vitamin D is an important hormone-type vitamin that not only helps us use dietary calcium for healthy bones, but is an incredibly important vitamin that boosts our immune system and may help protect us against certain cancers and illnesses such as insulin-dependent diabetes, multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis, as well as general aches and pains such as fibromyalgia. 95% of our vitamin D is made from the effect of peak hours (mid-day) sunlight on bare skin, without sunblock. You need only 5-10 minutes of bare arms to generate a substantial amount of vitamin D. Yet our ‘safe sun' messages means we are avoiding the sun, so we're not making much vitamin D to store for the winter months.

Vitamin D is only found in animal and fish products, or in fortified foods. It is currently impossible to get the minimum 10 micrograms of vitamin D needed daily if you stay out of the sun or wear higher than factor 8 sunblock from diet alone. Many authorities are now suggesting that if you avoid the sun your dietary intake should be at least 25 micrograms a day. Rich sources are fish liver oils, and animal liver. Egg yolks, fortified margarine, children's fromage frais and own-brand breakfast cereals and vitamin supplements are additional sources of vitamin D.

Darker skinned people, whether naturally or tanned, will make less vitamin D due to reduced penetration of the suns rays through the skins layers. You can not make vitamin D through clothing, either.

Overweight and obese people have lower blood levels of vitamin D, not because they tend to cover up more when outside, but that their vitamin D gets locked away in the body fat stores and so doesn't circulate as it should in the bloodstream.

Overall, the Mediterranean-STYLE of eating came out best – not only for correcting cholesterol, boosting vitamin D and improving cholesterol profile, but also for helping Darren lose a phenomenal amount of weight, keeping fit in the process.

If Linda and Cheryl had managed to stick to their respective diets they, too, would probably have seen similar benefits.

Source: http://www.itv.com/news/tonight/episodes/worldsbestdietparttwotonight30june/default.html

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