Zhaoping Li, MD, PhD

With these changes, the Mayo Clinic Diet is now more of an overall weight-management program, not just a way to lose weight. The plan now also offers medical supervision to those who choose to use it.

Although the Mayo Clinic Diet certainly provides an example for healthy eating, it is important for physicians to remember that it may not be the right diet for everyone. The program requires use of tracking software that may not be easily and willing adopted by everyone.

Each individual may have different metabolism, medical conditions and living environment that calls for a specialized diet.

Fatima Cody Stanford, MD, MPH, MPA, MBA, FAAP, FACP, FAHA, FAMWA, FTOS

One of the key issues I have with the Mayo Clinic Diet is the word “diet.”

“Diet” is a word that implies that the healthy changes that Mayo is seeking to promote will not be sustainable. While this may not have been intended, there are such negative connotations associated with diet that it can lead to an unfavorable view.

Additionally, the material also states that this diet is “for people who are ready to commit to making a real change in their lives.” This statement suggests that others are likely not ready for change and are prone to failure.

Despite the potential negatives, there are some positives associated with this diet. There appears to be flexibility in the plan, with limited focus on calorie counting. Also, there appears to be a component that focuses on psychological well-being.

Alicia Romano, MS, RD, LDN

The new Mayo Clinic Diet is promising sensible and sustainable weight loss. I would be interested to know how they are defining sustainable (eg, how long must individuals keeping the weight off to be sustainable?). My skepticism is driven by current research, which shows us time and time again that diets don’t work — especially when they have a weight-centric end goal in mind.

Although there are some positive pearls that may come from the Mayo Clinic Diet, I am seeing a great deal of diet culture streamed throughout the program itself. The problem with this is that most diets focus on external cues rather than internal (eg, meal plan, meal tracking) and focus on weight loss as the primary metric of success — this diet seems no different. The problem with that is that 90% to 95% of diets fail. In addition, although most individuals who follow a diet may lose tremendous weight in the first 6 to 12 months, they fail to keep weight off and may end up gaining more back. This can lead to weight cycling and metabolic and psychological health-related problems.

A “pro” of the new Mayo Clinic Diet is that it now has a Habit Optimizer, which seems to focus on health-related habits that are non-weight centric. Identifying well thought-out, simple goals (with action steps) is an important step in making lasting behavioral changes, regardless of a weight-related outcome. I would be interested to see how these habits are created and tracked over time. I also appreciate how there is a focus on diet quality, with individual notations for food groups (eg, fruits, vegetables and proteins). This is a great way to monitor meaningful health-related behaviors regarding nutritious food intake that may have far more reaching benefits than weight reduction itself.

A “con” of the new Mayo Clinic Diet is the abundant focus on weight as a focal point. We have to remember that weight is not a behavior and a promise of a certain amount of weight loss sounds not only gimmicky, but like something that may set a person up for failure. The diet mentions that the tools will “boost psychological well-being,” which I find hard to grasp from a diet standpoint, especially when we are asking people to track their food, follow a meal plan and have a weight-related goal (remember, we can’t always control weight!).

Although I do not have enough information available to fully evaluate the Mayo Clinic Diet, my overall impression is that this is another diet with a weight-related goal that may lead to short-term results of weight loss, but with a focus on external cues, diet plans and meal tracking.