Since this started in the UK, I am hoping someone has heard of it or even tried it. Are there any Zoe Harcombe fans out there? Or even detractors?

Yes, I have tried it and it was very hard for me as I was already a vegetarian ( I am a vegan now ) and only did it as my blood sugar levels were escalating and I was very nervous, having lost my mother from diabetes several months before.

For a vegan or vegetarian it is impossible. You eat only meat and fish for the first 5 days, think Atkins. My sugar went up daily while on it, so binned the book.

All I can say is if you are a meat lover, and can deal with no carbs for a week, then very limited carbs afterwards, give it a go. If you already know you hate low carb diets or do not want to eat meat, look elsewhere.

Best wishes to you.

Vegan Victoria,

Thank you for responding. I know really low carb isn't for me. I can handle it for 5 days, (I think), but that's about it. If it's like Atkins induction, I might have to think twice. The first time I tried Atkins I didn't have a problem, but after getting away from it and gaining, I tried to go back to it, and I felt absolutely horrendous for three days and decided to try something else.

I've since read about the "Atkins Flu" on this site and ways to make it more tolerable, but have not wanted to go there again, if something else will work for me.

I was led to believe that the Harcombe Diet addressed various health issues, but if your blood sugar climbed while you were on it, I wonder if that is really true.

hiya, i read the book and it did make sense,
You arent carb free for 5 days, you are allowed 50g of either oats, or brown rice. The first 5 days are about getting the possible health conditions under control. Then you reintroduce health, non processed foods with the occassional wholewheat pasta of bread, the secret lies in not mixing carbs with fats at any meal. The science does make sense and in 6 days i lost 5 1/2 lbs. Pleased with that but because i still have cravings i am going to stick to phase one for another 5 days (1 week after original 5 days). I will keep you updated, dont write it off!

Hello!

I tried the Harcombe diet about 2 months ago (unfortunately I didn't manage to stick to it over Christmas and re-gained some of the weight I lost, although not all).

The first 5 days (stage 1) weren't as hard as I thought they'd be for me. Like janeybabs says, you can have 50g rice or oats each day, although I found I only ate this on one of the days. I was eating a lot of eggs, mainly omelettes and things like bacon, gammon, steak, loads of veggies and salads for lunch. You're not allowed alcohol or caffiene though, which I found quite hard to give up (the caffeine, not the alcohol!).

After 5 days I'd lost 10 lbs, which was amazing and you could really see a difference, although a lot of this was water weight, which you can only lose once. Once the 5 days are up, you move onto stage 2 and you can start reintroducing more carbs into your diet but you still have to avoid eating carbs and fats (proteins) at the same meal. Also, after the initial 5 days (which is really a detox) the weight loss slows significantly. I think in 2 weeks on stage 2 I'd managed to lose 4lbs, which is a much healthier rate of weight loss.

I have to admit that although I only managed to stick it out for about 3 weeks, I did feel so much healthier on it and I was full of energy for most of the day every day. I think it can work well if you manage to stick to it and I found the recipe book to be invaluable.

The book says it's not a diet but, well, it is. A tricky one to stick to without willpower but if you've got it in you I'd say that it'd work.