The Science

The iDiet is based on a new scientific paradigm for losing weight hunger-free, and keeping it off. The main principle of the iDiet is deceptively simple — our food and our eating habits must be aligned with our hard-wired neurobiology or we’ll get into trouble.

Work with your instincts
Our basic instincts demand that we eat for survival. But in a modern food environment with over-supply of caloric options, our instincts can’t cope. The iDiet teaches you how to make delicious choices that keep you full on fewer calories, as well as quieting your survival instincts to prevent overeating and destructive cravings.

Foods that keep you full
Once we learn how to “control the controls,” we can choose foods that send the brain messages that say: “satisfied,” “full,” and block old cravings, then it becomes almost as easy to lose weight as it was easy to gain.

Science, not hype
The program’s creator, Susan Roberts, PhD, is a professor of both nutrition and psychiatry at Tufts University, and the author of over 200 research papers on weight loss. She knew that getting rid of the hardship in dieting was key to sustainable, easy weight loss. So she decided to teach people how to cope with their innate nutritional neurobiology — their food instincts — in order to overcome overweight and obesity — for life.

The success of the iDiet program has been shown not only in our program participants, but in peer-reviewed, published research, including:

• A recent study incorporating fMRI images of iDiet participants brains showing their responses to foods had been retrained to prefer healthier foods over sugary and fat-laden options (Nutrition & Diabetes (2014) 4, e129; doi:10.1038/nutd.2014.26)
• A recent study showing the iDiet program produces lower attrition, higher satisfaction and greater weight loss than other group weight loss programs, with clinically relevant beneficial effect on cardiometabolic risk factors (i.e.: lowered blood pressure and cholesterol levels) (Am J Clin Nutr April 2013 vol. 97 no. 4 663-664)

Watch Dr. Roberts describe the science behind the iDiet:

Major findings from Dr. Roberts’ lab includes:

• A study incorporating fMRI images of iDiet participants brains showing their responses to foods had been retrained to prefer healthier foods over sugary and fat-laden options (Nutrition & Diabetes (2014) 4, e129; doi:10.1038/nutd.2014.26)
• A study showing the iDiet program produces lower attrition, higher satisfaction and greater weight loss than other group weight loss programs, with clinically relevant beneficial effect on cardiometabolic risk factors (Am J Clin Nutr April 2013 vol. 97 no. 4 663-664)
• The first research providing solid evidence that dietary fiber is a major aid in weight control (Howarth et al. 2001; Gilhooly et al. 2008)
• The first research showing excess dietary variety linked to increased body fatness (McCrory et al 1999).
• The first compilation of research studies to demonstrate that exercise has only a small effect on weight loss, distinct from benefits for preventing weight regain (Elder et al. 2007).
• The first laboratory identifying core characteristics of craved foods and developing a plan for treatment based on associative conditioning (Gilhooly et al. 2007).
• The first research showing that restaurant calorie listings are inaccurate and that for foods lower in calories the listings understate food portions given to consumers (Urban et al 2009 and 2010).
• The first study identifying ‘disinhibition’ as a significant behavioral challenge in weight control (Hays et al 2002).

Read More:
The Science
Cognitive Restructuring
Magic in the Menus
Our Food Brain
The Five Food Instincts
The iDiet Food Plan