Cardio Free Diet Review

Diet Review

By Myatt Murphy

Stripped down to its core, the Cardio-Free Diet from trainer to the stars Jim Karas is basically a plan that recommends eating reduced calories and exercising three times a week. That in itself isn’t so bad, it’s when you drill down to the specifics that there are flaws.

On the nutrition side, the diet is basic and somewhat sound, though it’s often contradictory. For example, Karas declares that there are no forbidden foods on his plan, which would lead you to believe you can eat anything but perhaps in moderation. However, in the same chapter a few pages later, dieters are told to minimize or avoid processed carbohydrates, liquid carbohydrates (soda, juice) and salad dressings.

It’s the exercise portion of the book, however, where the most flaws can be found. On the very first page, the author admits that thousands of doctors, exercise physiologists and fitness experts praise the benefits of cardiovascular exercise. Yet according to Karas, all those decades of research is wrong. In fact, despite countless studies performed at hospitals and universities worldwide that show that regular cardiovascular exercise increases your endurance and aerobic capacity, strengthens your heart, reduces your risk of heart disease, diabetes and hypertension -- and burns fat and calories to boot -- the diet preaches that cardio not only doesn’t work, it also “kills your immune system” your internal organs and your entire weight-loss plan.

It seems that in order to differentiate itself from the rest of the diet plans that look strikingly similar, the book relies on theories that simply don’t ring true with any fitness organization or medical expert. They are also theories that the book simply can’t back up. Instead of citing actual studies -- or performing any studies on his own to prove his “cardio kills” theory before making such claims -- Karas refers instead to his own personal to back up his opinions instead.

Is the Cardio-Free diet healthy?

Yes and no. The basic recommendations are healthy in that they encourage dieters to adopt healthier eating habits and exercise three times a week. That said, its diet advice is fairly standard and not unique and could be obtained by other means.

Where it becomes unhealthy according to experts is its anti-cardiovascular approach to exercise. The diet contradicts years of research on the subject and insists that doing any type of cardio is unhealthy for you. Experts agree that any diet that advocates this obscure opinion -- especially one that’s so contrary to countless proven research -- should be questioned.

What do the experts say?

On the nutritional side, it’s not very different from other low-calorie diet plans, but experts still have a few reservations. “The calorie level for men [1,500 to 1,800 calories] is very low, especially if you’re younger or more active,” says Marisa Moore, RD, LD, spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. “I find that 1,500 calories is too low for most men, which can make the diet more difficult to follow and stick with.”

It’s rigid structure could make it difficult to follow. “Breaking down every meal into exact calorie counts is incredibly strict and could turn eating into too much of a chore,” says Marisa Moore, RD, LD, spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association. The diet may be too precise and test the patience for many followers.

When it comes it’s exercise recommendations, experts have a harder time digesting this book. There’s a variety of misleading statements throughout the diet, according to Kirsten McCormick, CSCS, ASCM-HFI, and master trainer at Equinox in Century City, Calif. “The diet is correct when it says that strength training increases lean body mass and raises your metabolism, but that doesn’t mean strength training alone should be done instead of cardio, as the diet insists,” says McCormick, “Cardiovascular exercise is essential for strengthening the heart while it burns calories as well.

Who should consider the diet?

No one -- unless you want an inaccurate version of exercise and cardiovascular health.

Bottom Line

Although the dieting portion of the book is essentially a harmless, though strict, low-calorie plan, the inaccurate claims about exercise and cardio simply can’t go unignored. The Cardio-Free Diet has raised the eyebrows of today’s leading exercise physiologists. The truth is, we would all love a diet where we can eat whatever we want and skip the cardio workouts. So you can buy a book that tells you what you want to hear, or, you can buy a book that tells you the truth -- and this isn’t it.

See the Cardio-Free Diet at a Glance
See What You Can Eat on the Cardio-Free Diet