The Cambridge Diet, also commonly known as the Cambridge Diet UK, is a popular diet that was started in the United Kingdom in 1984.  This is a very low calorie diet (VLCD) and one that has come under fire in the U.S. as a dangerous fad diet because of that.  There are a lot of conflicting reports about whether this diet is healthy or not, and while it works (just as any VLCD will work for the morbidly obese) the general consensus is that this is not a diet that should be taken lightly and is in fact one that should only be done with supervised medical care.  While controversies over the Cambridge Diet in the 1980s have made it far less popular and common in the United States, this eating plan is still fairly popular in Great Britain, although the Cambridge Diet UK is only allowed under the medical supervision of a certified Cambridge Diet counselor and for people with a BMI of over 25.  The Cambridge Diet is a pre-packaged diet, meaning initially all diet products have to be purchased through them, the reason being given that for the very low calorie part of this diet that their "food stuffs" have the vitamins needed to keep the human body functioning.

The Cambridge Diet UK started in Britain and gained an enormous following there since this was seen as a diet that could help with heavy weight loss for grossly overweight individuals.  This idea was popular and spread to the United States, where the "UK" bit was dropped off of he Cambridge Diet and it gained popularity as a fad diet because of its ability to produce rapid weight loss.  However, the Cambridge Diet lost popularity as critics came out arguing that the initial stages of eating only 450 calories made this eating plan extremely dangerous since starvation mode for many individuals is at the 1200 calorie mark or even slightly higher.

Many argued that this diet was dangerous, and when several people diet from other (and the emphaisis here is on other) very low calorie diets that they mis-followed by trying to make it permanant, most of the programs had the plug pulled on them.  However, in Britain where this diet is only allowed when accompanied by a certified trained counselor and medical supervision, many morbidly overweight individuals are finding success with this plan. 

Despite the still frequent use of the Cambridge Diet by patients across the world, there are some definite concerns that still remain regarding this diet plan. If you thought there was some controversy over the idea of negative calorie foods, that doesn't hold a torch to the up in arms feeling that many have regarding the Cambridge Diet.

The first worries are obvious: the calorie amounts in the early steps are way below what is considered the minimum needed by most human bodies. Going into "starvation mode" is not a healthy way to lose weight and will cause the body's metabolism to crash and muscle mass to be lost with fat. While there are times that very low calorie diets like the Cambridge Diet can be used to help morbidly obese, many other times it's just not a good idea.

The other major concern with the Cambridge Diet is related. Even though this is a step by step guide, it takes a ridiculously long number of weeks to actually get to the point where you are ingesting a safe number of calories. By the time you lose that much weight, do you have the muscle mass or metabolism to actually keep weight off? A lot of people would argue no.

Cambridge Diet recipes are all available directly from the company, seeing as how most of the necessary food products, shakes, and other accessories need to be bought directly from the company that put together this diet plan.  Many of the early meals involved in this eating plan are not actual solids, but Cambridge Diet shakes or soups.  This helps to keep the calories down while the special way the soups and shakes are designed in theory allow the human body to get the base minimum of vitamins, proteins, and nutrients that are needed to stay healthy enough to function.

The final verdict on the Cambridge Diet might still be out, but this seems like a pretty clear split.  All but abandoned in the United States, this diet is seen as a potentially dangerous fad diet on this side of the pond, but in the United Kingdom this diet is still alive and well, although only if there is proper medical supervision and other support.  In conclusion, this is definitely not the type of diet that someone should go on because of a whim, and even under medical supervision it is only recommended for the very obese.

In the end, there are many other much better and more balanced diet plans that will work for an individual than the Cambridge Diet, and the majority of the time one of those will almost certainly be a better option.