There are plenty of fad diets out there that promise spectacular results. In general, you know that the best diet and exercise plans are the ones that allow you to make healthy lifestyle changes that will sustain long-term weight loss, making you more healthy overall.
Unfortunately, you don’t always have the option of waiting weeks or months for weight loss to kick in.
When you’re looking for a fast weight loss solution that will allow you to drop the weight in a matter of days, the Kaiser diet is an excellent way to get started. 
What is the Kaiser Diet?
The Kaiser Diet is a diet plan that claims to be able to help you lose as much as 10 lbs–in just three days, according to Diet-And-Health. (1)
By following a very strict diet plan with absolutely no variations, according to the Kaiser plan, you’ll kick start a chemical breakdown in your body that will burn the fat away.
Is this strategy too good to be true?
Many sites, like Be Healthy and Relax, are highly skeptical of its effectiveness.(2)
While others, like Diet Spotlight, note that the average user will see between 3 and 7 lbs of weight loss over those three days, they find that a return to eating normally often triggers the weight to fluctuate right back.(3)
For individuals looking for a way to kick start their diet plan or those who need short-term weight loss in order to feel their best for a great event, the Kaiser 3-Day Diet is a great way to make it happen.
How Does the Kaiser Diet Work?
The Kaiser 3-Day Diet follows a very specific plan. Participants must follow each meal exactly–no eating more at one meal, no skipping any of the items on the list.
According to the Kaiser Diet principle, each food is on the list for a reason, and they’ll all combine to create the great weight-loss effect participants are looking for. Jim Gracey notes that when on this diet, the only acceptable seasonings are salt and pepper–no added seasoning that could up the calorie content or change the chemical composition of the food.(4)
It's time to get started!
Day One
Breakfast
- 1/2 grapefruit
- 2 tbsp of peanut butter
- 1 slice of toast
Lunch
- 1/2 cup of tuna
- 1 slice of toast
- coffee or tea
Dinner
- 3 oz of meat
- 1 cup of green beans
- 1 cup of beets
- 1 small apple
- 1 cup vanilla ice cream
Day Two
On to the second day of the Kaiser Diet.
By lunchtime, you'll be halfway done with the diet plan--a real relief for many individuals who find themselves struggling with long-term dietary changes.
Breakfast
- 1/2 banana
- one slice of toast
- 1 egg (cooked however you'd like but with no oil or butter)
Lunch
- 1 cup of cottage cheese
- 5 saltine crackers
Dinner
- 2 hot dogs
- 1 cup of broccoli
- 1/2 cup of carrots
- 1/2 banana
- 1/2 cup of vanilla ice cream
Day Three
Moving into Day Three, many participants have the finish line in their sights and are ready for the diet to be done.
The good news is, many of them will already be seeing weight loss success!
Breakfast
- 1 hardboiled egg
- 1 slice of toast
Lunch
- 1 oz of cheddar cheese
- 1 small apple
- 5 saltine crackers
Dinner
- 1 cup of tuna
- 1 cup of beets
- 1 cup of cauliflower
- 1/2 cantaloupe
- 1/2 cup vanilla ice cream
Not to mention a giant sigh of relief that the diet is done.
Days Four through Seven
When on the Kaiser Diet, the days off of the diet plan are just as important as the days on it.
During the plan, calories are highly restricted. While it can be repeated as many as four times in a month, it’s important to put several days between each round of the Kaiser 3-Day Diet.
For this reason, on days four through seven, dieters should plan to eat normally and without restricting their caloric intake.
The Benefits of the Kaiser Diet
There are plenty of good things about this diet that make it an ideal choice for many individuals.
First, you’ll see real results fast, which can help overcome that initial frustration when the scale just won’t budge.
Using the Kaiser Diet will help you see an immediate drop in your weight, increasing your satisfaction with the whole dieting process and making it more likely that you’ll stick with it long-term.
Since it can be repeated several times throughout the course of your weight loss journey, you may find that this 3-Day Diet is also an excellent way to move past a weight loss plateau or to make up for overeating around the holidays.
It’s also nice that the Kaiser Diet provides the chance for dieters to consume real food throughout the dieting process.
There’s no need to purchase an expensive supplement or to pick up foods that wouldn’t normally be in your house. In many cases, you may be able to handle the diet without adding anything to your grocery list that isn’t already there!
The Kaiser 3-Day Diet also offers plenty of variety–and who doesn’t love a diet that allows you to have dessert?
You aren’t repeating the same meal every day, which helps decrease boredom and make you more comfortable with your dietary choices. Most of the meals on the Kaiser Diet are fairly filling, especially breakfast and dinner.
A lighter lunch may be a struggle for many participants, but you’ll quickly find that you’re able to handle the light lunch and look forward to the variety of vegetables and other options available at dinner.
Web MD also notes that the 3-Day Diet is extremely low-effort.(5) None of the meals are difficult to put together and they’re all made out of easy-to-find, convenient foods.
This makes it a great option for individuals who want the success of the diet without all the fuss of preparing special, complicated meals.
Of course, the greatest benefit of the Kaiser Diet comes from its ability to make it easy to lose weight in a hurry.
Whether you’re trying to fit in a dress for a weekend event or you know you’re going to be heading to the pool for the first time of the season, you can peel off that extra weight fast.
The Cons
If you’re looking for long-term weight loss success, chances are, the Kaiser diet isn’t going to do it for you.
Many participants, like those at Healthy Weight Forum, found that the weight quickly reappeared when they went back to eating normally.(6)
In order for the Kaiser Diet to be truly successful, it would have to either be followed regularly or followed alongside a regular healthy eating routine for an individual who is already on the road to healthy weight loss.
Picky eaters will find that the Kaiser 3-Day Diet Plan simply doesn’t fit their needs, either. While being able to eat vanilla ice cream on a daily basis sounds great, items like beets, cauliflower, and tuna may not be to everyone’s liking.
Sure, you can pinch your nose and force it down; but doesn’t it defeat the purpose of embarking on a diet that lets you eat real food if you don’t care for half of it?
The Kaiser Diet is very inflexible and highly low-calorie.
That means that for athletes or very active individuals, it may be difficult to find the energy they need in order to complete their daily tasks and training. While it might be useful for a solution to cutting weight, it’s not recommended for those whose normal caloric intake is relatively high due to training rather than overeating.
Conclusion
Maintaining a healthy weight is a challenge.
In many cases, you may find yourself longing for the opportunity to lose weight without having to put in weeks or months of effort.
For those individuals, the Kaiser Diet can be a great help. From kicking weight loss off on the right foot to being a great foundation for healthier lifestyle choices, the Kaiser Diet has helped many people see the short-term weight loss they’re looking for.
For those looking for greater weight loss and long-term results, however, the Kaiser Diet is just one tool in your arsenal–and it might not be the most effective.
On the bright side, whether you lose three pounds or ten, it’s three days–your extra weight is the only thing you have to lose.
Read more:
For anyone who has ever searched for a quick weight-loss plan, the Kaiser Diet may have popped up looking very official and very tempting.
Also called the Kaiser 3-Day Diet, the 3-Day Diet or sometimes lumped in with the Military Diet, this plan promises fast weight loss by following a very specific, very low-calorie menu for three days. And as with most “lose weight fast” diets, my first reaction is: let’s slow down for a minute.
What Is the Kaiser Diet?
The Kaiser Diet is a short-term diet plan that usually lasts three days and includes a set menu of foods such as grapefruit, toast, peanut butter, tuna, eggs, hot dogs, vegetables, crackers, cheese and even vanilla ice cream.
It is often passed around online as a plan connected to Kaiser Permanente, but there is no good evidence that Kaiser Permanente created or endorses this diet. In fact, Kaiser Permanente’s general nutrition guidance focuses more on balanced eating patterns, lifestyle habits and long-term health, not three days of hot dogs and ice cream.
The diet is typically very low in calories, often around 800 to 1,100 calories per day depending on the version being followed. That calorie drop is the main reason people may see the scale move quickly.
But quick scale changes are not always fat loss. A lot of early weight loss from very low-calorie diets comes from water, glycogen stores and simply having less food in the digestive tract.
How the Kaiser 3-Day Diet Usually Works
Most versions of the Kaiser Diet give you a strict three-day menu and then suggest eating “normally” for the next four days. Some versions repeat this cycle until a person reaches their goal weight.
That sounds simple enough, and I understand the appeal. No calorie counting, no complicated recipes and no decision fatigue.
However, the menu is not especially magical, metabolic or “chemically balanced,” despite what some older diet copies claim. It is mostly a low-calorie meal plan with random food pairings that happen to create a large calorie deficit.
A Typical Kaiser Diet Menu May Include:
- Grapefruit or banana.
- Toast or saltine crackers.
- Peanut butter.
- Tuna or eggs.
- Hot dogs or other lean meat.
- Green beans, carrots or broccoli.
- Cottage cheese or cheddar cheese.
- Vanilla ice cream.
- Coffee or tea.
There is nothing wrong with many of these foods individually. I have no fight with peanut butter, tuna or green beans.
But when a diet gives you a tiny list of foods and tells you not to deviate, that is usually a sign we are dealing with a diet, not a sustainable eating pattern.
Can You Lose Weight on the Kaiser Diet?
Short answer: probably, at least temporarily.
Any diet that cuts calories low enough can lead to weight loss. That part is not unique to the Kaiser Diet.
The bigger question is whether the weight loss is healthy, sustainable and mostly body fat. That is where this plan starts to lose me.
The CDC notes that gradual weight loss, around 1 to 2 pounds per week, is more likely to be maintained long term. Losing several pounds in three days may sound exciting, but it usually does not reflect the kind of steady habit change that helps a person keep weight off.
Also, when calories are too low, hunger tends to come roaring back. And no one makes their most thoughtful food choices while feeling hangry and deprived.
Is the Kaiser Diet Healthy?
In my opinion, not really.
The Kaiser Diet is too restrictive, too low in calories for many adults and not built around the kind of variety we need for overall health. It also does not teach much about meal planning, hunger cues, portion balance, emotional eating or building meals you actually enjoy.
The Dietary Guidelines for Americans emphasize eating patterns that include vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean proteins, dairy or fortified alternatives and healthy fats. The Kaiser Diet includes some of these foods, but not in a way that feels balanced or realistic.
For example, whole grains are limited, fiber may be low, and there is little attention paid to food quality. A few vegetables over three days does not automatically make a diet “healthy.”
Also, the plan often includes processed meats like hot dogs. I am not saying one hot dog ruins a diet, because food does not work that way.
But if we are talking about a plan promoted as a health strategy, relying on processed meats while excluding many nourishing foods seems like a strange choice.
Potential Downsides of the Kaiser Diet
The biggest issue with this diet is not that it lasts three days. It is that it can encourage the mindset that weight loss should be fast, uncomfortable and based on strict rules.
That kind of thinking is exactly what keeps many people stuck in the diet cycle.
Possible problems may include:
- Hunger and low energy: The calorie level is low enough that many people may feel tired, irritable or distracted.
- Poor workout fuel: Exercising hard on this plan could feel pretty miserable.
- Low fiber intake: Depending on the version, the plan may not provide enough fiber for digestive health and fullness.
- Not enough variety: A healthy diet should include a wide range of foods, not the same short menu repeated again and again.
- Possible rebound eating: Restriction often leads to overeating later. Not because someone lacks willpower, but because the body is smart.
- Not appropriate for everyone: People with diabetes, kidney disease, heart disease, a history of eating disorders, pregnancy or breastfeeding should not follow a very low-calorie diet without medical supervision.
As noted by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, a safe weight-loss program should include healthy eating, physical activity, behavior support and a plan for long-term maintenance. The Kaiser Diet does not really check those boxes.
What About the Ice Cream?
This is the part of the diet that always gets people’s attention.
Some versions of the Kaiser Diet include vanilla ice cream at dinner. Naturally, that makes the plan feel more appealing because, well, ice cream.
I am all for including fun foods in a healthy diet. But adding ice cream to an overly restrictive meal plan does not magically make the plan balanced.
In real life, I would rather see someone enjoy ice cream because they like it, not because a three-day diet told them it has some special fat-burning purpose. Spoiler: it does not.
Is the Kaiser Diet the Same as the Military Diet?
They are very similar, and in many cases, the names are used almost interchangeably online.
The Military Diet is another three-day low-calorie diet that includes many of the same foods, including toast, tuna, hot dogs and ice cream. Despite the name, it is not officially affiliated with the military either.
This is a common diet-world trick. Give a plan an official-sounding name, and suddenly it feels more credible than it deserves to be.
Who Should Avoid the Kaiser Diet?
I would be especially cautious with this plan if you have any medical condition that requires consistent food intake or careful nutrient balance.
That includes diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, gastrointestinal conditions, pregnancy, breastfeeding or a history of disordered eating. Children and teenagers should also not be following this type of restrictive weight-loss diet.
Even for healthy adults, I would not recommend using this as a go-to plan. There are simply better ways to lose weight and take care of your health.
A Better Way to Think About Weight Loss
Instead of asking, “Can I survive this for three days?” I would ask, “Can I see myself eating this way, or some version of it, most of the time?”
That question changes everything.
A more realistic plan would include meals with protein, fiber-rich carbohydrates, healthy fats and plenty of fruits and vegetables. It would also leave room for foods you enjoy, because long-term eating should not feel like punishment.
For example, instead of the Kaiser Diet’s tiny menu, you might build meals like eggs with whole-grain toast and fruit, a salad with salmon and avocado, Greek yogurt with berries and nuts, or a turkey and veggie sandwich on whole-wheat bread.
Nothing flashy. But also nothing that makes you count the minutes until the diet is over.
Bottom Line
The Kaiser Diet may lead to short-term weight loss because it is very low in calories. But that does not mean it is healthy, balanced or worth following.
More importantly, it does not teach the skills most people need for long-term weight management. No food group needs to be feared, and no three-day menu should be treated as the answer to better health.
My suggestion would be to skip the quick-fix mentality and focus on small, repeatable habits instead. Choose mostly nutrient-dense foods, include enough protein and fiber, move your body in a way you can keep up with and leave some room for the foods you love.
That may not sound as exciting as “lose 10 pounds in 3 days,” but it is a whole lot more useful.
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(1) http://www.diet-and-health.net/Diet/kaiser3daydiet.html
(2) http://behealthyandrelax.com/2007/11/lose-10-pounds-in-3-day-is-it-true/
(3) https://www.dietspotlight.com/3-day-diet-review/
(4) http://jimgracey.net/kaiser_diet.html
(5) http://www.webmd.com/diet/a-z/3-day-diet
(6) http://www.healthyweightforum.org/eng/diets/3-day-diet/
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