DO DIETS REALLY WORK?

Many people struggle with the question “Is this diet right for me”? This is likely one of the most frequently asked questions by people attempting weight loss. The best answer, is not to diet, but rather change your lifestyle. A weight loss diet implies a temporary effort, one that will end once a desired amount of pounds have been shed.

In a recently published meta-study. Researchers analyzed the results of 121 previous weight loss studies, to see what happened to subjects, one year after they began their diet. Of the 14 different diets examined, the differences in weight-loss after 1 year were negligible.

The serious limitation of the study, as expected, is that the discipline of the dieters was not measured. This elegantly explains the non-intuitive result. When you no longer eat according to your diet plan, you'll start gaining back the fat you lost no matter what diet you were on.

One exception performed significantly better after one year, not on weight, but on cholesterol levels. People on the Mediterranean diet showed significantly lower levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol. It's important to note that the Mediterranean diet is not necessarily a weight loss plan, but rather a guidline for healthy eating.

Read more about the Mediterranean Diet.

it’s proof that diet’s do work in helping you to gain it all back, but not in a long term sustainable measure of complete nutritional balance and fat management.

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Source: Johnston, et al - Comparison of dietary macronutrient patterns of 14 popular named dietary programmes for weight and cardiovascular risk factor reduction in adults: systematic review and network meta-analysis of randomised trials - BMJ, April 2020

Weight Loss and the diets that fool us.

For many people, rapid diets are the only kind worth trying. It's common to hear someone say they want to lose "a quick five pounds" before a wedding, or "drop ten pounds" in preparation for a beach vacation. No one wants to be told that healthy weight loss takes time and effort—so the companies marketing diet plans and supplements focus instead on get-skinny-quick gimmicks. Although these plans can sometimes lead to weight loss in the short term, they are very difficult to sustain.

Truth: Consume a balance of organic whole fruits, veggies, nuts and seeds combined with, regular cardio and muscle conditioning. Change your environment, because environment is a major factor of weight gain and other health detriments. Look for your local famers in your area, or shop organic whenever possible. Pay attention to what you eat and find those food triggers that are causing you to feel poorly and unbalanced and gradually remove them.

Sources: https://medlineplus.gov/ency/patientinstructions/000895.htm