Why ‘faddy diets’ don’t work?
The importance of a balanced diet
Over 2000 years ago, Hypocrites (a well know philosopher) said (in rough terms: ‘We
are what we eat.’ What he means is that the raw materials from which our bodies are
built are provided by the food we eat.
Normal wear and tear living our daily lives dictates that even when fully grown up,
our bodies require constant repair and maintenance and the many processes of
living, whether trying to keep warm or simply moving about to more vigorous
demands such as exercise, all requires fuel or energy which comes from food.
If we value your health, we must ensure that an adequate and well balanced diet is
adhered to. This alone presents us with a challenge, because how many of us really
know how much is adequate and what is a balanced diet?
What is a balanced diet?
It is important to remember that there is no such thing as a bad food; the problem for
most of us is that the food we eat in our daily diet, doesn’t always provide the right
amount of nutrients we need, because most of us eat the same food all the time,
which is usually the food we ate as kids. Who doesn’t still enjoy tucking into Mum’s
Sunday roast or special chocolate cake, Dad’s curry or daily bacon and egg sarnie??
Generally speaking we fall in to two camps when trying to eat better
1. Adding healthy foods alongside our everyday meals - like having greens with
our roast or using brown bread and low fat mayonnaise for our sarnies
2. This is not always true. In fact all most of us do is add extra ‘healthy’ food to
our plates, which just increase the amount of food we eat. Portion size is a
major contributor to obesity. Our view of what is a sensible portion size is
often way more than what is ok.
3. Cutting out foods and only eating certain healthy things that we have read
about in the media.
4. Low fat, low carb, no sugar, no fibre. We all know at least 1 of the 1000
different ‘DIETS’ which tell us that we will lose weight if we cut out certain
foods in favour of others.
To make matters worse supermarkets and chain restaurants are filled with foods that
look healthy and claim to be healthy, but really are not. There is a lot of misleading
information contained in food labels. For example you need to treat certain claims
such as 'low-fat', 'reduced-sodium' and 'high-fibre' with care. Although by law these
claims should not be misleading, there are no legal definitions for 'low', 'reduced' or
'high'.
This all may sound too complicated and for many of us, so many of us choose the
quick fix route and embark on the latest diet we found in the media. However, this is
not the answer.
Why faddy diets don’t work?
It is important to point out before we go one that there are groups of people who do
need specific diets, but they should not follow the diet without seeking medical
advice.
However, for most of us DIET – is a four letter word. We think of a diet as something
we go on. An event comes up and tells us it’s time to bear down and get rid of that
extra layer of flab. At this point we ‘go on a diet’. When we have lost the desired
weight (if we do) we ‘go off the diet’ and go back to our old habits of ordering
takeaway and having a few beers every evening until the next event looms up and
on the diet we go again. Sound familiar?
As we go on and off diets our weight goes up and down, however in the long run it
Nearly always goes up. WHY?
The average human doesn’t put on weight quickly - it tends to be gradual. Therefore,
the most effective way to lose weight and keep it off is to lose the weight gradually.
With elimination diets, the weight loss tends to be rapid (mostly muscle and water).
This is because the metabolism goes into starvation mode. Over time the body
becomes less efficient at losing weight.
In other words quick fixes like eating low fat, eating low carb, or eating nothing but
grapefruit stress your body so much that it responds by trying even harder to store
fat especially around the tummy area!
For many people the word ‘diet’ has come to mean denial and restriction. Food for
many people has become a great misery in their lives instead of a source of
pleasure. With conflicting advice from the media it has for some, been very difficult to
sort out fact from fiction. Follow the quick check list below to avoid the pain suffered
by millions.
How Do I Spot a Fad Diet?
While there is no set approach to identifying a fad diet, many have the following
characteristics:
Recommendations that promise a quick fix.
Dire warnings of dangers from a single product or routine
Claims that sound too good to be true.
Simplistic conclusions drawn from a complex studies.
Recommendations based on a single study or celebrity testimonials.
Lists of 'good' and 'bad' foods.
Recommendations made to help sell a product.
Recommendations that ignore differences among individuals or groups.
Eliminating 1 or more of the 5 food groups (such as carbs or fats for example)
So what can I do to eat a healthy diet?
To try and clarify the message that we should all eat a healthy balanced diet, the
government have come up with a way of demonstrating the various foods that make
up a healthy diet – this is known as the Eat Well Plate http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/healthydiet/eatwellplate
The Eatwell plate shows how much of what you eat should come from each food
group - Proteins, fats and carbohydrates. This includes everything you eat during the
day, including snacks. You don’t need to get the balance right at every meal. But try
to get it right over time such as a whole day or week.
Furthermore, a growing number of supermarkets and food manufacturers are using
traffic light colours on the labels of some products to help you make your choice. You
may have heard of the traffic light system, you can check it out on the below website:
http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/foodlabels/trafficlights/
If we want to eat a healthy diet, one of the key things we should be doing is trying to
cut down on fat (especially saturated fat), salt and added sugars. Food products with
traffic light labels on the front of the pack show you at-a-glance if the food you are
thinking about buying has high, medium or low amounts of fat, saturated fat, sugars
and salt, helping you get a better balance.
In a nutshell
Nothing works better for a healthier lifestyle than eating a balanced diet. Follow this
quick check list and make sure you read next month’s article, where we show you
how important exercise is in your diet as well as showing you some more detailed
examples of how to eat a balanced diet.
Quick check list
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Eat less fat
Eat proportionally more wholegrain and high-fibre carbohydrate foods
Reduce added sugars, especially soft drinks
Reduce portions of energy-dense foods
Make sure you eat breakfast
Drink more water
Author Lomax Bespoke Health Ltd