Modern Weight Loss Diets: Fad or Fact?

You’re looking at your diary and you realise that your school reunion is coming up. Or that wedding where you’ve got to find a dress that looks good on a person with wobbly bits and not only a supermodel. Or it’s nearly bathing suit season. Or maybe it’s July and you’ve still done nothing about that New Year’s Resolution of losing weight. Whatever the reason, suddenly those diets featured on TV and in the glossy magazines start to look rather appealing. But which, if any, actually work at targeting obesity? We looked at calorie counting in a previous post but now it’s time to focus on some of the other diets as weight loss solutions.

 

Low Fat Diets

Shown to be effective in promoting weight loss without reducing calorie intake by restricting total fat intake. However, the amount of weight loss is no better than a simple low calorie diet so you can pick either and see benefits. It has been shown that weight loss can be maintained and it reduces saturated fat and cholesterol intake so there is a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease. However one word of caution: highly processed foods labelled as “fat free” are commonly high in calories. Many people unknowingly increase their calorie intake when on a low fat diet and can actually put on weight.

 

Low Carbohydrate Diets

This includes diets such as the Atkin’s diet and various ketogenic diets. These diets are successful because they are calorie restricting and leave you feeling full at the end of the meal. They initially have a very good weight loss, better than that of a low fat diet within six months. However after a year the weight loss in low fat and low carbohydrate diets is about the same. A low carbohydrate diet is typically high in “bad” cholesterol (low-density lipoproteins), which places you at increased risk of heart disease. Other adverse effects commonly experienced include constipation, headaches, halitosis, diarrhoea, muscle cramps and general weakness. Low carbohydrate diets also restrict intake of healthy carbohydrates such as vegetables, fruits and whole grains, all of which decrease risk of chronic diseases such as cancer.

 

Low Glycemic Index Diet

This diet restricts the intake of food that releases glucose into the blood quickly. Whilst it has shown to be beneficial in diabetic cases, there appears to be no weight loss benefit, with weight loss being less than that of the other diets discussed here. Similar to the low carbohydrate diet, it eliminates fruits and some vegetable (such as carrots) because they have a high glycemic index.

 

Mediterranean Diet

This diet shows promising weight loss results, and can also increase longevity and decrease risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. But no, that doesn’t mean you can have spaghetti bolognaise and pizza every day. The mediterranean diet works because it includes vegetables, fruits, nuts, legumes, whole grains and olive oil as a fat source. One issue with this diet is that too much fat, even the good kind, can increase calorie intake and stop weight loss so it is easy to lose the benefits.

 

Paleolithic Diet

This diet works because it encourages healthy eating by avoiding processed foods and increasing intake of vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds and lean meats. However it cuts out dairy and whole grains, which are important for a nutritionally balanced diet. Also, a true Paleolithic diet is difficult in this day. I don’t know about you but my local Woolworths doesn’t stock mammoth steaks. Meat today has higher levels of saturated fats than that our Stone Age ancestors would have been eating, making this premise of this diet somewhat redundant.

 

Commercial Programmes

The key to success in intervention programmes such as Weight Watcher’s and Jenny Craig is that unlike primary health care, you are held accountable to your promises. This, along with the ease of pre-packaged foods, increases the compliance with the diet. However, they can be quite expensive in the long term. Seeking advice from health professionals such as dieticians and getting a support network through group therapy or family and friends can be equally as beneficial.

 

The problem with most of these diets is that they are difficult to sustain for any period of time, making long term weight loss unlikely. In order to actually decrease obesity we need to take what works from these diets: reduce intake of high calorie, highly processed, fatty foods and replace this with the nutritionally balanced low calorie diet we discussed in out previous post. This is the real ‘miracle’, quick(est)-fix solution to obesity.