Fad Diets and Why They Aren’t Working

Why Fad Diets Don’t Really Work

Fad diets don’t really work! In today’s world, the internet and social media can make understanding weight loss programs more complicated. Will it work? Is it healthy? It must work, look at him/her. Why isn’t it working for me? I’m doing everything right …

Not only are we looking online at the overwhelming amount of information. Social media is full of helpful and unhelpful information. The advertisements shown for the next best “secret weight-loss weapon” are overwhelming. But why isn’t there just one program that works for everyone?

Here are some examples of trendy diets

It’s simple: the information you find sometimes doesn’t correlate with your own eating preference, health history, medication history, and body composition. Let’s look at a few trendy diets that most people seek out when looking to lose weight.

• The Keto Diet is simply a high fat, low carbohydrate diet that states by getting most of your calories from fat the body will switch how it uses energy.  So, it will use fat instead of carbohydrates for energy.  While there have been some studies that show benefits there is no evidence that it is effective or safe for long-term changes, except for people with epilepsy.  
  • Downfalls and failures to this type of program: higher cholesterol from unhealthy saturated fats, and lack of nutrient-rich foods such as fruits and vegetables, which can have long-term health effects.  Not calculating out appropriately macronutrients and micronutrients, too many calories, and eating off program will throw you out of ketosis, preventing effective weight loss.
    

• Intermittent Fasting offers multiple options but to simplify it you are lowering the number of calories you are eating in a specific time set.  This type of diet not only states you will lose weight but also will slow down the progression of certain types of aging. Tremendous health benefits include lower body fat, and stabilizing blood glucose.  However, failure to plan appropriately by eating too many calories and wrong foods will prevent weight loss. There are still studies being done to validate the effectiveness of intermittent dieting.
  

• The Atkins Diet allows for unlimited amounts of protein with the consumption of fats. No calorie restrictions, however, all sweets, bread, pasta, and potatoes are removed. Yes, people can lose weight over a short period of time. Negatives include quick weight gain, hormonal imbalances, higher cholesterol levels, not enough minerals and vitamins, constipation, along with kidney stones.  So why do people stop losing weight?  Due to high proteins which are rich in saturated and omega-6 fats which will increase cellular inflammation that will disrupt your hormones, increasing insulin resistance in organs (liver and adipose tissue) resulting in gaining again the lost weight and gaining excess fat.
  

In Conclusion

So, what is the best plan out there for you?  Fad diets don’t really work for your life and lifestyle! The truth is there is no right or wrong and everyone is different.  However, understanding that weight loss is a journey, you should do one that includes healthy eating habits, healthy food choices, lifestyle, and moderation in the end.  Fad diets that promise quick weight loss might give you short term results. Ultimately however, the most people gain back that weight and some.