As a child of
the 70’s I have been around a long time now, four plus decades and the one
thing I can say about “modern science” is that its ever changing. Now when you put that in the light of “Diets”
and what is healthy…that is going to change up a lot! When I was first introduced to the idea of dieting,
I was more looking to tone up and increase my athletic performance. I was 16
and a Gymnast who did Karate and wanted to look like Bruce Lee while moving
like a super athlete…the current state of diet information told me to load up
on Carbs….pasta, rice, potatoes and avoid fats!
Later I saw the “High carb” diet swap out for a more “high protein” diet
then the “High Fat diets” and all the time they all promised the same results
that the last one promised.
Now to be clear there
are diet “Trends”, “Fads” and “Nutritional science” that you have to watch out.
For. A “Trend” would be something like an uptake in Protein heavy diets…each
one being a slight variation of the previous but still the trend towards a
specific area. The “Fad” is a specific diet like “Adkins” or “Vegan” diets, this
is much more specific. Nutritional
science changes are made when things like a better understanding of how sugar
or human made fats affect the body and a shift in mainstream dietary trends
happen. The last one being the slowest
to change and the most accepted ideals that exist.
I’m not going to
outline Belief based diets like Kosher eating in the Jewish culture or Buddhist
eating intact culture but more diets that have come to affect us as Trends and
Fads. I will however caution that some dietary trends and fads come with their
own “cult-ish” feel to them. For instance, and this is a well worn trope….Vegans
tend to be very cultish…however pure carnivores do as well.
Im going to kind
of explore some of the Trends and fads we have seen over the years and let you
know quickly what they are and what I think of them. Now my experience with
them comes with some actual personal practice or talking to those that have
tried them, but I am not a nutritionist or doctor. I do have a background in
athletic use of Diets and I have been trained on most mainstream diets in
university as well as having a back ground in Anatomy and physiology…but again…buyer
be ware right.
The first group
of Fads/Trends I will look at I have done a lot of personal research and put
into practice the Intermittent fasting diets. IF or Intermittent fasting
diets have been around for a while and are very effective. We used to think if
you don’t eat at least three meals a day you are doing horrible damage to your
body…..but science says that this is not true. The 5:2 diet is a fasting cycle
of eating good clean foods 5 days a week and then not eating at all for two
days. This is just one of the many cycles you can use for IF diets. Some suggest
a 16/8 hour or a 12/10 ext or even one meal a day or two meals a day. I have
done OMAD or One meal a day and 2MAD or two meal a day and they work. Tones of
health benefits to eating like this and if you pick clean foods that will help
your fueling your body as well as keeping the gunk out you will see success in
this long term eating strategy…..as long as your OMAD meal is not a whole
pizza, cake and cookies.
This is a more
recent dietary trend mind you as most people felt eating MORE times a day was
better for you and now research is pointing to the benefits of fasting and
eating right when you do eat….Problem is that HANGER is a real thing and you
will end up fighting the hunger the first few days. I find that the first day
is the hardest and the one I feel most “IM GOING TO KILL YOU” on, after that
you feel great between meals.
So, along with the
Diets that control WHEN you eat some diet Trends are the Low and super low
calorie diets. The low calorie diets normally restrict calories to a lower
range like 1200-2000 calories a day…and often just above 1000. Diets like Body for life (which I tried) also
incorporate supplements like meal replacements and restrict the types of foods
you eat. Other popular ones includes the Hackers diet, Nutrisystem and weight
watchers. I have tried the Nutrisystem diet which focuses on two shakes and a
meal a day and actually my current “weight loss” diet is sort of based on this
idea. A Modified OMAD if you will. Very
low calorie diets are sort of fancy terms for starvation diets. They include
diets that are limiting your calories to less than 800 a day. Things like the Breatharian diet, KE diet and
the Military diet are all based on dropping your calories VERY low. Now the Military diet is limited to three
days a week for a good reason, ifyou drop your calories bellow 1200 a day you
risk a lot of health issues.
Normally VERY
Low calorie diets are done with the daily supervision of a medical doctor. The KE
diet for instance uses a feeding tube and you simply can not do that one by
yourself. Time for another confession. When I was in my late 20’s/early 30’s I did
this supplement driven diet, it was not really based on the diet or what I ate
but the supplements, the EAC stack and I naturally ate only a salad with a piece
of chicken a day and when all was said and done I lost a HUGE amount of weight,
but the supplement was addictive and I was not healthy, I was burned out and
developed a lot of physical issues like sore muscles and joints, head aches,
always Thursday and I am sure my kidneys were subject to a beating as was my
heart from the high level of caffeine I took in. I do NOT suggest this one at all nor do I
suggest any super low calorie diets.
The science of
weight loss is kind of basic, you have to burn more calories than you take in
to drop weight…but food selection is super important as well, and I will explain
that one at the end.
Along with low
calorie diet came a trend in Low fat diets. McDougall’s starch diet came out and in 2002
but it represents a very common low fat diet that was very popular in the 80’s.
The low fat diet trend saw many weird inventions, like man made fats and
additives to things that were supposed to be better for you than the fats we
ate. The results, other than the
invention of the term “Anal leakage” was horrible. The new fat replacements turned out to be
worse for us than the good natural fats in our foods. If consumed in moderate quantities,
the fats in foods are actually good for us and contain vitamins and other
important pre-hormones we need. Fat does
not make you fat…eating to much fat does…just like eating to much protein is
not good for you as well.
Low fat diets
are still recommended for people with heart issues and obesity issues, however the
obesity issues diets tend to now sway away from just not eating fats and towards
eating cleaner foods, which I will get to in a minute, as well as habit
controlling focus like over eating (calorie control) and better, healthier food
choices.
Most of the low
fat diets were high carb diets because most protein sources are high in fats,
and the Low fat people fixated on the fats.
So diets like the F-Plan, Ornish diet, Pritkin diet, Rice diet and Good
Carbohydrate Revolution diets all fixated on low protein, low fats and
flourished on and off prior to the high protein revolution that occurred in the
2000’s for the most part.
After the low
Fat diets came out a sway in the food/diet industry saw an uptake in High
protein, low carb diets like the Atkins diet, that made a major impact in
dieters views in the early 2000’s. Essentially
these diets focused on eating lots of meat and fats, some veggies, but NO
sugars. Some of them, like the Stillman diet, predate Atkins, but it was his
diet that really blew up the diet industry and made protein and fat okay to eat
again.
A common
component of these diets was a “Step” or “phase” type progression in the diet.
The Dukan diet for instance essentially has two steps for short term weight
loss and then two steps for continued weight loss. The south beach diet is more
heart healthy, but it also has several steps you have to take to ensure you are
following the plan to the details and seeing progress in your goals.
The High protein
diets almost across the board included a high fat part of their instruction.
The Bulletproof diet, Dukan diet, Pioppi Diet, protein power diet, Rosedale
diet, Salisbury diet, Sugar busters, Zone , Scarsdal and 4 hour body all came
out of the high fat, low carb diets or high protein diets. Some diets like the
Carnivore diet took the high protein/fat diets to the extremes. You will note
that I am not mentioning two of the more major diet trends/fads yet and I will
get to them…..
Some diet trends are created by
the medical industry to deal with or help with specific medical issues
people have. For instance the Diabetic
diet is super controversial as people are always arguing about what a diebetic
should eat, but the DASH diet or dietary approach to stop hypertension is used
to drop your blood pressure and its essentially low fat, low sugar and low
salt. Well its much more complex than that but it focuses on people with
hypertension. Gluten free diets, Healthy Kidney, and specific Liquid diets are
all used to deal with specific things, from Gluten sensitivity, Kidney disease
to severe obesity.
Some medical based diets are
much more dynamic such as the Elimination diet. This is a method that has you
eliminate all foods but a few, then introduce them back to see how your body
reacts to them. Speaking of body reaction, the Low FODMAP diet that tries to
restrict fermentable carbs to keep your stomach from acting up. And of course,
the ever so popular Ketogenic diet that focuses on high fat consumption.
Originally this was a medical treatment for epilepsy. However, the food industry and diet industry
has now grabbed ahold of this trending medical diet to tell you how it will
help you drop weight and get slim.
Problem is…its super hard to maintain…expensive and not very good for
people who don’t actually have epilepsy. Super hard on your heart and kidneys
this diet has gone nuts in the modern era as a “Magic Pill” diet. But much like
the Atkins diet before it…. people don’t stay on it for life because its dangerous,
costs to much or simply is far to limiting in your available food choices.
After the PURE PROTEIN EXPLOSION
came about in the mid 2000’s some of the more famous “Diet trends” like Vegetarian
diets came rushing back to play counter weight to eating a whole cow for
dinner. Some of the diets however, most
of which had been around for years, rebranded or simply shot up so we could see
them again. Essentially a Vegetarian diet is super heavy in…well veggies and
fruits. They exclude Meat, but some allow for some animal products and even poultry
or fish lik ethe Pescatarian and Pollo-Pescatarian diets. Some times called
Flexitarian or Reducetarion diets the idea of going MOSTLY vegetarian can bee a
good way to help cut down on red meat in your diet or “help the planet”. Semi
Vegetarianism however is often seen as NOT being Vegetarian by those that
follow a more strict path. Even the very popular as of late Raw-food diet is
seen as a Vegetarian diet, but because you can wear leather and have some
fluidity in what is raw food…well the purists don’t call it vegetarian.
Lacto/Ovo/ Ovo-Lacto
vegetarianism allows people to include Dairy (Lacto), eggs (Ovo) or both
(Ovo-Lacto) in the diet to make up for missing BCAA’s and hormones that people
feel are missing in their diets, but strictly prohibit meat of any kind. Again, the purists do not consider them to be
vegetarians. Pure Vegetarians include
Frutarians who eat only fruit and Pure Vegetarins that eat fruits, veggies, and
anything Not related to animals. A small
sect of the vegetarians, but VERY vocal include the Vegans, who not only don’t eat
animal meat, they do not wear or use any animal products. They also avoid
anything like Honey or Dairy that was produced by an animal. The vegan life
style is very strict and goes beyond diet….and they are also the butt of many
jokes because of their attitudes, they are seen as our modern version of
hippies.
Medical Diets are set up to
actually deal with medical issues however some diets are said to help you “Detox”
your body. The Science, if presented at all…is simply not their! The idea of
eating or drinking foods to help clean your liver or detox your body…well its
hog wash. The body does not work this way and no doctor or medically trained
person would suggest any of these “Flushing” diets at all….ever….well unless
they are “SELLING” it to you.
The Juice fast, Detox diet, Fat
Flush, Lemon Detox, Activated Charcoal diet and wheatgrass diet all take back
seat to one of the originals…the Master cleanse diet. All of the Cleanse diets
have been found to be HIGHLY ineffective at doing what they say they do, detoxing
the body…because your body is not normally TOXIC. However, they have been
proven to be dangerous, damaging and for the most part a total rip off.
Let’s face it,
most people diet to lose weight. Along this journey we all run into the trap of
the “Crash diet” that promises quick weight loss and push the idea of “Fast”
over “long term” they tend to be weird to like the Cabbage soup diet…I don’t think
I have to explain that one. Nor do I have to explain the Grape fruit diet or the
Baby food, Cookie, Egg and whine, Lamb Chop and Pineapple, or Rhubarb diets.
Some like the Beverly
hills diet however are more extreme but need a bit of explanation. The Beverly
hills diet only allows you to eat fruit for up to six days. Other Monotropic
diets, which only allow one food item to be taken in for a given time pop up
from time to time. Most are the All you can eat Bannana or All you can eat
Apple diet. Some are more complex and robust like the subway diet that allows
you to eat subway sandwiches limited to leaner cuts of meat mind you.
In 2001 one of
my seniors convinced me to do the ALL APPLE diet. Well I did it for a week and
it was HORRIBLE. I was bitchy and honestly for a long time after it made me
violently ill if I saw an apple….Golden delicious my ass! Anyways most of these
High sugar, fiber diets have one thing in common…you end up in the bathroom a
LOT and you tend to eat lower calories so you do lose weight…but dear god its
not pleasant.
Crash Diets go hand
in hand with “Fad diets” or those that are popular for a short period of time,
like fashion fads, they come in and serve a purpose, have celebrities yelling
about how successful they are on them…then they fall away and are replaced with
the next big thing. Most of the diets on
here can be called fads, but some just fall so cleanly into this category that
I have to separate them from the rest of the pack.
If you are
looking for the best fad diet you have to look at the “Blood type diet” right
off the hop. Its exactly what it sounds like. No medical/scientific basis for
the diet, but the focus is on eating…things…your blood…likes. I am not kidding.
Behind that one is the Alkaline diet, making sure you don’t eat anything to
acidic, a Macrobiotic diet that breaks food down into its core values, a Combination
based set of diets that want you to eat A with B and not C like the Gracie Diet
and a fit for life diet that recommends not combining foods with each other! The
Morning banana diet is kind of self explanatory and the Super food diet that
tries to sell you on the idea of eating only foods that are high in specific
nutrients.
Some Fad diets
are sound but don’t last or are to restrictive to last, but would work…like the
whole30 diet, or they are crazy and weird like the Cotton ball diet (yes you
fill up on cotton balls before eating…that cant be safe right) or based on
weird things like the lunar cycle….called the strangely named Werewolf diet. Or
they are again short lived but maybe, if done right, may be helpful like the
immune power diet.
For the last
year or so I have been researching what I call “Ancestral diets”. These include
those that are supposedly diets that our ancestors have been using (Duh) or
those that have been modified from those that have they have been using. Generally,
these are made up of “Clean foods” (which I will split off as a whole in a
minute or two) like clean meats, clean veggies and starches, fruits and
nuts/seeds and some even have dairy in them and some grains. The Paleo or
Paleolithic diet is a diet that follows the idea of what ancient man ate, along
with that is several other “Paleo” based diets. Most of them also fit into a
near keto or keto like diet easily. This
can be dangerous if you rely heavily on meats and fats for the diet. A balance
should be held. Also the Primal diet is
a diet and life style that uses a similar diet set up but also focuses on other
health related ideals like getting sleep, playing not working out and relaxing
when you can.
Some of the
ancestral diets are more localized like the Okinawan diet that focuses on
eating yams and seafood with lots of local available foods, the Mediterranean
diet that focuses on good fats, veggies and sea food and even an Inuit diet
that has people eating lots of fish, game meat and that’s about it…talk about
Keto friendly! And of course, the
weirdly named Pegan diet that focuses on eating high fat foods and limiting carbs.
There are of course way more Ancestral based diet plans from around the world,
but honestly most of them are very similar and not many of them very from a
Primal/paleo stance or a off shoot of it.
Essentially Sugar and simple carbs are bad and proteins and fiber is
good.
Some of the
programs fall under “Group/eating/lifestyle” or Support group eating
programs. Those include classically Weight watchers and even Nutrisystem as
well as Jenny Craig. These provide food and a system for eating but also
encourage group meetings, counselling and other elements. Often you find that
the counselors are not nutritionally trained and often only trained in the
program they are selling you.
These programs
are not run by “trained” people and much like the watered down educated “gym
pros” that you get to train with at a gym…they are not really experts. Having
said this, I know of a few people who swear by it…and use them for years…and
years. If you can not meet your goals in a year…move along. If you don’t see
major jumps in your goals then you are over paying for an under producing
service. However, if you feel good about it and you are healthier for it…why
not.
I mentioned clean eating a while
back here and its super important to note that I often separate out the clean
eating or food combination clean eating from other catagenesis as they seem to
strive to limit the amount of processed foods and combine clean foods together
like the original eat clean diet. While the eat clean diet is focused on just
eating non processed proteins and carbs the focus is on eating as healthy as
possible. Perhaps to general or broad for some the variations of this include
an “organivores” (organic foods only) and Locavore diet (Eating only local
clean foods.
More exotic sounding diets like
the High Residue diet, Low Carbon Diet, Macrobiotic diet and the negative
calorie diet that focuses on eating foods that are whole and low in calories. Some
focus on eating whole clean foods that are only vegetarian like the Graham
diet, which cold be put under the Vegetarian heading but puts a great deal of emphasis
on the “Clean part of it” and having been created in the early 19th century
it may have been a bit ahead of its time.
William Hays created the Hay
diet in the 1920’s to focus on food separation, he did not believe in eating
the carbohydrates with the proteins, but he also felt that eating clean was essential.
Other diets used broad “Clean eating focus” Like the Omnivore and Organic food
diets as well as the Montignac diet and the Sonoma diet that worked on eating
clean “power foods” and restricting portions.
Over the last
few years of research I have put together, jerry rigged a working diet based on
all of these diet ideas that I find may work. Keeping in mind I am no expert in
this field just someone who buys a lot of books. And I am working on implementing
a two phase diet program with a “Eat clean/paleo/IF” Focus. The best things I can say about the amount of
research I have done is that I know now that processed foods are horrible for
you, eating clean natural foods are much better. Carbs/fats are not your enemy
if you keep this in mind. And of course calorie/portion control for weight loss
is super important.
Aside from this
the rest is just fluf and smoke and mirrors. One meal a day or six, if you fill
your fuel tank with junk your elite body wont work well. If you stuff it with
foods high in fiber your wont get to over eat. Cut your fruits when you want to
drop weight (Sugars) and stick to the starch, veggie, protein combo for each
meal…and drink water over pop. That’s pretty
much all the diet wisdom I have.