Diets

 

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 19^th 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.