There are no magic diets
Nikola Man
In this post we covered the basics of caloric intake and how it impacts your weight. Now, I would like to take a closer look at different diets and examine how exactly the produce their effects.
I have to make an important disclaimer before we delve any deeper into the topic. My goal is not to convince you that diets are the root of all evil, even though I criticize diets in almost every post. If a diet gave you desired results in the past and you want to give it a shot again, then by all means do so. If you want to try a new diet that a friend recommended, go right ahead. If any diet is going to yield the outcomes you want in a safe and healthy manner, then I have nothing against it. However, I do have a lot against lies, scams and rip-offs, diets with poor effectiveness and above all, I despise approaches to dieting that can harm your health. While it is true that my website offers the coaching option both for nutrition and exercise, my texts never contain any advertising for that, no invitations, no discounts or anything else of the sort. What’s more, my only goal is to provide as many free resources as I can, so that you can have access to scientific studies in a simplified format which will enable you to discern bullshit from the real deal. I want you to leave every text a bit more informed about the way your body works and to truly understand why something is being recommended to you.
It’s a slightly longer disclaimer, but that has made you hungrier (I promise I will stop with the puns) for information. Without any further ado, the analysis of most popular dieting approaches:
Low carb diets – diets like LCHF, the Atkins diet or any other diet that deprives you of carbohydrates significantly fit the bill. These diets basically force an entire food group out of your diet or at least bring it down to a bare minimum. Their short-term effects will be especially noticeable with people who love food rich in carbs, and even more so for those who love sweets and dough-based food items
Net effect – calorie deficit
Keto diet – this diet is the more extreme variety of low carb diets and similarly to LCHF it relies on a higher fat intake. That means that even greater restriction will be imposed on carb intake
Net effect – calorie deficit
Vegan – this approach to nutrition excludes all animal-based products which will eliminate a ton of options, especially for those who are used to eating a lot of meat, eggs and dairy.
Net effect – calorie deficit
Paleo diet – this diet excludes any processed food because it is based on the idea (incorrect idea) that food available before the industrial revolution and further back in history is healthier than modern food which has gone through many kinds of processing. Given the fact that processed food is omnipresent, this eliminates a lot of options
Net effect – calorie deficit
Chrono diet – this diet imposes a rigid structure in terms of time and food choices. Deli meats, cold cuts and whole-grain breads for breakfast, meat and veggies for lunch, fish for dinner and you get the point. In this diet you have to limiting factors, one is time because you can only eat certain things at certain times and the second is the food selection itself
Net effect – calorie deficit
Low fat diet – as the name suggests, the goal is similar in nature to low catb diets, the only difference being that the restriction is on fat intake instead
Net effect – calorie deficit
Intermittent fasting – this on its own is not a diet, rather it is a method of time restricted eating. It operates on an “eating window”. For example, in the span of a day (24 hours) you do not consume any calories during 16 hours and then you have freedom to eat during the remaining 8. The idea is that most people will not be able to overeat in such a short period of time
Net effect – calorie deficit
Detox and cleansing diets – they often pop up in the form of tea or through the exclusion of all foods except juices and smoothies. The caloric intake will be drastically reduced, often at the expense of health, but something very interesting will happen:
Net effect – calorie deficit
I think that this is enough to explain how literally every diet works. It tries to get you into a calorie deficit. All of them can be effective which should tell you that there are many ways to lose weight so please run away from people who tell you that their way is “the only proven” way to lose fat. Science has demonstrated time and time again that calorie deficit is the primary and the biggest contributing factor in weight loss. With that in mind, my advice to you is, if you’re going to go on a diet, pick one that best fits your lifestyle, your taste and preferences because then you will feel better than if you had to force yourself to give up everything you love eating.
Today’s summary will be only two points long:
Every diet can lead to weight loss, and if that does happen it is because you were in a calorie deficit because a calorie deficit is the primary factor with the biggest impact on your weight
Do not waste your money on “magic” products and false promises, instead pick an approach that suits you