6 Reasons Fad Diets Suck
Keto, paleo, lemon detox, no/low carb, grapefruit, sugar-free, low-fat, juice cleanses, Dukan, raw food diet. There are literally hundreds of different diets to choose from - it all feels a little overwhelming.
Fad diets are kind of like the douchebag that tells you everything you want to hear and then ghosts you, leaving you feeling confused, used and thinking it must be you that did something wrong.
I’m here to tell you - it isn’t you!
It’s the douchebag diet.
So here are 6 reasons I think fad diets suck:
Diets don’t work (in the long term)
Diets encourage you to self-restrict the amount of food you eat, only consume ‘special foods’ or eat in prescribed time periods in an attempt to lose weight.
However, diets can’t transcend biology, and our cells are hard-wired for survival. Our cells know we need energy from food to survive and don’t know the famine is ‘self-imposed’ or ‘part of the plan’.
So what does your body do in these conditions?
The harder you try to restrict your intake, the harder your mind and body adapts, by slowing down metabolism and increasing food cravings (it thinks you need to focus more on getting out of famine!). For many the pressure to eat reaches a point of loss-of-control eating.
Often when we first diet the weight “melts off” so to speak. However with each crash-diet, your body learns and adapts, resulting in rebound weight gain which is often higher in adipose tissue (fat) and reduces your muscle mass. If diets worked you would try one and be done...but often that’s not the case.
What many people believe to be an issue of ‘willpower’ is actually a biological drive to survive.
2. Diets can be harmful
In fact fad-diets can contribute to:
Increased anxiety about weight
Weight cycling*
Eating disorder behaviours (i.e. food preoccupation, binge eating, eating in the absence of hunger)
Nutritional deficiencies (i.e. vitamin D, iron, calcium).
Worsening our subconscious biases, i.e. discrimination of people of larger body size.
Worsened body satisfaction
Weight cycling is the term used to describe yo-yo dieting or gaining and losing weight from dieting. Weight cycling itself is an independent risk factor for CVD, inflammation, high BP and insulin resistance.
3. Diets reduce variety
I am all about variety. Another reason diets suck is because when we limit certain foods/food groups we reduce the likelihood that we are eating a balanced diet and getting the right amount of nutrients. Over time this can result in nutritional deficiencies, increased food cravings, impact on our mood and decreased energy levels.
Interestingly, when we starve our bodies or only eat ‘diet approved foods’ we also starve our microbiome. The microbiome refers to the ‘good bacteria’ living in your gut. These little critters inside us do loads of amazing jobs inside our large intestine, such as training our immune system, synthesizing vitamins, and producing hormones (to name a few).
New research has proposed that a less diverse microbiome is linked to poorer health outcomes and can cause gut dysbiosis (unhealthy gut). Eating a diverse and plant rich diet is likely to lead to a more diverse microbiome, and in turn a happier and healthier digestive system.
If you want to improve your health - you need to eat.
4. Diets suck the joy out of eating
Dieting can make food the enemy often by labelling it as ‘good’ and ‘bad.’⠀Considering that our bodies are biologically hardwired to enjoy eating - this can present some issues. One example is feelings of guilt/worthlessness when eating ‘bad’ or ‘forbidden’ foods.
Diets often encourage us to deprive ourselves of foods we enjoy. In some instances, you may avoid social occasions due to your diet or undereat in front of others. Diets can leave you feeling overwhelmed around food, caught in the internal conflict between what the diet prescribes as ‘right’ or ‘good’ and what you enjoy or feel like eating.
We know eating is not just about ‘nutrition’ or ‘sustenance’; it’s so much more profound; food is part of our cultural practices, comfort, celebrations, and memories. Therefore, we all deserve to eat the foods we enjoy during these experiences, free of guilt.
You have the right to enjoy all foods, at all points of your life.
5. Diets are expensive and time consuming
5. Diets are expensive and time-consuming
This one is pretty simple. Diets encourage you to spend unnecessary $$$. The dieting industry in the US is a 61 billion dollar industry.
If they aren't expensive, I can guarantee that they cost you your time in one way or another. Whether you're counting calories, or scrutinizing food labels, or maybe more pervasive - causing you to feel distracted by thoughts about food, your next meal, or to feel anxious around food or the number on the scale.
Diets distract us from achieving our goals - ironically keep our minds, not our waists, small.
Save your pennies and instead enjoy a delicious meal at your favorite restaurant, or a glass of wine with mates!
6. Diets teach you not to trust yourself
Diets prescribe rigid eating patterns or strict food rules (i.e., no carbohydrates after 5 pm or no fruit after midday), encourage you to count calories, or use a points-based system to prescribe the amount of food you're allowed each day.
The question here is, what happens when you feel true hunger, and it's not within the prescribed eating period? Or you don't want to eat the prescribed food?
Do you deny your hunger and ignore your body's biological needs? Or maybe you deprive yourself of the food you truly feel like eating.
Suppose we constantly ignore our bodies' signals. Then, gradually, we can lose touch with our natural hunger and fullness cues and lose the ability to determine what foods we genuinely feel like eating.
Over time, this can develop into unhealthy behaviours, i.e., binge eating, food preoccupation, feeling 'addicted to' or having 'no self-control around certain food/food groups.
Eating should be simple. Unfortunately, diet culture has come along and over-complicated the process for many of us.
Fortunately, the practice of intuitive eating can help you to relearn your natural hunger and satiety cues - more on this later!
Reg flags you should look out for when considering changing your eating pattern
Promises instant or drastic weight loss
Forces you to cut out major food groups (i.e. no bread or dairy)
Limits what you can eat or the times of day you can eat
Encourages you to take supplements, ‘super-foods’ or eat certain food combinations (i.e. don’t eat fruit with meat)
It is ridged in structure and applies one size fits all approach
Labels food as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and/or speaks of ‘cheat days’ and ‘free foods’
Promises to detoxify your body or digestive system
You can’t sustain it for the rest of your life
So let's reframe. If we don’t measure health in terms of ‘weight/weight-loss’ how else can we measure it?
Here are some suggestions:
You have more time and energy for pleasure, purpose and achieving your goals
Improvements in your mental health and wellbeing
Improved self-worth/confidence
Improved sleep
Eating free from distraction and without guilt
Improved digestion
Can exercise for longer and recover faster
Can you think of any other ways we can measure health?
Take home messages
We need energy. Energy comes from food.
If you want to improve your health you need to eat.
Health is not synonymous with weight.
You are allowed to enjoy eating all foods.
In some instances, people require ‘special’ diets for medical conditions, i.e. diabetes, IBS/IBD, and kidney disease. If this is the case, the diet should be guided by a medical professional.