Fad Diets vs Healthy Eating: What is the most effective diet?

Nowadays we have so much diet advice available online that are contradictory.

You have some people who still promote the ‘low fat’ advice and you have others that take all this new information to heart and that recommend we completely say no to carbohydrates, or that we avoid simple carbs in particular.

Then there are others that will attempt to use a lot of the information we now have to create ‘hacks’ that help us to lose weight faster and with less effort.

All of them are wrong and all of them are right. The answer lies somewhere in the middle, as ever.

Hey, guys, it’s me Gympanzie and for more informative stuff like this don’t forget to subscribe to my blog!

Let’s start by taking a look at some of the most popular approaches to dieting, how they work and what you should take from them…

Low-Fat Diets

Low-fat diets are diets that haven’t gotten the memo about saturated fat.

And it is true that you can lose weight on these diets.

That’s because fat is high in calories and if you’re strict enough to ignore the hunger that comes from surviving on a low-fat diet, then you can significantly reduce your calories this way so that you are ultimately burning more calories than you are consuming.

This makes a deficit and it means that your body is forced to burn fat for energy. Only it’s not particularly healthy!

 

Calorie Counting and IIFYM

A slightly better version of this diet is simply to count calories and to make sure that you consume fewer calories than you burn.

This means calculating first the total number of calories you burn in a typical day (called your AMR – more on this later) and then adding up the total number of calories that you are eating.

Your aim is then to make sure that you eat fewer calories than you burn off so that your body will be forced to burn fat stores.

This can and will help you to lose weight.

Now, not all of the calories in your food are going to be absorbed and the speed at which they are absorbed can vary greatly.

However, if you don’t even put enough calories in your mouth to fuel all your activities then you can guarantee that your calorie total will be in a deficit and this means you’ll have to burn fat just to stay up and mobile!

Another similar approach to this concept is IIFYM.

IIFYM stands for ‘If It Fits in Your Macros’ and is a strategy used by some athletes and bodybuilders.

This divides your daily calories into the major food groups and then set a fixed number of calories for each food group.

Bodybuilders need 2 gram of protein for every 1 kilo of body weight in order to maximize their muscle mass.

So, if you weigh 60 kgs, that means you need 120 grams of protein or 480 calories’ worth of protein.

In order to fulfill your remaining calorie (including carbohydrates and fat requirement), you can then divide your target among the other food groups throughout the day and aim to complete that.

There are few problems associated with both approaches though.

One is that they both force you to calculate and add up all the calories you consume which is a highly time consuming and laborious process – not to mention one that can never be entirely accurate.

Another problem is that it oversimplifies diet and doesn’t pay attention to any of the other important factors such as your metabolism, such as your micronutrients or such as the GI of your food.

That means that counting calorie can lead you to lose weight in a very unhealthy way.

For example, you could lose weight eating nothing but ice cream and cookies if it ‘fits in your macros’.

You are surely going to lose weight yes but that way will be extremely unhealthy and might give your diabetes as well!

 

The Low Carb/Slow Carb Diet 

The other approach that is popular… takes an entirely different tact to lose weight by lowering, restricts it or completely bans carbohydrate intake from the diet.

This simply demonizes carbs in the same way that we once demonized fats.

By reducing carbohydrates, you can thereby avoid spiking your blood sugar level and maintain a steady level.

This, in turn, means that you will have a steady supply of energy and won’t get the cravings or lethargy that comes with sudden spikes and troughs.

It also means you can increase your insulin sensitivity and improve your body’s ability to use energy in an efficient manner.

At the same time, simply by avoiding a lot of carbohydrates like bread, potato, crisps, chips, cake, Coca-Cola, etc., you will be able to reduce your intake of ‘empty calories’ that increase your calories without offering any useful nutrition.

The ‘slow carb’ diet takes a slightly different approach to this by simply banning ‘simple carbs’ and focusing instead on complex, low GI carbohydrates such as vegetables and whole grains.

There are problems here though too.

For one, the slow carb diet does not guarantee a nutritious meal and nor does it guarantee you’ll lose weight.

Some people will follow the slow carb diet thinking it’s okay to eat as much fat as they like and they’ll end up drastically increasing their calories as a result!

Moreover, carbohydrates serve a useful role in the diet just like every other food group does.

Low carb diets have been shown to cause low energy and low testosterone and if you’re going to completely restrict then avoiding carbs would mean avoiding fruit and vegetables too!

But there is a proper way to approach a low carb diet out of which Atkins version of Keto Diet is something which I feel is a great way to lose body fat.

As I and many of my clients have benefited by following this approach.

I have created a detailed guide on how to get started and some pitfalls to avoid while following a Keto Diet.

You can read more about it by clicking here!

 

The Paleo Diet

Low-fat food’s major problem is they will make it harder to absorb the nutrients and don’t keep us as full.

The problem associated with eating simple carbohydrates is they provide too much sugar and doesn’t provide us with enough nutrition in return.

And here I would like to talk about a type of fat that definitely does cause heart problems.

Trans fat is a man-made fat using hydrogenated oils that causes bad cholesterol and other issues.

Maybe the problem here isn’t the low/high carb or low/high-fat but rather the fact that they’re processed and unnatural.

When we eat foods that are naturally available, we are eating foods that our body has grown to flourish on.

As an outcome, the body is in a perfect state to absorb all the nutrients.

The fact is… these foods are more potent and because they have certain vitamins and minerals which are included all together aids with absorption and makes those more valuable to us.

When we eat processed foods though, we don’t give our body the sustenance it needs and we can’t make full use of the limited nutrition therein.

The paleo diet takes this concept to its natural conclusion by stating that you should only eat foods that would be naturally available in our diet during our evolution.

As a result, you’ll end up eating a lot of eggs, meats, fish, and organ meats. Lots of nuts, seeds, berries, fruits and lots of vegetables.

At the same time, you can’t eat anything processed or man-made like cake, chocolate, bread or dairy.

This diet provides our body with lots of nutrition and helps us to avoid processed and junk foods that’s why it works well.

Many people say they feel more energetic and healthier in their entire lives on a paleo diet.

If you will ask me this is good, but still, this one isn’t perfect either.

These diets make the mistake of sticking too rigidly to the rules.

Just because the caveman couldn’t drink milk or eat bread doesn’t mean that you can’t.

There is proof’s that proves lactose intolerance is only a problem for a specific group of people with a specific allergy, not the general public and the same goes for Celiac’s disease and gluten sensitivity.

Bread and Milk are perfectly fine for you but if you really have a hard time to avoid them, you’ll see that it will become hard for you to follow the diet in a modern world and that there are more chances to fail.

Similarly, most people will find it hard to never treat themselves to a chocolate bar.

But, an occasional treat isn’t a bad idea as part of a well-balanced diet.

Finally, I would still consider paleo diet as it is better in terms of nutrition than that of a low carb or low-fat diet has – but then you’ve to follow some guidelines and avoid some food sources which I think is manageable.

But don’t you think that if you are eating healthy you can eat anything!

Contrary to popular belief it’s possible to be healthy and overweight if you are in a caloric surplus!

 

Intermittent Fasting

Intermittent fasting takes a slightly more extreme approach to the blood- sugar issue in an attempt to accomplish essentially the same thing while at the same time lowering the total caloric intake.

The idea of intermittent fasting is to fast for short periods and to alternate between this and periods of eating normally.

This might mean that you stop eating after 4 pm, or it might mean that you attempt the ‘5:2 diet’ and fast for two days of the week consuming only 500-600 calories on those days.

The idea behind this is partly to force a lower calorie intake for the week. At the same time though, it also forces you to lower your blood sugar significantly during those periods, increasing your insulin sensitivity, the function of your mitochondria and your ability to burn through fats.

You’ll also reduce your glycogen stores and triglycerides by burning through energy when your blood sugar is that low.

The biggest problem with this diet is how impractical it is to stick to.

It’s also a rather extreme measure which could potentially upset the hormone balance for those who have existing problems.

 

Mediterranean Diet

Remember when fat was the enemy and everyone thought it cause heart problems?

One of the studies that managed to topple this notion was a survey that looked at the health of people who ate different diets in different countries.

It was found here that despite eating a high-fat diet, people who lived in the Mediterranean (Italians, French, Greek) all lived longer and had better heart health than those in the UK and US.

Why?

We now know that this is partly because fats aren’t that bad for us.

What we also know is that the Mediterranean diet is very high in fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as fish, meats, salads, and nuts.

Those on the Mediterranean actually make food an important part of their day and make the effort to cook fresh, delicious meals to enjoy with their families.

These include tons of cancer and age-fighting antioxidants that absorb all the better, thanks to the fat and oil content.

Because you’re filling up on good food, you’ll also be less likely to feel hungry and need to snack later on.

This is a great diet to try out but again the problem is that there’s very little structure to it, making it all too easy to end up accidentally getting fat on all that healthy food.

How to Take a Balanced Approach to Your Diet – The Middle Way!

I’ve explained all of this so that you have a proper understanding of your diet and of the various different views and stances out there.

This will help you to better appreciate the benefits of taking a ‘middle way’ approach that borrows the best elements from each diet without being too extreme or dogmatic.

So, here’s what we know and what we can take away from everything we’ve learned so far:

1. You will lose weight if you burn more calories than you consume
2. All food groups play important roles in the body
3. A diet is only useful if you are able to actually stick to it
4. It’s very important to fuel yourself with lots of nutrients
5. ‘Real’ food helps you to feel fuller for longer
6. Processed foods offer less nutrition and tend to be high GI
7. Spiking your blood sugar damages your insulin sensitivity and makes you hungrier

So taking all this into account…

How should we approach our diet?

The first thing to do is to ‘roughly’ count calories.

Creating a calorie deficit is still the best way to reduce your weight and to burn body fat so if that’s your aim, then it’s a good idea.

As you’ll see though, there’s no need to laboriously count out every single calorie – especially seeing as the number is a rough guide to start with!

To do this then, you’re going to work out your AMR or your ‘Active Metabolic Rate’.

This is the number of calories you burn in a typical day, taking into account how active (or inactive) you are as well as your body weight and various other factors.

To work this out, you first start with your BMR.

Your BMR is your ‘Basal Metabolic Rate’ which tells you just how many calories you would burn if you simply sat down all day.

Our body needs to carry out a large number of processes simply to stay alive and these include things like blinking, breathing, beating our heart and repairing tissues.

Your active metabolic rate then simply tells you how much you’re burning on top of this number by moving.

Even if you don’t actively work out, chances are that you walk around, go shopping and engage in other basic activities that will increase the number of calories you burn.

This gives your AMR and that in turn should roughly tell you how many calories you use up every day.

To calculate this number, use the following formulas:

• Men:

BMR = 66 + (6.23 x weight in pounds) + (12.7 x height in inches) – (6.8 x age in years)

• Women:

BMR = 655 + (4.35 x weight in pounds) + (4.7 x height in inches) – (4.7 x age in years)

To turn this into your AMR, you then multiply that amount by:

• 1.2 if you’re sedentary (little or no exercise)
• 1.375 if you’re lightly active (you exercise 1-3 times a week)
• 1.55 if you’re moderately active (you exercise or work about average)
• 1.725 if you’re very active (you train hard for 6-7 days a week)
• 1.9 if you’re highly active (you’re a physical laborer or a professional athlete)

Now you have your AMR, your objective is to limit your caloric intake to be lower than this amount. This is where many people would start counting calories, which in turn is what drives many people mad and causes them to fail in their ambition to lose weight!

So instead, aim to calculate only a very rough estimate of how many calories you consume and look at the calories included in all the things you eat regularly.

Most of us will circulate between 10-20 meals that we enjoy cooking and will eat a relatively consistently lunch and breakfast.

Now find what the biggest contributors to your overall calorie intake is.

Maybe there’s a pizza you often eat that is adding an insane 1,500kcal to your total. Maybe you’re drinking a lot of Coca-Cola!

Identify these and eradicate them from your diet.

Another tip that you can use is to give yourself a set breakfast and lunch.

This works because it will allow you to know exactly how many calories you will have consumed by dinner.

If you keep this number low, then you can make sure that you have lots of ‘leeway’ to be a bit careless for dinner.

For example, if you know that your target calorie intake is 2,000 then you can choose a set breakfast and lunch that will give you a combined total of 700 calories.

This then means you have 1,300 calories to consume for dinner before you’ll risk gaining weight.

You’ll pick meals that aren’t obscenely high in calories and that will allow you to eat without needing to actually calculate anything at all.

And why are we choosing breakfast and lunch to be the ‘static’ meals?

Simple: because breakfast and lunch are not social meals.

When it comes to diet ‘adherence’ one of the biggest challenges is always the social aspect of eating.

It’s hard to eat a healthy, boring meal if you’re out with friends or on a date.

So eat boring when you’re in a rush and then sit down to really enjoy your dinners with your family just like they do on the Mediterranean!

 

Choosing the Right Food

Using this method, you can now maintain a calorie deficit relatively consistently without having to do too much counting, tracking or stressing.

What’s important at the same time though is to think carefully about the types of foods you’re consuming and how this is going to contribute to your hunger/satiety as well as your overall health.

The aim here is to aim for quality, natural foods that you enjoy but to eat less of them – rather than trying to eat the usual amount of food but getting it from ‘low fat’ sources.

Try to avoid simple carbs unless you’re getting a lot in return (smoothies being one good exception) and look out for nutrient-dense ‘superfoods’ like seaweeds, berries and other things that pack a lot of nutrients into a small amount of food.

This is what’s going to enable you to stick to your goals and it’s what will ensure your metabolism works well and your health is at its optimum.

So instead of eating Roti and sabzi (in order to avoid hidden calories coming from ‘x’ tablespoon of oil added by your mom or wife :P) for breakfast, try eating oats.

This will offer similar nutrition and release energy slowly throughout the day.

Drink full-fat milk so that it will help you to absorb the nutrients in a more efficient way and so that you get all the health benefits that come from it.

Likewise, avoid junk sandwiches for lunch and instead look for a salad bar where you can have some salad leaves, fruits, and vegetables, eggs, nuts.

Try and switch your morning coffee and drink a healthy vegetable smoothie where you can add cream in it.

While cooking dinner aim to cook your meal fresh.

Think of this like a computer game where the micronutrients you can get in your diet are ‘power-ups’ that will make you stronger, faster, smarter and thinner.

By doing this, you’ll be fueling your body with everything it needs to be healthy, energy-efficient and immune to many diseases.

You’ll also be avoiding spiking your blood sugar too much and this will keep your insulin sensitivity high too.

If you crave to eat something unhealthy or processed it is fine, as long as you eat lot of other low GI food at the same time to slow the absorption and as long as you’re staying under your calorie target while you get all your nutrition from other sources – it’s okay to be ‘not perfect’! Meanwhile, don’t bother avoiding milk or bread.

If you must create a single ‘rule’ for your natural food, then expand the definition of ‘natural’ to include anything that could be farmed.

You see it’s not really that hard.

In many ways, you’re doing exactly what they did back in the early days of our understanding of diet: eating the same diet but in lower quantities.

The difference is that we know why it works and we have a little more control over how we do it.

Science has gone full circle from telling us to hack our diet all the way to tell us to eat as natural as possible and to sit down and enjoy your food!