Conventional wisdom about diets,
including government health recommendations,
And yet, ads routinely come about
claiming to have the answer about what we should eat.
So how do we distinguish what's actually healthy
from what advertisers just want us to believe is good for us?
Marketing takes advantage of the desire to drop weight fast,
And in the big picture, diet plans promising dramatic results,
are just what they seem: too good to be true.
So where do diet fads even come from?
While the Ancient Greeks and Romans
rallied behind large-scale health regimens centuries earlier,
this phenomenon began in earnest in the Victorian Era
with crazes like the vinegar diet
Since then, diets have advised us all sorts of things:
to swallow a grapefruit per meal,
If the idea of diet crazes has withstood history,
could this mean that they work?
In the short term, the answer is often yes.
like the popular Atkins or South Beach Diets,
have an initial diuretic effect.
Sodium is lost until the body can balance itself out,
and temporary fluid weight loss may occur.
With other high-protein diets, you might lose weight at first
since by restricting your food choices,
you are dropping your overall calorie intake.
But your body then lowers its metabolic rate to adjust to the shift,
lessening the diet's effect over time
and resulting in a quick reversal if the diet is abandoned.
So while these diets may be alluring early on,
they don't guarantee long-term benefits for your health and weight.
A few simple guidelines, though, can help differentiate between
a diet that is beneficial in maintaining long-term health,
and one that only offers temporary weight changes.
If a diet focuses on intensely cutting back calories
or on cutting out entire food groups,
like fat, sugar, or carbohydrates,
And another red flag is ritual,
when the diet in question instructs you to only eat specific foods,
or to opt for particular food substitutes,
like drinks, bars, or powders.
The truth is shedding pounds in the long run
simply doesn't have a quick-fix solution.
Not all diet crazes tout weight loss.
What about claims of superfoods, cleanses, and other body-boosting solutions?
Marketing emphasizes the allure
of products associated with ancient and remote cultures
to create a sense of mysticism for consumers.
While so-called superfoods, like blueberries or açaí,
do add a powerful punch of nutrients,
their super transformative qualities are largely exaggeration.
They are healthy additions to a balanced diet,
yet often, they're marketed as part of sugary drinks or cereals,
in which case the negative properties outweight the benefits.
Cleanses, too, may be great in moderation
since they can assist with jumpstarting weight loss
and can increase the number of fresh fruits and vegetables consumed daily.
Scientifically speaking, though,
they've not yet been shown to have either a long-term benefit
or to detox the body any better than the natural mechanisms already in place.
we're offered solutions to how we can look better,
but advice on what we should eat is best left to the doctors and nutritionists
who are aware of our individual circumstances.
Diets and food fads aren't inherently wrong.