What are the best popular diets? What will work best for you? In the health and fitness world, there is more conflicting information about “diets” than any other subject. The libraries and bookstores are filled with books which offer differing “fact based” opinions from experts, doctors, lay people, and diet promoters.
For example, when it comes to vegan (100% plant based) diets, I often hear that the elephant is a huge animal and it eats only plants. But then the big cats are primarily meat eaters. Which would you rather be like, an elephant or a panther? Different animals have different digestive capabilities. The digestive systems of elephants (plant eaters) are different from the digestive systems of big cats – Lions, Tigers, etc. (Meat eaters). And I would suspect that big cats have different digestive requirements than house cats. Evolution, you know.
Humans are omnivorous. Our systems are designed to eat both plants and animals. Yet there are even different opinions about that. There are tons of “studies” from reputable sources, each offering their expert opinions about what humans are designed to eat and what we are not designed to eat. Most popular diets contain a little of each food variety in various degrees.
In the annual Food and Health survey released in 2018 by the International Food Information Council and reported a couple of weeks ago by the Washington Post, the most popular diets were the following (in descending order): Intermittent fasting, Paleo, gluten-free, low-carb, Mediterranean, Whole 30, high-protein, vegetarian/vegan, cleanse, DASH, and ketogenic/high-fat. You can find descriptions of each online.
In a paper published in the archives of the National Library of Medicine of the National Institute of Health in 2007, it lists the dietary quality comparison of the most popular diets using something called the AHEI, or Alternate Healthy Eating Index, as the guideline. It lists the diets in terms of AHEI quality in this order with a maximum possible score of 70: Ornish 64.6; Weight Watchers high-carb 57.4; New Glucose Revolution 57.2; South Beach, Phase 2 50.7; Zone 49.8; 2005 Food Guide Pyramid 48.7; Weight Watchers high-protein 47.3; Atkins 100 gm carb 46.0; South Beach, Phase 3 45.61, and Atkins 45 gm carb 42.3.
Confusing isn’t it. The “diets” don’t even overlap.
Years ago, my wife and I tried Jean Carper’s 7 Fat Unit Diet (21 gms of fat max per day). We lost 7 pounds in seven days just like it promised. Our hair and skin dried out and we lost a significant amount of our Personal Energy. Later we tried the South Beach Diet (Low Glycemic). It worked, and we stayed on it at the maintenance level for a long time. It worked until we went off it.
Here’s what has worked for both my wife and me for the last eight years. We cut back slightly on meat and started eating more vegetables. I learned to eat some of the vegetables that I was told to eat when I was a kid. I even eat broccoli now. Sometimes I have to spice it up, but I eat it.
We cut out most added sugar. We eat a bunch of fruit. We both take a Senior multi-vitamin. We still eat bread but mostly sour-dough, whole wheat or rye. I guess it’s sort of an American version of the Mediterranean Diet – lots of fruits, veggies, grains, some meat, moderate carbs and proteins, and good fats. Fats are important for the assimilation of Vitamins A,D,E & K.
The result? I dropped nearly 40 pounds from 198 pounds to my current weight of 160 pounds. I didn’t look bad but I felt “heavy”. I’ve remained at 160 pounds the entire time. Even though I exercise a lot, it was the diet that made me lose weight. Weight loss begins in the kitchen, not the gym.
What will work for you? I would suspect the same diet as I used would work for most, but keep in mind we all have individual needs and individual food challenges. You’ll have to experiment to see.
Thank you for reading.