Diet fixes or futile fads?

BY REBECCA PALMER

New diets seem to pop up all the time - in fact, a quick search on the internet reveals there are nearly as many fad diets as there are foods.

But whether their key element is vinegar, apples, lemonade or chicken soup, they have one thing in common, dietitian Nikki Talacek says.

"Essentially what they all do is severely restrict your calorie intake. They are all just very low energy diets."

She says that while you may lose weight in the short term, fad diets are not sustainable and can be dangerous. Because you are depriving yourself of energy, your body goes into "starvation mode".

Once you come off the diet, your body thinks another famine is coming and works hard to store whatever energy it can.

Ms Talacek works alongside a weight-loss surgeon, giving dietary advice to obese patients about to undergo bariatric surgery. "Everyone I see has dieted their way up to obesity," she says.

Of the more famous diets:

Cabbage soup diet

According to advocates, the cabbage soup diet may be just what you need if you want to lose weight fast.

It consists of a daily dose of the soup, plus other foods over seven days or more (that is, fruit one day, vegetables the next).

Ms Talacek says a lot of her clients have tried it. "I wouldn't call it a balanced diet. It's not something which is sustainable."

Grapefruit diet

One of the oldest fad diets, it is sometimes known as the Hollywood diet. The key element is eating half a grapefruit before every meal.

Ms Talacek says the idea is the enzymes in grapefruit magically make you lose weight. "As far as I'm aware, they can't actually find this magical enzyme."

Like the cabbage soup diet, it restricts your overall energy intake. Ms Talacek says eating half a grapefruit will help you feel full, so you can eat a smaller meal.

But you won't lose weight if you eat the grapefruit and then eat the same-sized meal as you usually do.

Banana diet

This diet caused a banana shortage in Japan last year.

It has a simple formula - a banana (or two or three) and room-temperature water for breakfast, followed by anything you like for lunch and dinner.

A mid-afternoon snack is OK, but dinner has to be before 8pm and you can't have dessert.

"It's going to get to the point where you get sick of bananas and you eat less," says Ms Talacek.

The basic principles of the diet are healthy eating, she says.

The idea of not eating dinner after 8pm has merit. "A lot of people who eat in the evenings consume a vast amount of energy."

No eating carbs after 5pm (and variations on the theme)

Ms Talacek says it's not as if your body decides it's going to convert carbohydrates to fat, just because it's 5.06pm.

"Your body doesn't distinguish calories or energy from different food sources."

But she adds that over- eating before bed is not a good idea because you're not going to be using up the energy you've consumed if you're lying down.

She recommends eating three similar-sized meals during the day, including breakfast. Dinner should not be the biggest meal and it should come "a good number of hours" before you go to bed.

Detox diets

Feel like your digestive system needs a clean-out after over-indulging in food and alcohol? You won't be the first.

Health-food suppliers offer special kits and the internet is full of detox diets. They include the lemon detox diet, which requires you to drink large quantities of water mixed with maple syrup, lemon juice and a dash of cayenne pepper.

One of Ms Talacek's clients had been doing the lemon detox diet. "She said it was so awful that she had to stop. I've had lots of people do detox diets . . . They are quite often glorified fasts . . ."

Laxatives are often included to "clear you out".

"Our bodies are very well set up to deal with the toxins we take in . . . I don't ever advocate people do detox diets."

Fellow dietitian Angela Berrill suggests that if you feel like you need a detox, cutting out alcohol and eating a balanced diet is the way to go.

Low-carb or no-carb diets

Ms Talacek says there are varying degrees of carb-limiting diets, including well-known ones such as Atkins.

"A lot of people do eat a lot of carbs and they will over-eat. When you are trying to lose weight, trying to cut down on your carbs isn't actually a problem."

But it is important you do not go below the recommended amounts set out in the Health Ministry's food and nutrition guidelines.

Overall

Ms Talacek says you should avoid anything that asks you to exclude a food group entirely or that says a food has a magic ingredient. "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."

It is also possible to get toxicity from eating too much of one type of food, she says. "If you eat too many carrots or pumpkins, you can turn orange. It's transient but it scares people."

If you do decide to go on a diet, it is a good idea to seek help from someone, particularly if you have a medical condition.

"If you start fiddling around you could actually do yourself more harm than good."

 

- © Fairfax NZ News