Good health
Lose weight not your mind
Ishi Khosla

There is no magic solution for weight loss despite many fad diets promising the moon. A successful diet plan enables you to lose weight and establishes a life-long healthy eating and exercise pattern so that weight loss is permanent

With the war on obesity, the search for weight-loss methods is at an all-time high, be it novel diets, exercise regimens or weight-loss supplements. Fat has become somewhat a villain in our lives - right from 'being fat' to 'eating fat'.

The modern world is obsessed with dieting. Whether the reasons for dieting are cosmetic or health related, slimming need not involve fad diets or peculiar eating patterns. It is not surprising that people, after trying and failing to keep weight off through weight-loss centres, nutritionists, personal trainers, gyms, powders and pills, are trying to reinvent theories and diets to rid themselves of fat.

The number of diets and diet claims that have existed and are continuing to grow is mind boggling and almost impossible to keep pace with. It is estimated that the number of theories, treatments and diets for weight loss exceed 29,000. But fewer than 5 per cent are effective and manage to keep the weight off and 13 per cent are downright dangerous.

With the consumers in search for a magic formula to help them loose weight quickly and effortlessly, can new fad diets promise easy results?

Fad diets advocate arbitrary exaggerated theories of weight loss and encourage consumers to follow unbalanced diets. They are a short-term, quick-fix approach to weight loss that does not work over a long haul. These diets tend to promise the moon about results but fail to deliver. Food choices are monotonous and calorie intake restricted leading to wearing off the motivation to continue. These diets can lead to ill-health consequences like headaches, nausea, and dizziness to as serious as death, particularly, if followed for long spells of time.

To lose weight successfully reduce calories, eat less fat, control portions, and be more physically active

The tendency of individuals trying to lose weight is to look for the fastest and the easiest way to do so, thereby giving rise to a growing jungle of "fad diets". There are numerous types of fad diets available with supportive theories giving consumers a varied choice to select the diet that feeds their fantasy. Remember weight loss is difficult and there are no miracles. Many popular weight-loss programs appear to fulfil their promises in the short term by restricting certain food groups. Some of the most widely used diet programs are reviewed here.

1. Food-combination diets based on segregating macronutrients like proteins and carbohydrates are fallacious, as foods usually exist as combinations. Food-combination diets do help you to lose weight, but only because of the elimination of numerous foods and food groups. Some discourage exercise. Such fad-diet regimes that neither encourage healthy eating nor establish safe and permanent weight loss can be quite dangerous.

2. Crash diets, which include low-calorie meal-replacement powders, drinks, soups and bars, cannot provide the same balance of nutrients as healthy food. The success of any crash diet is short lived because water and protein are lost from the body, rather than excess body fat. Once normal eating is resumed, body fluids are quickly replaced and there is an immediate weight gain. Slimming then becomes even more difficult the next time around - a phenomenon known as the "yo-yo" effect. People on weight-loss regimes, who get into yo-yo dieting, have a tendency to put on more weight every time they eat "normally".

3. Fasting with juices and water can also be a dangerous practice. It may lead to lowered blood pressure and result in heart failure. Even if fasting is conducted under medical supervision at spas etc. it is rare for weight loss to be sustained once normal eating is resumed.

A balanced diet includes whole grains, soy, low-fat dairy products, fatty fish, brightly coloured fruits and vegetables

4. Atkins diet: One of the most popular diets, Dr Atkins believed that fat loss occurs when the body changes from using carbohydrates from fuel to using fats. Thus, the diet involves cutting down drastically on carbohydrate intake and entering a state of ketosis (when body uses carbohydrate stores and starts burning fat for energy). Reducing your calorie intake by cutting down on carbohydrates is a good slimming principal but not when taken to such an extreme.

Individuals can lose up to 3-4 kg of weight in the first week on a low-carbohydrate diet but it is mainly water loss associated with using up stored glycogen. This, like any other fad diet, is a temporary solution as when you start having carbohydrates, the weight will return.

When followed for longer periods, it may lead to:

• Increased the risk of cardiovascular and associated heart diseases attributed to an increased intake of saturated fat.

• Constipation and an increase in the risk of certain illnesses such as colon cancer due to lack of fibre.

• Deficiencies in calcium, B vitamins, Vitamin C and certain other important minerals especially iron, which may be a result of restricted intake of dairy products, fruits and vegetables

• Blood pressure problems that lead to dizziness.

• Bad breath as a result of ketosis.

• Dehydration due to ketosis, which further results in loss of ketones in the urine. When ketones are excreted, these remove water and minerals sodium and potassium from the body.

• Carbohydrate cravings.

5. South Beach diet: Like other fad diets, the South Beach Diet involves cutting down radically on a particular food group. Carbohydrates are restricted to what we call 'good carbs'. These are carbs found in foods such as whole grains, fruit, and vegetables. The diet also encourages the consumption of unsaturated fats.

GM diets allows only one or two food groups on all days like milk and banana one day

The South Beach diet is far more balanced than, say, the Atkins diet. For a start, it doesn't encourage the consumption of saturated fats. It also allows a higher carbohydrate intake, although this is still much lower than most people are used to. The diet's implication that the idea of snacking will be prevented simply by maintaining satiety is unproved. Also, although the creator addresses the use of medication in weight control, he neglects to cover the benefits of exercise- an essential component of weight gain.

This diet may result in speedy weight gain, once an individual gets back to regular eating routine.

The South Beach diet is:

• Demanding for those that are accustomed to carbohydrate-rich diets.

• Quite expensive and time consuming.

• A new way of life.

6. Zone diet: The theory behind this diet is that the daily calorie intake should be split into a 40/30/30 ratio. This means that 40 per cent of the daily calorie intake should be made up of carbohydrates, 30 per cent of the daily calorie intake should be made up of protein, and the remaining 30 per cent should be made up of fat. The amount of food eaten is also an important factor in this diet, and dieters are encouraged to carefully assess and monitor their food portions.

This diet may be:

• Time consuming and expensive

• High in saturated fat, depending on the type of protein selected.

• Helpful in rapid weight loss, but could be followed by rapid weight gain.

• Difficult to follow as it does not really fit around an individual's lifestyle.

• Cuts out some essential vitamins and minerals.

7. Sugar Busters diet: Like the Zone diet, the Sugar Busters diet recommends that daily calorie intake be split into a 40/30/30 ratio. However, the Sugar Busters diet recommends that 40 per cent of daily calorie intake is made up of high-fibre carbohydrates, 30 per cent is made up of protein, and the final 30 per cent is made up of fat. The theory behind the Sugar Busters diet is that sugar is toxic to our bodies and can cause an increase in insulin. In addition, the authors emphasise the importance of exercise to lower insulin levels and increase insulin sensitivity.

Remember:

• The diet also eliminates some valuable minerals and nutrients.

• This diet is not suitable for vegetarians.

• Weight loss is probably down to the automatic calorie reduction and not the 40/30/30 ratio.

• The diet restricts some fruit and vegetables, which are essentially healthy for us.

• The plans emphasis on monitoring precise proportions of fats, proteins and carbohydrates is the kind of inappropriate focus that results in the development of eating disorders.

Fasting with juices and water may lead to lowered blood pressure

8. Weight Watchers diet: This popular and comprehensive weight management program is based on a points system for choosing food that promotes healthy weight loss and long-term weight maintenance. Weight Watchers gives all foods and fat calories content a point value. Dieters are weighed on a weekly basis and then advised on how many points they should aim to consume per day for the coming week. The weekly support meetings can be quite cumbersome to attend and may turn out to be quite expensive.

Weight watchers:

• Allows people to be flexible in their choices of food while it teaches healthy habits for weight loss and long - term maintenance.

• Promotes permanent changes but the weight loss is much slower compared to other fad diets.

9. Eat Right For Your Type diet: This diet is based on the idea that your blood type reflects your anthropological background and this influences your body's reaction to food. Eat Right for Your Type is based on the notion that people can improve their digestion, lose weight, and get healthy by eating only foods that are harmonious with their individual blood type.

This diet:

• Has no scientific foundation. Most evidence is based on an anecdotal findings, and testimonials of short-term results.

• Is also nutritionally imbalanced. For example: the diet plan for Type O and Type A blood types is that dairy products are limited and consequently the diet is low in calcium and also other nutrients.

10. GM diet: One of the most popular diets allows only one or two food groups on all days except one day, to be followed as a weekly plan. Only fruits one day then vegetables another day, followed by a combination day where one has milk and banana and then a day of chicken, followed by a day of a combination of all food groups.

This is a monotonous diet plan and claims more than what it delivers. It claims to result in a weight loss of 2-4 kg / week. However, in actual practice, it leads to at best 2 kg weight loss, that too largely water. It has no guidelines for long-term diet management.

Finally, there is no magic solution for weight loss and there are no short-cuts. Simply reducing calories and fat may not be enough. Choose from whole grains, soy, low-fat dairy products, fatty fish, brightly coloured fruits and vegetables, nuts, seeds and flaxseeds and get active. A successful diet plan enables you to lose weight slowly and surely, and establishes a healthy eating and exercise pattern that will last a lifetime, so that weight loss is permanent.

Thus, the key to healthy weight loss is to reduce calorie intake, eat less fat, control portion sizes, and be more physically active.

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