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Don't fool yourself - crash dieting and "marathon" gym sessions simply don't work. Your body was never meant to be fat. And getting it back in shape is easier than you think... |
Lifestyle and Not Diet Is The Key
By Yuri Elkaim
I'm sure you'd agree that the health of the Western world is a sad state of affairs. We're overwhelmed with a plethora of dieting books and told that one way of eating is better than the next. I feel your frustration.
Who do you believe?
One thing is for sure: Those who are most successful at anything in life have developed lifestyle habits that propel them towards their goals. The key to long lasting healthy weight loss is in developing empowering lifestyle habits that begin with nourishing your body (not depriving it) of foods that energize and sculpt it.
But in the meantime, let's see what nature and science have to say.
Obesity, diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular, osteoporosis, arthritis, etc. These are all diseases that affect an overwhelming majority of our population.
Do you fall into any of these categories? If so, you need to take action now. If not, you still need to take action now to maintain great health and to prevent to onset of these "man-made" diseases.
A recent study in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition showed that there is growing awareness that the profound changes in the environment (e.g., in diet and other lifestyle conditions) that began with the introduction of agriculture and animal husbandry approximately 10,000 years ago occurred too recently on an evolutionary time scale for humans to adjust to.
In conjunction with the discordance between our ancient, genetically determined biology and the nutritional, cultural, and activity patterns of contemporary Western life, many of the so-called aforementioned diseases have emerged.
In particular, the difference between food staples and food-processing procedures introduced during the Neolithic era ("The Stone Age" – 8500 BC) and the Industrial Revolution (late 18th century) has fundamentally altered 7 crucial nutritional characteristics of our ancestors diets:
1) Glycemic load – How a food's sugar content affects the body's insulin response
2) Fatty acid composition – Types and quality of fats.
3) Macronutrient composition – Proportion of fats, carbohydrates, and proteins within a food.
4) Micronutrient density – Quantity of mineral, vitamins, and phytonutrients within a food.
5) Acid-base balance – Is the food acid or alkaline-forming in the body?
6) Sodium-potassium ratio – More foods are now higher in sodium (making them more addictive).
7) Fiber content – Newer processed foods have lower fiber content.
These changes have evidently not been to our benefit. The evolutionary collision of our ancient genetic make-up with the nutritional qualities of recently introduced foods underlie many of the chronic diseases of Western civilization.
What the Research Says
There's no shortage of diets to choose from to drop excess weight, but they differ widely in quality and health benefits, researchers say. An illuminating recent study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association gives us some more insight.
For overweight and obese adults it's important not only to shed pounds, but to do it by eating heart-healthy foods, said Dr. Yunsheng Ma of the University of Massachusetts medical school in Worcester, and director of the study.
After analyzing eight popular diets, he and his team found that the diets that included high amounts of fruits, vegetables and fiber and small quantities of artery-clogging types of fat were best.
"Obese people already have a higher risk of heart disease," Ma said in an interview, adding that it is particularly important that they make heart-healthy diet changes that can be kept up for the long haul.
One of the more significant findings was that The Atkins diet, a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet, came at the bottom of the list, mainly because of its more liberal attitude toward red meat, saturated fat and trans fats, and low amounts of fruit and fiber.
The researchers used a measure called the Alternate Healthy Eating Index (AHEI) to judge the quality of the widely used diet plans.
They picked six of the diets from the New York Times bestseller list and also included the Weight Watchers plan, as it is the largest commercial plan in the United States, as well as the U.S. government's 2005 Food Guide Pyramid, since it offers diet guidelines to all Americans.
The AHEI evaluates a diet's potential heart benefits based on factors such as the amount of fruits, vegetables and fiber, and the ratio of heart-healthy polyunsaturated fats to cholesterol-raising saturated fat.
The top score went to the (can't state the name) diet, a low-fat, largely vegetarian plan. The diet is intended to prevent and treat heart disease, so its high score – 64.6 out of a possible 70 points – is not unexpected.
The Atkins plan and some other low-carb, high-protein diets, including the Weight Watchers High-Protein option, were deemed less heart-healthy.
Surprisingly, Ma said, the U.S. government's Food Pyramid landed in the middle. Although the Pyramid was revamped in 2005, it still falls short of the top-ranked diets for fruits, vegetables, fiber and limits on "bad" fats, Ma added.
The researchers did not advocate any one particular brand of weight-loss plan. But, according to Ma, people who are trying to lose weight should look to the components of the top-scoring diets (i.e., low fat and vegetarian) to help fashion a heart-healthy weight loss eating plan
What's interesting is that Eating for Energy, although not yet selling on the New York Times Best Seller list, resembles the diet that was chosen as No. 1.
If you are serious about finally losing weight – but in a healthy and sustainable manner – then Eating for Energy may well be the most influential book on healthy eating you'll ever read.
