Is there one right diet?

It is January, the month most people start on their journey to a healthier lifestyle. They do the research, read books to understand what they should or should not eat.

What’s the newest diet to follow for weight loss?

What’s the best food to eat for longevity?

Is Paleo, Vegan, Keto, or Vegetarian right for me?

I am as confused as you are, every time I start reading about a new diet. However, what I have learned is if I dig a bit deeper and peel a few layers the answer becomes very clear. 

I am a big believer of Michael Pollan and his simple guideline on eating – Eat food, not too much and mostly plants.

Before I jump into the diets I want to share some insights that I have uncovered doing research specifically related to loosing weight, as most diets are trying to help people shed those extra pounds. According to World Health Organization, a person with a BMI of 30 or more is generally considered obese. A person with a BMI equal to or more than 25 is considered overweight.

Obesity has become a global epidemic, it used to be linked to rich countries only but as globalization brought western diet/ processed food and fast food to other countries it has become a global phenomenon.

Really poor people in developing nations who can’t afford fast food and packaged food still eat a traditional diet, and have had no impact on their waistline. If you dig a bit deeper to find what they eat, it’s a combination of carbs, vegetables and some animal protein and fat. They make all the meals at home with whole ingredients and are involved in physical work. They most certainly are not following any of the diets listed above.

However, if you look at their wealthier counterparts in the urban areas living a sedentary lifestyle and consuming copious amounts of fast food and packaged food since they don’t have time to make their meals from scratch are suffering from issues related to overweight and obesity. 

When we look at North America, overweight and obesity is mostly prevalent among marginalized communities. Highest rate among the poor and with low education as they can only afford cheap fast food and processed food in our industrialized wealthy nation. Where it is more expensive to cook food from scratch using fresh whole ingredients than buying a highly processed alternative. 

Around the world irrespective of the socio economic factors it is clear that the obesity epidemic is linked to only 2 basic factors:

1.    Energy intake in access of energy needs

2.    Calorie dense and nutrient poor food choices (highly processed food)

Our outsourcing of our fuel to industries designed to run for efficiency and care only about profits has led to the situation we are in today. 

Answer is pretty clear when we investigate a bit and look beyond the marketing message that has been targeted towards us. This new year instead of searching the web for what’s best to eat to lose weight let’s just take a step back and think of what got us here. We need to do just these 5 simple things to get us back to balance:

1.    Eat mostly plants (you don’t have to be vegan)

2.    Stay active – even a 30 minute walk everyday helps

3.    Cook food at home, this is the best thing you could do for your health. 

4.    Drink more Water, because we are 85% water.

5.    Avoid sugar and processed foods, because they are the root cause.

About the diets, I think all these diets have some good nuggets that we can take but you should do your research and think critically before jumping on to a diet. All restrictive diets will help you lose weight in the short run as you are restricting your calories and not eating certain food groups ( especially processed high sugar stuff). No one needs to break their bank to live healthy. You don’t need to buy expensive protein shakes and collagen and the latest and greatest protein enhancer. 

World Health Organization found that Americans eat more than twice the protein suggested by the Dietary Recommended Intake, which is harmonized across North America. 

There hasn’t been any cases of protein deficiency for ages in North America yet we are obsessed with it more than anything. To some extent this obsession is driven by marketing. 

Here is what an Archeological Scientist has to say about Paleo diet. 

Christina Warinner is an expert in ancient diets and studies what people ate in paleolithic era. She was able to prove our ancestors were more of gatherers than hunter and paleo diet has no basis in archeological reality. It’s a video worth watching.

I hope this January you start a healthy lifestyle and not a short term diet. There is no golden pill and no shortcut to health. Its equal part eating right and living an active lifestyle. Weight or body shape do not always determine health, health is not just about our body, it's about our mind too.

Sources:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4859313/

https://www.macleans.ca/society/life/the-dangers-of-our-protein-diet-obsession/