Want to lose weight? Try NOT dieting.
If you would like to increase your risk of heart disease, stroke, and diabetes—and while you’re at it, tinker with your immune function—then go on a diet.
Even more dismaying? You’re statistically more likely to gain weight—adding to those pounds you wanted to be rid of so that you come out worse than when you started.
The results of an analyzation of 31 long-term studies bear this out.
Researchers who looked at these studies found that people on diets generally lose 5 to 10 percent of their starting weight in the first six months. But at lease one- to two-thirds of those folks regain more weight than they lost within five years.
Dieting is actually found to be a consistent predictor of future weight gain. And for those folks in the control group who had never started a diet were not that much worse off than those who did diet. Some were even found to be better off!
Scientists recognize that the cycling of weight gain and loss leads to poor health effects, but they do not fully understand why this is. However, it has been linked to those risks I just talked about above.
This supports what I’ve been saying all along, that diets just don’t work, and do more harm than good. But the conclusions of this research group left me with a chill. They are recommending that Medicare not fund weight-loss programs for obesity treatment. I saw a door opening for more and more gastric bypass surgeries.
The problem lies with the fact that permanent lifestyle changes need to be made, encompassing a wide variety of healthful foods. Remember the grapefruit diet? You may have even tried it once upon a time. But realistically, you can’t live on grapefruit alone for the rest of your days on this earth.
Going back to what works: Moderation, and a plan you can live on. I can’t stress enough how beneficial a Mediterranean-style diet would be for your overall health. It is anti-inflammatory, but even more importantly—it’s practical! With an emphasis on whole grains, fish, fruits, vegetables, and healthy fats such as olive oil, you are providing your body with the nutrients it needs to perform well. It’s broad-based enough, also—covering several cuisines, such as the variety of Italian and Greek dishes from the region.
No one will cling to a plan that makes them miserable, unless they’re masochists!
