Stick To A Balanced Diet

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Monday 9th March 2015

A healthcare expert and dietician working with 121doc has spoken out against ‘fad and crash diets’, claiming that they often do ‘more harm than good’. The expert, speaking in particular about recent trends that see people cutting out vital nutrients altogether, argued that the best diets rely, and have always relied, on patience and consistency rather than on the sudden removal of necessary food groups.

Fad and crash diets have become a constant part of celebrity tabloid culture and they are never far from the covers of national magazines. Whether they are celebrity endorsed or not though, the vast majority of these diets rely on a very tenuous style of short-term weight loss and, in most cases, produce very temporary results.

It’s always tempting when you see headlines or adverts claiming that ‘This Diet Will Help You Lose A Stone In A Month’ but the reality is that, although that may be true, you’re better off opting instead for a steady and gradual weight loss regime. Cutting out all fat or all carbohydrates may quickly lead to weight loss, but it isn’t likely to last; it’s unhealthy to deprive yourself of vital nutrients and it’s very difficult to stop your body craving the foods that you have cut out; additionally, you are very likely to put the weight back on as soon as you return to eating the food type that you cut out.

Most healthcare professionals and registered doctors would recommend that a person trying to lose weight still takes in all the food types that are essential to healthy bodily functions. A balanced diet and exercise regime has long been considered the best way to achieve long-term weight loss, and most experts would agree that if you’re looking for a permanent change then it’s more about changes in lifestyle than anything else.

Diets that suggest cutting out meals or eating very limited numbers of calories are very rarely good for you and in almost all cases they could lead to health problems if kept up for long enough. Every nutrient, even the ones that are often demonised in the media are necessary to good health. The human body needs fat and it needs sugar and cutting them out, although aesthetically you may notice results, can very quickly cause very real problems in your health.

If you are told by a nutritionist, trainer or medical professional that you should opt for one of the quick weight-loss programs then it is worth asking them why. Doctors are unlikely to do so, and it is possible that a personal trainer may just be looking for a quick turnaround on your weight-loss attempts. In some people with certain conditions, cutting out nutrients may be necessary, but the chances are that, unless you have a condition that means that you cannot consume fat, for example, you’re better of making every food type a part of a balanced and moderate diet.