BENGALURU : In the past few months there has been a rise in people trying out the Keto diet. Before this, it was Paleo and Detox. Here are a few facts that one must be aware of before they jump on to the weight loss band wagon.
1. What is your personal health goal? Is it weight loss, fat loss, body building, or just maintenance?
2. What was the purpose of the diet when it was first constructed?
3. Does a diet have to be restrictive or sustainable?
Mentioned below are a few diets which are the latest trends today.
Keto Diet
Ketogenic Diet is a diet which was first designed to help patients with epilepsy, which is disorder of the brain nerve cells that can send the affected person into severe seizures. This diet was designed to help children specifically who had epileptic seizures. Later on it came in to use for adults too.
This diet was coined so that the surge of energy from carbohydrates could be controlled to help minimisethe seizure effects. Ketogenic diet is high on fats, moderate on protein and extremely low on carbs. These carbs are derived only from the vegetables and no whole food source. The body when introduced to this diet is now forced to use the stored fats to give energy, thereby resulting I weight loss.
However, there are a few drawbacks to this diet. For a regular person whose entire body is functional, there is no need to cut out carbohydrates. Carbs have there own purpose to fulfil in a person’s life. Apart from this, if keto is not done the right way it can lead to severe constipation and deficiencies. Keto can also result in gaining back all the lost weight once a person gets back to his or her way of lifestyle.
Paleo
Just as the name suggests it is a diet which has been adapted from the Paleolithic Age. A study showed how the Paleolitic men survived without much resources but had excellent health and body composition. Now if we just look deeper, the Paleolithic Age humans had adapted to food sources available to them. For them at that time it was sustainable way of lifestyle. But how can we, who are living in the digital age, apply the same ideology? It doesn’t make sense.
Detox diets
This is yet another fad where people adapt it without understanding its true purpose. Despite years and ages of research there is still no evidence which supports the detox diets as the most healthy form of weight loss. In fact, this diet strips you of all your essential macro nutrients.
So now, here is what we need to ponder on:
■ A diet which strips you off macro and micro nutrients is not the right approach.
■ We live in the 21 st century of the digital world. We need to understand our requirements of nutrition and then implement them.
(The writer is a dietitian and fitness expert, and writes at eatrrite.com)