If your fitness goal is to lose weight, experts such as the American Council on Exercise note that exercise and calorie moderation are critical. If you have difficulty controlling what you eat, you may be tempted to follow a diet that will set your nutritional guidelines for you. When choosing a diet to boost weight loss, it's important to look for one that advocates a lifestyle of whole, healthy foods, rather than short-term starvation.
The Paleo Diet
The Paleo diet, developed by Dr. Loren Cordain, triggers increased fat burning by only allowing foods available to humans of the Paleolithic Era. Cordain argues that the human digestive system has not evolved at the same rate as our modern food production methods, making processed meats, grains and sugar unhealthy and fattening. Foods typically excluded from the paleo diet include pasta, bread, sausage, lunch meats, sugar and most juices. Instead, Paleo dieters are encouraged to eat vegetables, most fruits, nuts, seeds, lean, grass-fed beef and free range chicken. The diet can accelerate fat loss by eliminating most sugars and processed carbohydrates, which signals your body to rely on stored body fat for fuel.
The Raw Food Diet
The raw diet is often followed in conjunction with a vegan lifestyle, which excludes consumption of animal products. Proponents of the Raw Diet believe that cooking destroys important nutrients and enzymes in food, making it less nutritious. The raw diet relies heavily on fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds and healthy oils. The Raw Diet is well suited for weight loss because the majority of allowable foods are high in vitamins and minerals while remaining low in calories. The Raw Diet can be used as either a short-term detoxification plan or a long term lifestyle.
The Maker's Diet
Another diet that relies on un-processed food, the Maker's Diet, developed by Dr. Jordan Rubin, is a nutritional plan with a spiritual slant. The Maker's Diet is based of foods that are present in the Bible's New and Old testaments. Based on a more recent era than the Paleo Diet, the Maker's Diet does allow minimally processed foods such as butter and sprouted bread. It is important to note that the Maker's Diet does follow spiritual themes that may not be for everyone.
References
- "The Paleo Diet: Lose Weight and Get Healthy by Eating the Food You Were Designed to Eat"; Loren Cordain; 2002
- "The Maker's Diet": Jordan Rubin: 2005
- "The Raw Food Detox Diet: The Five-Step Plan for Vibrant Health and Maximum Weight Loss": Natalia Rose: 2006
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