From food pyramids to calorie counters to body-mass indexes, every month there seems to be a theory on what the diet rules are and how best to play by them. But increasingly, there is consensus on the basic rules of diets that can promote health and weight loss. Diets that minimize calorie intake help you lose weight; diets that aren't excessively restrictive, and are combined with physical activity most days, promote health and sustained weight loss.
The Basics
Nutrition expert Michael Pollan, author of four "The New York Times" bestsellers on food, has a simple solution of how to eat well: "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." By food, Pollan is referring you to simple, whole foods that have been around for hundreds of years. Things like tomatoes, apple, potatoes, rice and bananas and unlike tater tots and neon-colored slurpees. Having this phrase in your head as the bottom line can be helpful for making sure your diet plan stays simple and rational.
Dieting To Lose Weight
If you're trying to shed that 10 lbs. you've been trying to lose since your college days -- but keep it off this time -- you're in luck. A study published in the "New England Journal of Medicine" in February 2009 revealed that what you eat isn't important for losing weight, it's all about calories. Participants in the study were told to reduce their calories and were tested with a variety of diets that cut out different macronutrients. The results showed that when participants reduced how much they ate -- no matter what they ate -- they reduced their waistlines by an average of 2 inches at the end of the two-year study period.
Dieting To Keep Weight Off
More than 5,000 women and men that are members of the National Weight Control Registry -- a club of people that have lost more than 30 lbs. and kept them off for at least a year -- were polled on what dieting behaviors helped them keep the pounds off. The study showed that successful "losers" limited fast-food intake, cut back on sugars and sweets and ate lots of fruits and vegetables.
Dieting For Flavor
If you're thinking about what rules to use to guide a diet that has lots of fresh veggies and flavor, consider the Mediterranean diet, which features heaps of flavor-packed organic greens and locally grown produce. A trial carried out by researchers at Bringham and Women's Hospital found that the Mediterranean diet -- defined by including plenty of fruits and veggies and being low in saturated fat but inclusive of moderate amounts of unsaturated fats -- helped most volunteers lose around 9 lbs. and was easier for volunteers to continue over the trial-time span of 18 months.
Dieting for Health
Harvard's Healthy Eating Pyramid recommends that you can feel your best by coupling your new diet with at least 30 minutes of exercise several times a week. Following the healthy eating guidelines can lead to weight loss and lower your risk of heart disease and diabetes. Harvard's Healthy Eating guidelines says, like Pollan does, that your best bet is to eat a plant-based diet rich in fruits, vegetables and whole grains; choose healthy fats, like olive and canola oil and avoid eating red meat and unhealthy fats.
Dieting For Justice
You can also use food politics as a healthy and rewarding guiding thread for a new and healthful diet. According to Pollan, understanding the links between how your food is grown, how the workers that grow your food are treated and how paying more for food can mean budgeting a little more creatively but can help you eat less calories but enjoy more flavor. Pollan advises getting out of the supermarket whenever possible and shopping at farrmer's markets and local fruit-stands. He also advises paying more for better food that will leave you satisfied with its quality and not drive you to eat more helpings because the food is lackluster.
References
- Harvard School of Public Health: Diets That Reduce Calories Lead to Weight Loss, Regardless of Carbohydrate, Protein or Fat Content
- The New York Times Magazine: Unhappy Meals
- Harvard School of Public Health: How To Get To Your Healthy Weight
- Harvard School of Public Health: Mediterranean-style Diets May Be Effective
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