14 DAY TRIAL // These days, most diets are advertised as the one option that works better than everything else out there. While this is an instance of effective marketing, in reality the truth is that there is no diet better than another, as Dr. Frank Sacks of the Harvard School of Public Health tells Reuters. The effectiveness of a diet depends entirely on the dieters, and it is up to them to choose the one that works best for them, Dr. Sacks says.
All diets are effective, Dr. Sacks adds, quoting a recently-conducted research. The only thing that dieters should keep in mind before embarking on one is that it be high in fiber and low in calories and saturated fats. They must also accompany it with some exercise at the very least and smaller meals, and whatever diet they choose is guaranteed to return the expected result, Dr. Sacks explains.
“You can’t go wrong. Our bottom line is, choose a diet that is good for your heart and there’s a big range of what you can eat. Then just be reasonable about your intake. If you need to lose weight, eat less.” Dr. Sacks points out about the study. “There’s no special diet that’s better for weight loss than any other. As long as it’s healthy for you – high in unsaturated fats, high in whole grains and fiber, low in junk foods and high carb-junk foods, and low in fatty meats – any of these variations will be fine for losing weight.” he further underlines.
This might be good news for all those people struggling to lose the extra pounds, but it will certainly come as a hit to all those companies pushing for one “special” diet or another. Nevertheless, the study, performed with the help of over 800 US volunteers, has shown that whatever diet they were on the results were practically the same, granted said diet was chosen to suit their body and individual needs.
On the downside, the study has also pinpointed that dieters pack the pounds they lose again after an interval of approximately one year. This, added to the fact that the weight loss was only moderate (4kg at the 6-month peak), clearly indicates that dieting is not the solution to treat obesity, as it has been previously believed. “Even these highly motivated, intelligent participants who were coached by expert professionals could not achieve the weight losses needed to reverse the obesity epidemic.” Martijn Katan of VU University in Amsterdam adds for Reuters.