Diet or nutrition is the most important aspect of our metabolic health, specifically when it comes to weight management. Whether you are going for weight loss or weight gain, determining what dietary changes should be incorporated in your routine can be overwhelming. It may also appear to you that determining which foods you should be eating & which ones you should avoid is a no brainer. But the fact is wrong advice is everywhere with so many sources telling you what foods are right & wrong. You are confused & confronted with contradictory advice every direction you turn. Most of the advice is directing you towards fad diets- the most trendy but ineffective way to lose weight or improve your health!
We are giving a list of parameters you should consider to determine if a particular diet recommended to you would be beneficial for your weight loss/improved health journey or sheer waste of time & money. In Fact wrong/fad diet can even increase your risk of developing chronic illnesses & negatively impact your gut which will take much longer time to get fixed.
- Calorie Restrictive Diets: If you find very do’s & many don’ts in your diet, restrictive diets are likely to be fad diets. Studies have testified that such restrictions reduce the probability of an individual sticking to a diet & increase the incidence of binge eating. A recent study by USDA on calorie counting has found that the bioavailability of a particular food is less than actual calories in a particular food. In other words, reports testifies the fact that this calorie counting doesn’t take into account the amount of energy you’ll actually be able to access from the food.
- One size fits all dietary approaches: The biggest flaw in generic dietary recommendations- it assumes there is a universal health diet that can do wonders for you- you are told to eat a lot of protein & low carbs. If recommendations given to you suggest that there is a particular diet which always leads to reduction in weight- for instance calorie counting or calorie deficit diet, you have fallen for the biggest trap of buying false promises. Hormonal changes, variation in food sensitivity, digestion & composition of microbiome impacts how every individual respond differently to different foods. Fad Diets often exclude key foods & leads to weakness, constipation & vitamin & mineral deficiency. Instead of going for restrictive diets, your best shot should be to adopt diet that aligns with your unique biology.
- Quick fix solutions: A sustainable weight loss is a slow & gradual process. A sudden & quick weight loss is a failed approach since our body is not accustomed to radical weight changes. This can result in unhealthy outcomes & makes us fall for binge eating.
- Diet is not backed by science: Nutrition is perfect science & requires clinical validation. If you are following a diet which is supported by anecdotal evidence without any scientific support, it is doomed to fail. Many diets are cooked with stories of how this diet or this food made someone lose weight, but if these results are not sustainable- you are losing only one thing- money.
- Including some “ X” supplement in your diet: Making significant changes in your diet can be unsustainable & therefore you are recommended to consume a lot of supplements in your diet. Although a lot of supplements are available in the market, not all supplements are good & selecting the best one for you can be a herculean task. Unless you are aware of a particular supplement, plainly following for a particular brand of supplement since your trainer recommended is the best recipe for disaster.
We at Genefitletics, focus on recommending food that feeds & balances your microbiome. This essential means recommending food that stabilizes your colonial pH level, provides your right nutrients & vitamins & short chain fatty acids, regulates your satiety level & blood sugar & modulates hormonal imbalances. We not only tell you which microbes are living in your gut but also what functions they are performing. In fact, we can tell with certainty if your microbes will convert a particular food into nutrients or toxins.
We have clinical research to back our recommendations that are unique for you based on analysing biochemical activities taking place inside your body. Do not waste your time & money on fad diets & calorie counting diet which deprives you of essential nutrients, keeps you bloated & constipated, only leads to temporary weight loss & has detrimental impact on other biological functions taking place inside the body. For instance if you eat less carbs & fiber, it increases your colon pH level & makes your large intestine a breeding ground for pathogens which results in a host of digestive issues.
Listen to what your body is trying to tell you. For more details how you can align your dietary choices with your unique biology to optimise your health, give us a shout at www.genefitletics.com
Very useful article. Everyone must read this.