Is it true that diets don’t work?

Over a third of Americans are on a diet at any given period of time, with weight loss being the most common cause. The majority of people will be dissatisfied, because even when weight loss is achieved, it is commonly regained within a few months.

Before finding the answer you should know the reason of your weight gain. It might be possible that your diet is not a reason of your weight gain. Please learn more about the reasons of weight gain.

While most weight-loss diets work in the short term, they may fail in the long run for a variety of reasons:

Some people don’t stick to their diets and don’t lose much weight at all, even after they start.

Others may abandon the diet after a period of time if it is too restricted or the meals are unpleasant. Because they consume fewer calories, some people may participate in less physical activity.

But who hasn’t heard of someone doing everything correctly and nevertheless losing a small amount of weight or regaining it over time? Perhaps you are that person.

Even when study participants are confined to a research setting — with carefully controlled calories, food types, and physical activity, as well as intensive counseling, teaching, and monitoring — the weight loss and other health benefits (such as lower cholesterol and blood pressure) tend to fade away soon after the study ends.

Sometime famous diets don’t work

Popular diets, according to a recent study, don’t work for the vast majority of individuals. Or, to put it another way, they are moderately helpful for a while, but the effects fade away after a year or two.

Researchers analyzed 121 trials that enrolled nearly 22,000 overweight or obese adults who followed one of 14 popular diets for an average of six months, including the Atkins diet, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig, DASH, and the Mediterranean diet, in a large systematic review and meta-analysis recently published in the medical journal The BMJ.

Diets were divided into three groups: low-carbohydrate, low-fat, and moderate-macronutrient (diets in this group were similar to those in the low-fat group, but with slightly more fat and slightly less carbohydrate).

Excess weight loss and cardiovascular indicators (including cholesterol and blood pressure) were compared to other diets or typical diets while on one of these diets (one in which the person continued to eat as they usually do).

While weight, blood pressure, and cholesterol levels all improved after six months, the findings after a year were not satisfied as below:

  • Whereas both low-carbohydrate and low-fat diets led in a 10-pound weight loss after six months, the majority of the weight lost was regained within a year. The moderate macronutrient group lost less weight than the other diet groups.
  • After six months, blood pressure and cholesterol levels improved slightly, but after a year, they had mostly reverted to baseline. There was one exception: when on the Mediterranean diet, lower LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels lasted for one year.
  • Other health advantages were not significantly different between the various diet regimes.

Long-term weight loss is not linked to diets.
Diets also foster a rigid and controlling relationship with food. Those who try to lose weight by restriction and deprivation generally find that these methods exacerbate their problem. Instead of dieting, adopt an intuitive eating strategy.

What to do now?

You might be disappointed after reading this latest report. But there’s another way to look at it:

  • It’s probably less important the diet you choose (low-carb, low-fat, or something in between) than sticking to it.
  • The trials considered in this analysis lasted an average of six months. What if they had lasted a year, two years, or perhaps a lifetime? The benefit would have been more substantial and long-lasting. The key is to choose a diet that you enjoy eating so that sticking to it isn’t that difficult.
  • Furthermore, there are a variety of factors other than nutrition that can have a significant impact on weight. Physical activity, regular exercise, and sleep, for example, are all vital in maintaining a healthy weight.
  • Rather than sticking to a strict or branded diet, I recommend the Mediterranean diet. It’s one of the most well-studied, outperforms other diets (as in this study), and was the only diet in the study to have long-term impacts on LDL cholesterol levels.

Conclusion

It’s not easy to lose weight. If you’re having trouble losing weight, consult your doctor, a nutritionist, and even a health coach. Discuss the findings with them and come up with dietary and other lifestyle adjustments that you both like. After that, stick with them. Remember that you’re more likely to stick to lifestyle adjustments that you enjoy.

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