Introduction to Diet Fads

Atkins, The Zone, Palo, Whole30, Master Cleanse, P90X, Ketogenic, weight watchers – fad diets appear like clockwork, each with its own set of rules. What will Americans do to lose weight? Just about anything, it seems. Dietitians, nutritionist, and physicians will say there is only one fundamental combination to help most people lose weight: eat whole foods and exercise more. Some other time honored suggestions for lasting success include eating regularly instead of skipping meals, especially breakfast. Keeping a food journal and writing down the day’s food intake is another helpful behavior. And all these are free. These can be found through the Dietary Guidelines of America, the DASH diet, and MYPLATE. Eating an assortment of healthy foods is recommended. These foods include vegetables, fruits, grains, fat-free or low-fat milk products, fish, lean, meat, poultry, and beans.

Along with the great amount of information that can be found online, there are also many apps for phones that make it possible to look up fat and calorie content. There is no doubt that there will be disagreement about effectiveness of a certain diet plan. Weight loss has in fact become a great topic of debate in fact, a study done in August 2013 found that 52 percent of Americans found it easier to do their taxes than they did to eat a healthy diet. So how do we change this? Is nutrition really that confusing or is it that mass amount of options we have that leave people confused when trying to load their plates with nutrient dense meals. Let’s take a look.