Put plainly, what is the best diet out there. I mean, there are many types of diets, but which one comes out on top frequently?

Thanks!

It's called the "Push Away," to puuuuush away from the table!!

(Thats what my uncle told me)

There isn't one. They're all variants of "eat less than you expend"... and the good ones don't have too many differences to them.

You need to find what works for you. Some people do great on low carb, other people don't and they're just grumpy grouches. Some people make sure they don't eat carbs and fats in the same meal, most people don't care.

Things to stay away from:
Diets that advocate only a couple (or one) type of food... you know, like cabbage, grapefruit, whatever. You need a large variety of food to get in all your nutrients... plus... BORING!!!

Diets that don't let you have veggies. Veggies are low calorie, high fibre, low fat (usually), low sugar foods. High in LOTS of good things... there's never a reason to not eat your veggies.

I usually find the best way to start is to eat lots of veggies, some fruit, lean protein, healthy fats (fish, nuts, oils), good fibre (whole grains), and a multivitamin. Then I keep track of it... what, when, how much. Then I see how many calories I'm eating, and figure out how many calories I should be eating. If it seems that I've been doing fine without counting every day, I won't bother. If it seems that I'm eating too much if I don't pay attention, I start paying attention again to retrain my eyes/mouth.

The best is the one that allows you to lose weight in a healthy manner while making sure you're not finding yourself constantly hungry and feeling deprived. Unfortunately, sometimes that involves a bit of trial and error. Fortunately, most of the good plans out there are ok in all those aspects.

I have two diet recommendations:

The diet that has the most science behind it, and into which the most money is being poured by private industry, govt, and academia to find out why it works, is called Calorie Restriction diet, CR for short. I have been on it for 3 years. It is great.

Losing weight is a side benefit, getting healthier is the major benefit (and hence living longer because you do not die from preventable disease).

There is possibly a bonus benefit of extending the maximum years a person can live, which is above and beyond living longer just because you are healthier. This bonus benefit has shown up in animal species after animal species, but has not yet been shown for humans. Maximum lifespan for mice on CR has been extended by 40% beyond the control group on a regular diet.

The diet has two rules - one hard to follow.

1. Hard rule - make sure you are getting 100% of your nutritional needs as best we know them.

2. Cut your calories significantly.

Otherwise, you can eat anything you want.

Rule 1 is hard because you have to track closely what you eat and record it. You just about have to have software.

I found it easy to cut calories once I started tracking. Typically, women end up eating 1100 to 1500 calories a day, men 1400 to 1900. What really happens is that you pick some calorie level and quickly learn whether you need to increase or lower your calories to:

a. Lose less than 2 lbs per week (1 is better).

b. Not drop below some weight goal (don't let your BMI drop below 18.5).

My second recommendation:

Read this website

http://www.heartattackproof.com/

about a diet called "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease" diet, which you can incorporate in a CR diet or just follow on its own without CR.

Bob
http://www.nbrhd.net/CR/CR.htm

There are lots of problems with constant calorie restriction.

A person's specific goals should be the driving force behind what they choose food wise as well as exercise wise.

So far, the CR diet is known to extend the life of rats and some other mammals. There is no scientific proof that it extends the life of humans.

There is quite a bit more scientific evidence supporting the diet/lifestyle Aoife wrote about above and which is also discussed in the article I cited above.

What is the best diet? Whatever works ( in a sustainable, healthy way ) for you. Period.

90% of what you read on forums like this are merely advertisements by people for the program that works for them. That isn't to say these posts aren't valuable, they are - just think of it like market research. Look at yourself, how you live your life and then see if someone's suggestions may work for you too.

But, for me, Tricia's uncle' diet seems to be the most sensible thing I've read all day

Hi Tom,

My wife's an academic reference librarian. When I began looking into diets, she did considerable research of scientific studies published in peer reviewed journals on diets. In the last decade there were over 600 such papers published on calorie restriction diet. No other diet came even close to that number. The science behind calorie restriction far exceeds that behind any other diet.

There are two measures of life span commonly studied. One of them is average life span, the other maximum lifespan. If you have a population with lots of diseases (cancer, neurodegenerative, heart, diabetes) and one with much less of those diseases, the average life span of the healthy population will be greater. The longest lived member of each population might be the same, but the average lifespan of the healthier group is longer.

Because humans live so long, it will be a while before we know whether average life span actually increases. So you are correct in lack of proof.

However, the immediate consequences of getting on CR are improved health as measured by a wide range of variables (cholesterol, flexibility of heart muscle, insulin levels, triglycerides, etc). There are plenty of human studies published about that. These are the same results seen in animals, which do get fewer diseases including less cancer, heart disease, diabetes, nuerodegenerative diseases, etc. That was the basis for my saying you are likely to live longer.

What I called the "bonus" benefit of CR - the fact that maximum lifespan may increase - is completely unknown for humans. As we both agree, it has been shown in several species to significantly increase for animals on CR. However, no one understands why, so no one knows whether it will apply to humans.

So I stick with my statement that CR has more science behind it by far than any other diet. And that you will be healthier on that diet, again the science backs that. I believe that on average healthier people will live longer than unhealthy people, which is why I said you will "hence live longer". I was careful not to claim maximum life span will be increased for humans, because no one knows.

By the way, my personal website on my CR includes links to several science papers that I found particularly interesting related to CR and its amelioration of diseases.

Bob
http://www.nbrhd.net/CR/CR.htm

Bob

Thanks for the informative response, Bob. I'm not sure I could ever do the CR diet, though -- I like eating too much! It's hard enough for me just to have a 500 calorie a day deficit.

The vegetarian ones.



hehe

(steps off the soapbox)

Hi ALex, would like to share my personal experience with dieting, I have been 235 and I have been 160 back to 235 more then once,now I am at 175 and been there for 3 years.
I tried all the diets lost the weight only togain it pack at a faster pace.
The only diet that worked for me the past 3 years:
I slowly replaced my bad foods with good foods, instead of the 10:00 coffee and bagel w/cheese I have raisins and banana, instaed of spaghetti with meatballs and sauce I will have pasta with steamed zucchini and raw olive oil etc, after the first month i lost weight felt better and my doctor was impressed the way my blood values improved.
Bottom line take all the advice you can get and listen to your body.
there is no magic pill or diet, we have to eat the right foods and get active thats how we were designed

I'm a big fan of South Beach. The science makes sense, the food is great, and it's the kind of plan you can happily stay on for life. It's really more about changing the way you eat than about temporary measures for temporary results. HOWEVER, it is not for everyone.

USA Today has an interesting article about different diets for different types of people.

If you have any questions about SB, feel free to ask!

Blest,

South Beach looks interesting to me, but I have a lot of food allergies. I was a vegan and then a vegetarian for many years, and I developed allergies to most vegetarian proteins: all dairy, eggs, soy, corn, most legumes (the ones I can eat are peas, peanuts, garbanzo beans, and lentils), and almonds.

A lot of diet plans include a lot of egg white, lowfat dairy products, and soy protein. I eat a lot of poultry and fish (and also red meat just to vary my protein a bit). Does South Beach include a lot of eggs and dairy products?

Thanks!

South Beach does emphasize eggs and cheese- especially in the first two weeks. But I personally don't like either - so I ate other things. Like for breakfast during Phase One I would have the turkey roll up (deli turkey with cilantro mayo rolled in lettuce) instead of the suggested omelette.

It's a little more work, but it is doable. With what you have on your can-eat list, you could do it.

Let me share a "diet" that works for me :
-in the morning I eat cereals
-at lunch i eat normally
-at dinner I eat cereals

I've lost 3.5 kgs in 10 days , and it's not a difficult diet.
This works for me!

http://www.nemc.org/home/news/pressrel/2005/050104 01.htm
http://healthlink.mcw.edu/article/1031002722.html

Hi Megan,

I thought those were very good links. The articles focused on what the studies actually showed. The press coverage I first saw on these studies neglected to emphasize that adherence to the diets was so low that no conclusions about differences among the diets could be drawn. These articles pointed that out, but also pointed out that if you can achieve weight loss, it helps your health. So you should pick a diet that works for you.

I have read two, small studies on very low fat diets (10% or less fat) that convinced me such a diet probably does prevent and even reverse heart disease, but I wish much larger follow-up studies would be done. The two studies I looked at were conducted by Ornish and Esselstyn, both of whom have gone on to write books promoting their diets.

I have found that a calorie restriction diet (CR - only two rules: get 100% of nutrition, cut calories significantly) works well for me. I have added some additional restrictions of my own - no artificial sweeteners, all nutrition from food not supplements if possible and now, 10% fat. In several months I will have tests done to see if it is making a difference.

Bob
http://www.nbrhd.net/CR/CR.htm

My suggestion always remains the same. The best options are really just sticking to REAL FOOD. What is REAL food? Anything that your great-grandmother could get her hands on. No artificial anything, no super-sizing and nothing processed.

You'd be surprised at how many foods are not real at all... just the other day I told my highly-educated friend to throw out her creamer because it was 100% chemicals (who knows what chemicals are doing to our bodies)... and she told me that it had to be made from milk because it tasted like milk. Read labels... you'd be surprised what you are eating and drinking these days.

Tanya Ryno
http://lift.groups.traineo.com/

Hi Tanya,

I pretty much agree with you. My favorite labels are ones where the name on the label is also the only thing listed under ingredients. Like "Sunflower seeds" ingredients: hulled sunflower seeds. And nothing else.

Bob

I hate making myself sound retarded, but... (hehe)
I looked at the ingredients for my delicious box of Shredded Wheat the other day, and was completely SHOCKED to see that all it is? Is wheat. 100% natural whole grain wheat. Nothing else. Cereal in the US in 2007 being as simple as the name says? Holy shit!

For me and my dieting, i'm doing the cheesy sounding "it's not a diet, but a change of lifestyle" sort of thing... but true! I count calories. Cook whenever possible so I know what i'm eating, and just eat sensibly and not too much. Seems to be working so far, and I have a tendency to avoid things that are "blah blah DIET"... they scare me. Diets don't last, a permanent change in eating habits does. Just the word "Diet" sounds like a short-term miracle way to lose weight, then eventually go back to how you were eating once you've lost the weight and gain it back.

Ahem. Anyways... Shredded Wheat! ;)

I try to follow the "vegan pyramid" eating guidelines. If I actually don't go overboard on grains, I'm good.

Anyway, I try to eat LOTS of fresh veggies, not too many fruits (my other weakness), and a balanced amount of grains... and the fats/sweets/soy treats fill in the blanks.