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Why diets are a bad idea for long term weight loss - The Courier

If you ate too much over the festive season, you may well be thinking about a healthy diet plan for 2022. But as anyone who has ever dieted knows, there are countless options out there. Right now, were in the midst of a revolutionary time for understanding the human body, and so the question arises: can new science tell us which diet plan is best for losing weight?

Many diets originate in a system for rating foods according to the effect they have on our blood sugar level. This way of characterising food came from research led by David Jenkins at the University of Toronto back in 1981. They gave each type of food a score according to how much it raised blood sugar levels, with sugar as the benchmark, with a score of 100. Honey scored 87, sweetcorn scored 59, tomato soup 38, and so on. Today, every conceivable edible thing has been analysed this way and countless diet plans have built on this way of ranking food. Generally, those seeking to lose weight are advised to avoid foods that cause blood sugar levels to spike.

But weve all come across someone who seems to stay at a healthy weight no matter how much cake, chocolate or wine they consume. And this the differences between us is where vital advances are now being made, leading us to a new understanding of what the best diet plan really is.

In 2015, Eran Elinav and Eran Segal at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel conducted a fascinating study. They recruited 800 participants, and instead of taking glucose measurements a few times over the course of a few hours, as was done in 1981, every participants blood sugar level was measured every five minutes over seven days, using a small sensor developed for people with diabetes. As well as this, each participant answered a detailed medical questionnaire, were subject to a variety of physical assessments, such as measurements of their height and hip circumference, and they all had their stool analysed for the types of bacteria they contain.

It turned out that glucose levels spiked exactly in accordance with earlier research. But crucially, this was only the case on average. The variation from one person to the next was enormous.

For any given food, some peoples glucose levels would spike dramatically, while others hardly seemed to react at all. This couldnt be explained away as a random fluctuation because the same person responded similarly each time they ate that particular food. For one middle-aged woman, for example, her blood glucose level spiked every time she ate tomatoes. Another person spiked especially strongly after eating bananas.

Segals wife, Keren, was especially stunned. As a dietitian, she had been trained to provide guidance to countless people about what they should and shouldnt eat. Now her husband had evidence that her dietary advice might not have always been helpful. The fact that some peoples post-eating sugar levels spiked more in response to rice than ice cream was shocking to her. It dawned on her that she might have even directed some of her patients to a type of food that, though beneficial on average, was wrong for them personally.

A machine-learning algorithm (a type of artificial intelligence) was used to figure out which factors needed to be considered to generate the most accurate forecast of a persons post-meal glucose response. One factor stood out as the most significant contributor by far: the types of bacteria found in their stool, which reflects their gut microbiome.

So what does this mean? It means that there is no single best diet plan everything is personal. What constitutes a healthy diet plan depends on who is eating it: their genetics, their lifestyle, their microbiome, perhaps even the state of their immune system, their history of infections and more. Each of which is exquisitely complex on their own terms, and how they interact even more so.

Our understanding of the details what makes a diet work or not for an individual is still in its infancy. But in the near future, with the help of computer algorithms and big data analysis, we are surely due a revolution in the science of diet and nutrition.

If it becomes clear that personalised nutrition would have a huge impact on human health, the question will present itself: should analysis of a persons blood and microbiome to produce a personalised diet plan become part of routine, preventative healthcare, paid for by taxation? Indeed, where would we draw the line between a nutritional product, a dietary plan and a medicine? As any science matures, new policies must be developed. This will be especially important when it concerns such a vital part of our daily lives: what we eat and drink.

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Diets: how scientists discovered that one size doesn't fit all - The Conversation UK

The military diet is the latest fad to take the world by storm as it claims to help lose weight fast in just a week.

The extremely restrictive diet is said to see a weight loss of up to 4.5kg in seven days.

The diet is said to jump-start the metabolism by undergoing three days of calories restriction followed by a period of unrestricted feeding.

Although the diet can aid rapid weight loss, experts have warned that it is not sustainable long term, and its restrictive nature could impact your relationship with food.

The military diet gained notoriety through social media as participants followed a three-day calorie-restricted plan followed by four days off.

Those following the diet are told to repeat the cycle for up to one month until their weight goal is reached.

During the first three days, candidates follow a meal plan that amounts to a total calorie intake of roughly 1,1001,400 calories per day, below the recommended intake of 1,600 to 1,800 calories for women and 2,200 to 2,400 for men.

The diet plan recommends eating foods such as toast, saltine crackers, peanut butter, grapefruit, apples, bananas, hard-boiled eggs, cheddar cheese, any type of meat, canned tuna, green beans, carrots, and broccoli.

For the remaining four days of the week, people are encouraged to follow a balanced diet but not to restrict themselves.

Is it safe?

The military diet is relatively safe if only followed for a short amount of time.

Long term use of the diet could lead to some nutrient deficiencies as your food is limited.

Research has also shown that restrictive diets can lead to a poor relationship with food, creating unhealthy eating patterns.

For example, if you limit your calorie intake and then gorge on foods as soon as you allow yourself to no longer restrict.

In terms of sustainability, the diet can be easy to follow, as it only requires you to adhere to it for a short amount of time.

Nevertheless, the fast weight loss diet works, but it is unlikely that the weight will stay off in the long run.

Realistic and lasting weight loss can only really be achieved by making changes to your lifestyle.

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'Military' diet to lose 4kg in three days - does it work and is it dangerous - Irish Mirror

In a phone interview with Fox News Digital on Saturday, Mike Pompeo revealed that he lost in excess of 90lb (41kg) over the past six months after making wholesale lifestyle changes following his exit from the Trump administration last year. The interview came after photos of a slimmed-down Pompeo emerged over the weekend, renewing speculation that the former secretary of state is seriously considering a 2024 presidential run.

Pompeo whose diminished profile in his regular Fox News appearances was not lost on the channels dedicated viewers went out of his way to point out that he lost the weight himself, through self-guided workouts and more disciplined dietary habits and not with surgery or help from any fitness professionals.

Theres certainly no denying Pompeos physical transformation. But his claims that he lost the weight through minor diet and exercise changes have created controversy among nutritionists and fitness industry professionals none of whom believe such dramatic weight loss would be possible without major life changes. Ninety [pounds] in six [months] is unbelievable, one fitness expert alleged in the Kansas City Star, especially for his age.

The 58-year-old claimed he lost the weight because he stopped eating carbs to a large extent, and tried to eat smaller portions.

Pompeo says he built a gym in the basement of his home and outfitted it with some dumbbells and an elliptical machine. I tried to get down there five, six times a week and stay at it for a half-hour or so, he told the Post. And that was nothing scientific. There was no trainer, there was no dietician. It was just me.

Away from the job he says he now opts for healthier options like egg whites and turkey bacon instead of pumpkin pancakes during family trips to Ihop. Pompeo insists hes paring down for his health, not a presidential run.

But unlike the ex-New Jersey governor Chris Christie (who shed 100lb in a year after Lap-Band surgery) or the New York City mayor, Eric Adams, (who flaunts his vegan diet), Pompeo in his two interviews on the subject seems intent on making the point that his fitness journey was the product of good ol fashion manly-man bootstrapping.

Thered be little reason to doubt Pompeo if he werent also a historically unreliable narrator who has misled the public on everything from his administrations support of the USs controversial Afghan exit strategy to the Saudi governments role in the murder of Jamal Khashoggi to the overly lavish gifts he received from foreign dignitaries.

Not only is he being cagey about his own weight loss, but hes making his results sound attainable. Now from a stress standpoint, he no longer has to work for Trump, so that may be something that allows him access to a helluva lot less stress so he doesnt keep weight on because of that, said Milo Bryant, a 30-year fitness veteran and author of the forthcoming book Unstoppable After 40, whos never had a client come close to Pompeos alleged fat burn rate.

Pompeo isnt the first politician to pimp their fitness. George HW Bush, a passionate runner, made regular use of an Air Force One treadmill during long international flights. Bill Clinton turned to street jogging after undergoing quadruple bypass surgery. Mike Huckabee moved to address his health after a chair collapsed under him in a cabinet meeting and he received a type-2 diabetes diagnosis. The erstwhile Republican presidential candidate lost 100lb, but unlike Pompeo acknowledged it was through a drastic diet change and long-distance running.

I would love to know the totality of what [Pompeo] did, said Bryant. For someone to lose 90 pounds in six months, youre talking 15 pounds a month on average. No research shows its healthy to lose two and four pounds per week. Four times four is 16 pounds. Its possible that it could happen, but I dont see it happening by only working out 30 minutes a day.

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Mike Pompeo says he lost over 90lb but experts are skeptical about his fitness journey - The Guardian

Dr. McMacken will lead system-wide efforts to improve nutrition and lifestyle education for patients and health care professionals, and advance access to nutritious foods and plant-based meals for patients

New York, NY

NYC Health + Hospitals today announced the appointment of Michelle McMacken, MD, FACP, DipABLM as Executive Director of Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine for the system. In this newly created role, Dr. McMacken will lead system-wide efforts to advance nutrition and lifestyle education for patients and health care professionals, and increase patients access to nutritious foods and plant-based meals. She will also help expand dedicated lifestyle medicine services to support positive behavior changes, such as improved diet, physical activity, sleep, stress reduction, avoidance of risky substances, and social connection to reduce chronic disease risks.

This work will build on Dr. McMackens work with the Plant-Based Lifestyle Medicine Program launched in 2019 at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue with the advocacy of then-Brooklyn Borough President and our new mayor, Eric Adams. Dr. McMacken will continue to practice in the NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue Adult Primary Care Center.

Dr. McMacken is a trailblazer who knows how to get stuff done. She knows the power of lifestyle medicine to reverse chronic diseases, transform lives, and combat generations-long health inequities. I am proud about the innovative work she has been doing at Bellevue, and it is truly exciting to see her expand her mission to all our NYC Health + Hospitals facilities in this new role, said Mayor Eric Adams.

Healthful lifestyle habits, especially nutrition, can significantly reduce cardiovascular, metabolic, cancer, and other health risks. The science is clear, and Ive seen the benefits firsthand in my own practice, said Dr. McMacken. It is my mission to support our patients in adopting the healthiest possible lifestyle, particularly those who are the most vulnerable and face the greatest barriers.

Dr. McMackens new appointment marks the next step in the evolution of our public healthcare system, making nutrition and lifestyle medicine core to how we deliver healthcare, said Senior Vice President of Ambulatory Care and Population Health at NYC Health + Hospitals Ted Long, MD. As a primary care doctor myself, I know well the critical impact that a healthy lifestyle has on your overall health. I am incredibly excited to work with Dr. McMacken to bring this new focus on lifestyle medicine to New Yorkers across our City, without exception.

Dr. McMacken joined NYC Health + Hospitals in 2004 and currently practices in the NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue Adult Primary Care Center. Shes also directed the hospitals Adult Weight Management Program since 2005.

In 2019, with the advocacy of then-Brooklyn Borough President and our new mayor, Eric Adams, she developed and launched the innovative Bellevue Plant-Based Lifestyle Medicine Program, the first of its kind in a safety-net healthcare setting. The program takes an interdisciplinary approach to reduce patients cardiometabolic risk through intensive lifestyle changes, including a healthful plant-based diet, physical activity, improved sleep habits, stress reduction, avoidance of risky substances, and social support. The program has received national attention and high demand for services, including self-referrals from more than 850 New York City residents.

An Associate Professor of Medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, Dr. McMacken has received the faculty Teacher of the Year award three times for her work with physician trainees, and a 2014 NYU Merrin Fellowship grant to study evidence-based nutrition and develop a curriculum for her internal medicine faculty colleagues.

Dr. McMacken received her undergraduate degree from Yale University and her medical degree from Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. Dr. McMacken is a seasoned public lecturer, has published on nutrition and lifestyle medicine topics in peer-reviewed scientific journals and served on the Board of Directors for the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. She is board certified in both internal medicine and lifestyle medicine.

Contact: Press Office, 212-788-3339

About NYC Health + Hospitals

NYC Health + Hospitals is the largest public health care system in the nation serving more than a million New Yorkers annually in more than 70 patient care locations across the citys five boroughs. A robust network of outpatient, neighborhood-based primary and specialty care centers anchors care coordination with the systems trauma centers, nursing homes, post-acute care centers, home care agency, and MetroPlus health planall supported by 11 essential hospitals. Its diverse workforce of more than 42,000 employees is uniquely focused on empowering New Yorkers, without exception, to live the healthiest life possible. For more information, visit http://www.nychealthandhospitals.org and stay connected on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/NYCHealthSystem or Twitter at @NYCHealthSystem.

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Dr. Michelle McMacken Appointed Executive Director of Nutrition and Lifestyle Medicine - nychealthandhospitals.org

ORLANDO, FLA. (Ivanhoe Newswire) No meat, no carbs, no dairy, no gluten. Did you know that it may be damaging to your health if you deprive your body of foods? A new way of honoring your body and fueling it without guilt is rising in popularity. Its called intuitive eating. But what is this new anti-diet and does it work?

Ashley Hinds RDN, LDN, CEDRD and Registered Dietitian explains that Intuitive eating teaches us to listen to our internal cues and listen to our hunger fullness cues.

Intuitive eating is based on ten principles; first, reject the diet mentality, which can offer you false hope to lose weight fast. Honor your hunger instead by adequately eating carbs.

Hinds says, Our body is always trying to reach homeostasis and its anticipating Oh you put me through a famine, a diet, a few times now, I need to anticipate for the next famine. And thats actually what leads to weight cycling.

Make peace with your food, give yourself permission to eat what society deems as bad food, if not it can lead to binging. Challenge the food police, the societal voice in your head that monitors the unreasonable rules diet culture has set. Discover the satisfaction factor, make eating food pleasurable. Feel your fullness, listen to the signals that your body is full. And cope with your emotions around food with kindness.

Dieting can put a huge strain on our mental health because if we have famine then were also increasing our anxiety and it all comes to that full circle. Hinds further explains.

Respect your body and feel the difference. Focus on how working out makes you feel mentally and not look physically. And honor your health with gentle nutrition.

Hinds says, My recommendation is typically to have about three meals a day and two to three snacks.

There have been at least 97 studies looking into intuitive eating. A study of those found people who practice intuitive eating were more likely to accept their bodies, be more mindful, and reported higher self-esteem. They also had lower levels of depression and anxiety.

Sources:

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/beauty-sick/202105/the-psychological-benefits-intuitive-eating#:~:text=People%20who%20regularly%20engage%20in,levels%20of%20depression%20and%20anxiety

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HealthWatch: Intuitive Eating Cancel the Diet Culture - WeAreGreenBay.com

As Inc. colleague Jessica Stillman points out in her viral article on why you should adoptthe sleep habits of a toddler,getting a good night's sleep was hard enoughbefore the pandemic.

"Coronasomnia"? It's anationwide epidemic. So is the "Quarantine 15" weight gain phenomenon.

At least in part because, as research shows, the two create a vicious circle: Lack of sleep leads to a poorer diet -- and a poorer dietleads to lack of sleep.

First some background. Lack of sleep has long been linked with weight gain and obesity. A 2012 study published in Sleep found that reduced sleep leads to a significant increase in eating. That's partly because, as other studies show, lack of sleep causes increased activity in your brain's reward centers specific to food. Lack of sleep also change some of the hormones that signal when you're full.

So, yeah: If you don't get enough sleep, your dietalmost surelysuffers -- as anyone who pullsa near all-nighter and finds themselves craving junk food the next day can attest.

But then there's this: A 2016 study published in Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine found that diet has an effect on the quality and amount of sleep you get:Eating more fiber -- whole grains, beans, certain vegetables and fruits, etc. -- and less sugar and saturated fat results in better sleep at night.

And if you adopt theMediterranean diet --lots of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, fish, poultry -- a 2018 study indicates you'll be one-third as likely to suffer from insomnia and nearly 1.5 times more likely to get a good night's sleep.

Add it all up, and whether you start with the chicken or the egg, the cycle is the same.

Don't get enough sleep and you're likely to eat more poorly, whichmakes it harder for you to get more sleep, and therefore more likely to eat poorly. The same is true if you eat poorly; getting enough sleep is harder, which will make it harder to eat healthier and to get enough sleep.

What about supplements, you ask? Plenty of people take melatonin to help them fall asleep. And that does work; a study published in Sleep Medicine Reviews found that people who take melatonin supplements tend to fall asleep aroundfour minutes faster than those who don't.

Which is great -- except a more recent study foundthat maintaining a Mediterranean diet cut the time to fall asleep by 12 minutes, and led to significantly better sleep quality.

In short, supplements can help.

But lifestyle changes can help more.

So turn your diet and sleep into avirtuous rather than vicious cycle.Tonight, pick a time you will go to bed. Not go to sleep -- go to bed. See bedtime not as the time you will definitely fall asleep, but the earliest time youmightgo to sleep. (Unless you're totally exhausted, you won't fall asleep right away.)

Then just relax. Let your mind wander. Don't think about going to sleep. Don't try to go to sleep. Just chill.

If ittakes you a long time to fall asleep, that's OK. Don't take a napthe next day. Just go to bed at the same time. Again,see it as bedtime, not sleep time,and just chill.

In time, your body(and more important, your mind) will start to adapt. You'll start to get moreand better, sleep.

Especiallyif you focus on eating healthier as well -- because when you do that, you'll naturally start to sleep better.

Which will make it a lot easier to keep eatinghealthier.

The opinions expressed here by Inc.com columnists are their own, not those of Inc.com.

Excerpt from:
Eat Better to Sleep Better: The Surprising Connection (Both Positive and Negative) Between Sleep and Diet, Backed by Considerable Science - Inc.

More and more people around the world are suffering because their immune systems can no longer tell the difference between healthy cells and invading micro-organisms. Disease defences that once protected them are instead attacking their tissue and organs.

Major international research efforts are being made to fight this trend including an initiative at Londons Francis Crick Institute, where two world experts, James Lee and Carola Vinuesa, have set up separate research groups to help pinpoint the precise causes of autoimmune disease, as these conditions are known.

Numbers of autoimmune cases began to increase about 40 years ago in the west, Lee told the Observer. However, we are now seeing some emerge in countries that never had such diseases before.

For example, the biggest recent increase in inflammatory bowel disease cases has been in the Middle East and east Asia. Before that they had hardly seen the disease.

Autoimmune diseases range from type 1 diabetes to rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease and multiple sclerosis. In each case, the immune system gets its wires crossed and turns on healthy tissue instead of infectious agents.

In the UK alone, at least 4 million people have developed such conditions, with some individuals suffering more than one. Internationally, it is now estimated that cases of autoimmune diseases are rising by between 3% and 9% a year. Most scientists believe environmental factors play a key role in this rise.

Human genetics hasnt altered over the past few decades, said Lee, who was previously based at Cambridge University. So something must be changing in the outside world in a way that is increasing our predisposition to autoimmune disease.

This idea was backed by Vinuesa, who was previously based at the Australian National University. She pointed to changes in diet that were occurring as more and more countries adopted western-style diets and people bought more fast food.

Fast-food diets lack certain important ingredients, such as fibre, and evidence suggests this alteration affects a persons microbiome the collection of micro-organisms that we have in our gut and which play a key role in controlling various bodily functions, Vinuesa said.

These changes in our microbiomes are then triggering autoimmune diseases, of which more than 100 types have now been discovered.

Both scientists stressed that individual susceptibilities were involved in contracting such illnesses, ailments that also include celiac disease as well as lupus, which triggers inflammation and swelling and can cause damage to various organs, including the heart.

If you dont have a certain genetic susceptibility, you wont necessarily get an autoimmune disease, no matter how many Big Macs you eat, said Vinuesa. There is not a lot we can do to halt the global spread of fast-food franchises. So instead, we are trying to understand the fundamental genetic mechanisms that underpin autoimmune diseases and make some people susceptible but others not. We want to tackle the issue at that level.

This task is possible thanks to the development of techniques that now allow scientists to pinpoint tiny DNA differences among large numbers of individuals. In this way, it is possible to identify common genetic patterns among those suffering from an autoimmune disease.

Until very recently, we just didnt have the tools to do that, but now we have this incredible power to sequence DNA on a large scale and that has changed everything, said Lee. When I started doing research, we knew about half a dozen DNA variants that were involved in triggering inflammatory bowel disease. Now we know of more than 250.

Such work lies at the core of Lee and Vinuesas efforts, which aim to find out how these different genetic pathways operate and unravel the many different types of disease doctors are now looking at. If you look at some autoimmune diseases for example, lupus it has become clear recently there are many different versions of them, that may be caused by different genetic pathways, said Vinuesa. And that has a consequence when you are trying to find the right treatment.

We have lots of potentially useful new therapies that are being developed all the time, but we dont know which patients to give them to, because we now realise we dont know exactly which version of the disease they have. And that is now a key goal for autoimmune research. We have to learn how to group and stratify patients so we can give them the right therapy.

Lee also stressed that surging cases of autoimmune diseases across the world meant new treatments and drugs were now urgently needed more than ever before. At present, there are no cures for autoimmune diseases, which usually develop in young people while they are trying to complete their education, get their first job and have families, he said.

That means growing numbers of people face surgery or will have to have regular injections for the rest of their lives. It can be grim for patients and a massive strain on health services. Hence the urgent need to find new, effective treatments.

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Global spread of autoimmune disease blamed on western diet - The Guardian