Submitted by Amy Sercel MS RD CD
Edited by Marcia Bristow MS RDN CSSD CD
After the new year we're
reminded of the “great new diets” that will make this the year to reach our goals.
With so many trends on social media, in health magazines, and
sometimes even recommended by medical professionals, it can be difficult to
sort through the clutter of fact vs. fiction.
If you find yourself
wondering, “Do any of these diets even work?” you are not alone! In this post, we have highlighted some of the
most common diet trends you’re likely to keep hearing about in 2019.
The Ketogenic Diet
Probably the most popular
fad diet right now, the ketogenic diet requires you to cut out carbohydrates until you're in ketosis. Your brain and muscles
prefer to use carbohydrates as a source of fuel. When you don’t provide this to your body
through your diet, your body has to break down fatty acids and convert them
into ketones, the only other source of fuel your brain can use. This process is called ketosis.1
What You Can Eat: On the ketogenic diet, you can eat as much as you want of foods that
don’t provide carbohydrates. This means
seafood, poultry, cheese, avocadoes, eggs, Greek yogurt, and oils are
encouraged in large quantities. You can
also still eat small amounts of carbohydrate-containing foods and remain in
ketosis.
What You Can’t Eat: The exact amount of carbohydrates you can eat and
remain in ketosis varies from one person to the next, but in general people on
the ketogenic diet usually eat less than 50 grams of carbohydrates per day.1 To put it into perspective, there are about 15
grams of carbohydrates in a slice of bread, 12 grams of carbohydrates in 1 cup
of skim milk, and 27 grams of carbohydrates in a medium banana.
It’s also important to
remember that high-protein diets may push you out of ketosis, because some
proteins can be converted into glucose.1
What the Research Says: Over the short term, ketogenic diets have been
shown to result in weight loss more quickly than traditional diets. After about 6 months, the weight loss levels
out, and ketogenic diets are not shown to be any more effective than
traditional diets for long-term weight loss.
At the same time, this restrictive, high-fat diet can increase your risk
for nutrient deficiencies and high cholesterol.1
If you’re an athlete, the
ketogenic diet has been shown to limit anaerobic exercise performance. In one study, athletes experienced decreased
exercise performance after following a low-carbohydrate diet for only four
days.2
The Verdict: There is not enough evidence that the ketogenic diet has any
long-term health benefits for the average person. It restricts entire food groups that are
important sources of essential nutrients and is likely difficult to follow in the
long-term. At the same time, you still
need to think about your overall calorie intake if you want to lose
weight. High-fat foods also tend to be
high in calories, and it is your overall calorie intake that will promote
weight loss, not just the amount of carbohydrates you eat.
The Paleo Diet
The Paleo diet encourages
you to adopt the eating habits of your Paleolithic ancestors from about 2
million years ago.
One major flaw of this
diet is that people don’t know exactly what foods were available to humans 2
million years ago. The foods eaten at
that time would have depended on where in the world those humans were
living. It is also very difficult to say
that the foods available in our grocery stores today are the same as they would
have been in prehistoric times.
What You Can Eat: In general, the Paleo diet allows you to eat meat, fish, shellfish,
eggs, nuts, seeds, fruits, vegetables, olive oil, coconut oil, and some honey.3 You are encouraged to eat unprocessed foods in
their natural state.
What You Can’t Eat: As people in the Paleolithic times were hunters
and gatherers, the Paleo diet discourages you from eating anything that would
not grow wild on its own. This means
avoiding both whole and refined grains, sugar, dairy products, beans, peanuts,
lentils, alcohol, coffee, and refined vegetable oils.3
What the Research Says: Many of the studies that examine the Paleo diet
are short-term and involve fewer than 40 participants. Despite this, they indicate that the Paleo
diet may result in more positive health changes than the control diets. In general, people who followed the Paleo
diet tended to lose more weight and improve their blood pressure, insulin
sensitivity, and cholesterols more significantly.3,4
The Verdict: The Paleo diet’s
recommendations to choose unprocessed foods and encouragement of lean protein,
fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds are all health-supportive. However, there need to be some long-term,
larger-scale studies that evaluate its effectiveness before any conclusions can
be drawn about the Paleo diet being better than a general balanced meal
pattern. Furthermore, unless you are
allergic to grains, dairy, beans, peanuts, or lentils, there is absolutely no
reason to avoid them entirely. These
foods provide a variety of nutrients that are essential for your health,
including fiber, protein, B vitamins, calcium, and potassium. Furthermore, people who eat these foods are
at a lower risk for many different diseases, including heart disease and
diabetes.
The Alkaline Diet
Proponents of the Alkaline
diet claim that you need to eat foods that will not make your body become
overly acidic, as an acidic environment can promote cancer development. They claim that you can prevent your body
from becoming acidic by choosing foods whose breakdown products are alkaline,
or have a pH above 7.5
What You Can Eat: Fruits, vegetables, legumes, and nuts are considered alkaline foods
(their breakdown products will increase your body’s pH), and fats, starches,
and sugar are considered neutral (they have no impact on your body’s pH).
What You Can’t Eat: Meat, poultry, fish, dairy, eggs, grains, alcohol,
coffee, soda, and other stimulants are considered acidic, and the Alkaline diet
advises you to avoid them.5,6
What the Research Says: When the US News and World Report reviewed the Alkaline
diet, they indicated that it may have a positive impact on weight loss or
maintenance, reduced risk of diabetes, and improved heart health. However, any health improvements seen while
following the Alkaline diet are more likely caused by reducing your intake of
processed foods and choosing more fruits, vegetables, and plant-based protein.6
The rationale behind the
Alkaline diet is based on a fundamental misunderstanding of how the human body
works. Your body regulates your blood pH
level within the small range of 7.36-7.44; if you are otherwise healthy, your
blood pH stays within this range regardless of what you eat because moving
outside of this range can lead to organ dysfunction or death. You may excrete more or less acid in your urine
in order to keep blood pH at a safe level, but the pH of your urine is not
solely determined by the acidity or alkalinity of your diet.5
The Verdict: You can improve your health and may experience some weight loss by
choosing a diet high in fruits, vegetables, and plant-based protein, and
limiting your intake of processed foods, sugar, and alcohol. These health improvements will not be related
to changing your body’s pH. At the same
time, acidic foods like meat, poultry, fish, eggs, and whole grains are also health
promoting, and absolutely fit into a balanced meal pattern.
Intermittent Fasting
In short, Intermittent
Fasting involves setting specific times when you will and will not eat. These time limits can occur within a day or
within a week. Some people give
themselves 8-hour windows to eat every day (10 am – 6 pm), limit themselves to
500-700 calories every other day, or even go as far as spending two days each
week fasting completely.7
What You Can Eat: With Intermittent Fasting, you are able to eat whatever
you’d like within the time limits you set yourself.
What You Can’t Eat: Intermittent Fasting only restricts you from
eating at specific times during the day or week.
What the Research Says: Many of the studies on Intermittent Fasting are
short-term (lasting between 2 and 6 months).
This research indicates that the diet can be safe for the average
person, does not lead to “compensatory overeating” during the days or times
when you are allowed to eat, and can contribute to decreased insulin resistance.7–9 That being said, people who practiced Intermittent
Fasting did not lose significantly more weight than people who took a more
traditional approach to weight loss and limit what they eat overall.9,10
At the same time,
Intermittent Fasting may also be associated with guilt, social isolation,
irritability, obsession with food, and lethargy, all of which mimic the signs
of an eating disorder. Although fasting
alone hasn’t been shown to directly cause eating disorders, it could definitely
trigger a relapse in someone who has recovered from an eating disorder, and
does not promote a positive, healthy relationship with food.
The Verdict: If weight loss is your goal, you may find it helpful to limit
yourself to eating at certain times of the day.
For example, some people like to consider the kitchen “closed” after 8
pm. More extreme versions of fasting are
not likely to result in better outcomes than simply limiting what you are
eating overall.
If It Fits Your Macros (IIFYM)
If you tend to be
numbers-focused, you may be interested in the Macro Diet. This diet goes beyond calorie counting by
encouraging people to track their carbohydrate, protein, and fat intake every
day to make sure they’re sticking to a goal.
To be successful with this diet, you’d have to carefully track the
calorie and macronutrient content of everything you eat, either with a
smartphone app or by looking up nutrition fact information and logging that by
hand.11,12
What You Can Eat
You can eat anything you
want on this diet – as long as it fits within your macronutrient
allowance! If you aren’t working with a
Registered Dietitian, the diet explains how to calculate this yourself. First, use an online calculator to estimate your
resting metabolic rate, or the number of calories you need to eat in a day to
keep your body functioning without accounting for physical activity. The calculator will help you determine your
final calorie needs depending on your activity level and weight goal.
To find your macronutrient
goals, first calculate protein using the recommended 0.7-1.0 grams per pound of
your body weight. Your fat goal will be
within 0.25-0.4 grams per pound of body weight.
Whatever calories you have remaining will be for carbohydrates.12
What You Can’t Eat
This diet doesn’t advise
people to stay away from any specific foods, as long as they are eating within
their macronutrient goals.
What the Research Says
Critics of this diet point
out that it doesn’t address diet quality.
For example, it could be possible for someone to stay within their
calorie and macronutrient goals every day without eating any fruits, vegetables,
or whole grains, and therefore become nutrient-deficient or remain at an
increased risk of disease.11 At the same time, studies have shown that
calorie-counting apps don’t provide enough support to help their users create
lasting healthy habits.13 Instead, users may lose weight as they become more
aware of their overall calorie intake and choose smaller portions of
high-calorie foods, but will likely return to their previous eating habits when
they stop tracking their diets.
At the same time, calorie
counting is not effective, or even safe, for everyone. You can find many personal accounts of people who developed an eating disorder after starting to track their calorie intake by worsening the
rigid, numbers-focused thinking often seen in disordered eating. One study that assessed disordered eating
behaviors in college students found that those who tracked their calorie
intakes were more likely to engage in disordered eating behaviors.14 It is also commonly known that calorie counting
can trigger a relapse in someone who has recovered from an eating disorder, as
it often leads to more preoccupation with food choices and the perception that
higher-calorie foods must be limited.
The Verdict
While it is often helpful
to be aware of your calorie and macronutrient intake, if you set goals without considering the overall quality of your diet you put yourself
at risk for vitamin and mineral deficiencies.
At the same time, logging every food, every day, may lead to unhealthy
preoccupation with your calorie intake that could turn into disordered
eating. If you are curious about your
calorie and macronutrient goals, work with a Registered Dietitian who will help
you set realistic goals and learn how to turn them into long-term behavior
change, so you will feel confident that you’re eating to promote health without needing an external guide for the long term.
The Mediterranean Diet
Consistently rated the
best diet for overall health, the Mediterranean diet was also rated the easiest
diet to follow in 2019 by US News and World Report. In addition to emphasizing meals rich in
fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and lean protein, the Mediterranean diet also
encourages you to get active regularly and to slow down and savor your meals.15,16
What You Can Eat: This diet encourages you to make fruits and
vegetables the basis of your meals. In
addition, you can have olive oil and whole grains every day, and, if you’d
like, a 3-5 ounce serving of red wine every night. Legumes, nuts, fatty fish, whole grains, lean
meat, eggs, low-fat dairy products are also encouraged, but limited to three
servings per week each.17
What You Can’t Eat: The Mediterranean diet encourages you to avoid
added sugars, saturated fats like butter or coconut oil, fried foods, and
refined grains. You may have dessert
once per week.
What the Research Says: Many large-scale, long-term studies support the
health benefits of the Mediterranean diet.
This diet is associated with a lower risk of heart disease, high
cholesterol, and diabetes. In addition,
some research suggests the Mediterranean diet may reduce your risk for
Alzheimer’s disease.15
The Verdict: If you are looking for a diet to follow in 2019, the Mediterranean
diet is the one. It has been
consistently rated one of the healthiest and easiest to follow diets since it
gained popularity, and it is supported by a wide base of well-designed research
studies. Furthermore, this diet is
flexible, allows for customization according to your lifestyle and food
preferences, and includes meals that will keep you full and satisfied.15
There are pros and cons to
any diet, and there is no one meal pattern that will work exactly the same for
every person. When it comes to selecting
the one that’s right for you, consider how sustainable it will be, whether it
will fit into your lifestyle, and whether it allows foods that you enjoy. Most importantly, make sure you are eating a
variety of foods from each food group, choosing meals that keep you full and
satisfied, and creating a lifestyle that will allow you to maintain your health
well into the future.
References:
1. Sumithran
P, Proietto J. Ketogenic diets for weight loss: A review of their principles,
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doi:10.1016/j.orcp.2007.11.003
2. Weiss E, Wroble K, Trott M, Schweitzer
G, Rahman R, Kelly P. Low-carbohydrate, Ketogenic Diet Impairs Anaerobic
Exercise Performance. J Acad Nutr Diet. 2018;118(9):A46.
doi:10.1016/j.jand.2018.06.176
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https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-weight/diet-reviews/paleo-diet/.
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Actually Work?
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/5-studies-on-the-paleo-diet. Accessed
January 14, 2019.
5. The Alkaline Diet: An Evidence-Based
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2, 2018. Accessed January 14, 2019.
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January 14, 2019.
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https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/intermittent-fasting-surprising-update-2018062914156.
Published June 29, 2018. Accessed January 14, 2019.
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Accessed January 14, 2019.
11. The macros diet takes calorie counting to
the next level: Does it really work? Washington Post.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/the-macros-diet-does-it-really-work/2016/06/07/d38a5434-2bf6-11e6-9b37-42985f6a265c_story.html.
Accessed January 28, 2019.
12. IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros): A
Beginner’s Guide. https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/iifym-guide. Accessed
January 28, 2019.
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West JH, Nordhagen AL. Health Behavior Theory in Popular Calorie Counting Apps:
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symptomatology. Eat Behav. 2017;26:89-92.
doi:10.1016/j.eatbeh.2017.02.002
15. Mediterranean Diet: What It Is & What
to Know. https://health.usnews.com/best-diet/mediterranean-diet. Accessed January
14, 2019.
16. Mediterranean Diet | Oldways.
https://oldwayspt.org/traditional-diets/mediterranean-diet. Accessed January
14, 2019.
17. How You Can Get Started on the
Mediterranean Diet. Health Essentials from Cleveland Clinic.
https://health.clevelandclinic.org/can-get-started-mediterranean-diet/.
Published October 15, 2015. Accessed January 14, 2019.
