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Be suspicious of fad diets because some are ineffective or risky, dietitians say
By Melissa J. Bloyer
Sheryl Griffiths eats bacon and eggs for breakfast each morning. For lunch she has chicken salad with very little lettuce and lots of ranch dressing. For dinner it's prime rib. "I lost seven pounds in the first week," said Griffiths, "ever since then I've been losing about a pound or two a week." Sound a little strange? Griffiths is on the protein power diet. On this diet she can eat all the fat and protein she wants, but very little carbohydrates. Theoretically, without the carbohydrates her body has no choice but to burn fat. Sound too good to be true? Maybe it is. Janet Anderson is a registered dietitian and a clinical assistant professor for the department of nutrition and food sciences at Utah State University. She said it is unhealthy and harmful to cut carbohydrates out of the diet. "Carbohydrates act as brain food. Do you want to cut out your brain food?" she asked, "Carbohydrates provide the most efficient fuel for the oxygen system. They give you the energy you need to function throughout the day." Right now, according to the health section of www.about.com, no major healthcare organization embraces these diets. In fact, during an annual conference in Atlanta last month, the American Dietetic Association took the time to speak against the protein power diet. But do people listen? Protein power diets are very popular right now. Why? Because they really do decrease body weight which seems to be the primary goal of Americans, according to the American Dietetic Association, at whatever cost. "It isn't dietary fat that makes you fat", some books explain, "it's carbohydrate!" Several new books with the same message are available. "Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution," "Sugar Busters Diet," "Protein Power" and the "Carbohydrate Addict's Program". These books tell you to ignore the dietary recommendations from the United States Department of Agriculture, the American Heart Association, the American Dietetic Association and the American Diabetes Association. So why are these protein power diets so bad? According to Anderson all you have to do is look at the facts. If you have a diet that is high in fat you have a diet high saturated fat. Saturated fats, according to "Nutrition For Health and Sport" by Melvin H. Williams (the text Anderson uses in her sports nutrition class), have been shown to increase blood cholesterol levels, particularly LDL cholesterol associated with development of atherosclerosis (formation of plaque on the inner layers of the arterial wall). According to Williams, the reason why these diets work is ketosis. When you eat a lot of protein you develop an excessive amount of ketones. These ketones must be excreted by the kidneys to prevent an increase in blood acidity. This leads to dehydration because of excessive fluid loses, which leads to weight loss, or water weight loss. How would a person like Griffiths know this? How would the average American know when a diet is a fraud? Anderson recommends logging on to www.quackwatch.com to look at the latest in fad diets and other health related concerns. According to quackwatch.com, if a diet is a fraud, first of all, they will say it is easy to lose weight. "Diet quacks would like you to believe that special pills or food combinations can cause "effortless" weight loss. But the only way to lose weight is to burn off more calories than you eat. This requires self-discipline: eating less, exercising more or preferably doing both. There are about 3,500 calories in a pound of body weight. To lose one pound a week (a safe amount that is not just water), you must eat about 500 fewer calories per day than you burn up. The most sensible diet for losing weight is one that is nutritionally balanced in carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Most fad diets "work" by producing temporary weight loss -- as a result of calorie restriction. But they are invariably too monotonous and are often too dangerous for long-term use. Unless a dieter develops and maintains better eating and exercise habits, weight lost on a diet will soon return. Second, according to quackwatch.com, the diets promise quick, dramatic, miraculous results. "They (the people making money off these diets) don't seem to care how many people they break financially or in spirit. Nor do quacks keep count of how many people they lure away from effective medical care into disability or death," explains the site. Attached are some dietary guidelines taken from quackwatch.com for people who are interested in safe, effective weight loss techniques. Griffiths says she has heard some of the warning signs. "I feel really good right now though. It feels good to not have to carry around the extra weight," said Griffiths, "I plan to just stay on the protein diet until I lose the weight I want and then start eating carbohydrates again." "The weight lost will just come back," Anderson said, "it always does." |
Archived Months:
September
1998 |
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