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- One of the best diets for weight loss is an all-food diet that eliminates all processed foods.
- A Mediterranean diet discourages eating lean meat, but encourages vegetables and whole grains.
- Since some meat is associated with weight gain, a plant-based diet may also help you lose weight.
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Each year, a new trendy diet emerges with the promise that dramatically changing your diet can help you lose weight. But in reality, this type of quick fix weight loss doesn’t last.
If you want to improve your diet, your best bet is to adopt healthy habits that you don’t mind maintaining for a long time. Following a diet like a Mediterranean diet or a flexitarian diet can improve your health and may help you drop a few pounds.
Here are four types of diets that aren’t really too difficult to improve and maintain your health:
1. Mediterranean diet
“There is no standard definition of the Mediterranean diet itself, but it emphasizes plant-based heart health foods,” said Dr. Heather Seed, a registered dietitian and core bionutrition research manager at the University of Columbia. say.
The Mediterranean diet is named after the traditional cuisine of the region and generally consists of:
- Fresh fruits and vegetables
- Whole grains Like brown rice and whole wheat
- Nuts and seeds
- Lean protein Like fish and poultry
- Dairy products Only moderately
- Leguminosae Like beans and lentils
- Fat that is good for heart health Like olive oil instead of butter
Diets also discourage diets such as processed foods, lean meats, and too much sugar. All of these can contribute to chronic illnesses such as heart disease and diabetes.
Following a Mediterranean diet has been shown to help with weight management and may promote weight loss for the following reasons:
- Foods on a diet tend to be high in fiber and healthy fats, which helps you feel more full and stabilize your blood sugar, says Seid. This reduces the chances of eating too much or wanting a sweet treat.
- “Fats that are good for heart health are slow to digest, so people can feel full longer,” says Seid.
Studies also suggest that following a dietary plan such as the Mediterranean diet can reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.
2. Dash diet
The DASH diet, also known as a diet to stop high blood pressure, was originally created as a way to treat high blood pressure, but it can also help you lose and maintain weight.
The Dash diet helps lower blood pressure by encouraging a diet rich in major minerals. Promotes foods rich in potassium, calcium, magnesium and low sodium, says Julie Stephanski, a registered nutritionist and spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Nutrition.
The Dash diet is similar to the Mediterranean diet in that it eats high-fiber foods such as vegetables, fruits, and whole grains. However, there are two main differences.
- “Unlike the Mediterranean diet, the DASH diet promotes low-fat or non-fat dairy products rather than full-fat,” says Seid. Some experts believe that low-fat dairy products are good for heart health, especially if you already have heart disease.
- DASH also severely limits your salt intake. This helps control high blood pressure — the goal is to be below 2,300 mg of sodium or a teaspoon of salt per day.
If your current diet contains a lot of lean meat and butter, following the Dash diet can change your weight. “Lean protein and low-fat dairy products have low calorie density and can contribute to overall calorie deficiency and subsequent weight loss,” says Seid.
“Even if your weight doesn’t change significantly, the Dash diet can have a desirable effect on your blood pressure,” says Stefanski.
3. Whole Foods Diet
Whole Foods Diet includes all major food groups, but you should read the product label. The diet emphasizes unrefined or unprocessed foods. This means that the food confirms that:
- Do not contain preservatives such as benzoate or sorbate.
- Do not contain additives such as artificial dyes.
- Do not include words on the label that indicate treatments such as “purification,” “bleaching,” or “hydrogenation.”
Examples of processed and unprocessed foods are:
|
treated |
Untreated |
|
Chicken nugget |
Chicken breast |
|
High fructose corn syrup |
Maple syrup |
|
White bread |
Whole-grain bread |
According to Stefanski, processed foods can be packed with extra calories, so shifting your diet to all foods can help you lose weight. Processed foods are high in sugar and fat and tend to be high in calories.
Eating a processed food diet may also encourage you to eat more calories. According to a very small study in 2019, people eat more when they eat super-processed foods, gain weight, and eat less when they are fed from raw foods with the same calories. I lost weight.
4.4. Plant-based diet
The goal of a plant-based diet is to eliminate or reduce animal foods such as meat, dairy products, and eggs. There are several different types of plant-based diets you can choose from:
- vegetarianCut out all the meat, but include eggs and dairy products.
- PescetarianEliminate all meat except seafood.
- A quasi-vegetarian who contains eggs and dairy products and makes it possible to eat meat from time to time.
- VeganEliminate all animal products, including eggs and dairy products.
Following a plant-based diet can help you lose weight for several reasons:
- They reduce or eliminate lean and processed meats that are associated with long-term weight gain.
- Plant-based diets are generally high in fiber and add volume to the diet. “This means that people may burn less calories while they still feel happy,” says Seid. In fact, in a small 2021 study comparing a low-fat plant-based diet with a low-carbohydrate diet containing meat, people were 550-700 per day while consuming a low-fat plant-based diet. I was eating low calories. Until when they were on a low carb diet with meat.
However, there are many plant-based, highly processed foods on the market. For example, non-dairy ice cream is vegan, but often packed with sugar. “People need to look for all-food-based options, not processed or convenience foods,” says Seid.
Insider takeaway
We know that a short-term diet doesn’t really help you lose weight and lose weight, but try a more flexible and long-term diet that you can stick to and enjoy. If you try, you may be luckier.
“Choosing to increase the foods that make up a Mediterranean-style diet or DASH-focused plan provides longer-term benefits that focus on health as well as weight,” Stefanski said. increase.
