HEALTH Top diets

WHAT IS THE BEST DIET FOR WEIGHT LOSS AND HEALTH?

Expert advice from Elaine Godley founder of the Perfect health HUB a self-help repository with hundreds of health resources, videos, podcasts and weekly group support

There have been many diets touted as the best, Mediterranean, Paleo, Keto to name just a few - but which one is the best for you? Maintaining a healthy weight and body shape is important for good health, so how can you do this with a healthy balance? Let’s take a look at some of the most prominent and their pros and cons.

Paleo Diet

This diet is based on ‘eating like our ancestors’ and is sometimes referred to as the caveman diet. Whilst following its regime you only eat foods that your body can process for example, fruit, vegetables, nuts and meats but you exclude anything processed, such as ready meals, dairy products, grains and salt. It is currently the world’s most popular diet.

Pro’s

Paleo is naturally a low sugar diet and includes more fresh fruits and vegetables, which can undoubtedly benefit overall health. Many people who follow this also report improvements in sleep and focus and weight loss. One study, found a mean weight loss of 3.52 kilograms plus a decreased waist circumference and BMI in those who followed a Paleolithic diet compared with those eating other commonly recommended diets. The researchers behind this study suggest that following a paleo diet may reduce the risk of chronic diseases, because having excess body weight is one of the main risk factors for their development.

Con’s

By excluding whole food groups, you risk deficiency in certain nutrients. For example, we are told that excluding dairy could lead to low calcium levels if you are not careful although in my view, we gain sufficient calcium from other foods such as green leafy vegetables. It is impossible to follow a diet exactly like our ancestors as animal and plant species have evolved or become extinct. We are learning more about prehistoric diets, for example cavemen did eat starchy carbohydrates that were available at the time. There are also concerns that although the Paleo diet may lead to weight loss for some in may also have adverse side effects. For example, beans are not allowed on this diet but are a great source of minerals, fibre, and plant-based protein and are known to lower cholesterol. Recent studies have also shown that those who follow a paleo diet may have different gut microbiota and higher levels of trimethylamine N-oxide (TMAO), a compound tied to cardiovascular disease as there is not much fibre in this diet.

Keto Diet

The aim is this diet is similar to the Atkins diet and other low carb diets. It involves drastically reducing carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat. This reduction in carbs puts your body into a metabolic state called ketosis. It is believed that when this happens, the body becomes efficient at burning fat for energy. On this diet you focus on eating meat, fatty fish, eggs, butter and cream, cheese, nuts, healthy oils and low carb vegetables. You avoid sugary foods, grains and starches, fruit, beans and legumes, unhealthy fats and alcohol.

Pro’s

Ketogenic diets can cause significant reductions in blood sugar and insulin levels. This, along with the increased ketones, has some health benefits. The keto diet was originally designed to help people who suffer from seizure disorders and research has shown that it has a significant effect on reducing seizures. As a side effect some people found that they lost weight following the Keto diet. The diet is very filling so will leave little room for snacking and research does indicate that it helps to lose weight. A review of several studies demonstrated that people following a ketogenic diet lost 5 lbs more than those following low-fat diets after 6 months.

Con’s

Eating the Keto way is high in saturated fat which is commonly linked to heart disease and does not have a wide selection of vegetable options which could lead to nutritional deficiencies. Also, very low carbohydrate diets tend to have higher rates of side effects, including constipation, headaches, bad breath and more. Also, meeting the diet's requirements means cutting out many healthy foods, making it difficult to meet your micronutrient needs. In the next issue we will talk about the 5:2 Diet, the Mediterranean diet and Juicing.

In Summary

Finding a healthy eating pattern that works for you is important. One that fits into your lifestyle and helps to get rid of old bad habits is the best. To date, there is no evidence that one specific diet that can effectively support weight loss in all individuals - the best diet for weight loss consists of less calories in than out, plus moderate exercise! My own diet is primarily the rainbow approach with no dairy apart from organic butter from grass fed cows or ghee. To identify and understand what your body needs, and especially if you have specific health conditions such as cancer or diabetes, arthritis, gout, osteoporosis etc I advise my DISCPlus Health Formula (DHF). Using lab testing and metabolic analysis, not only do we find the foods that suit your body, but we also identify the root causes of your health challenges and may even reverse them altogether as I did with my own stage IV cancer in 2015. Elaine Godley MBA, O.A.Dip (Psych) was voted The Best Health and Wellbeing Mentor 2022 – UK by the Business Excellence Awards. elaine@discplus.health Elaine lives in The Algarve and supports international clients via personal video link.