Health
Do diets work? Keto, the Atkins, intermittent fasting, Noom; there’s no shortage of weight-loss diets fighting for our attention. It’s no wonder the dieting industry in the UK is worth a staggering £2 billion a year. But do diets even work? And which, if any, can you trust? Dieting is something the vast majority of us will have experienced at one point or another. Research has even suggested that over two-thirds of the UK are on some sort of diet at any given time. Whether you’re looking to lose weight or just be a little healthier, new and creative ways to change your eating habits continue to crop up left, right and centre. From diets that eliminate all carbs to programmes that promise to change your entire attitude towards food, there’s no shortage of diets to try – and try we have. However, as anyone who’s been on a diet will tell you, they’re not as simple as they seem. Not only are they notoriously hard to stick to (because let’s
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face it, cutting out carbs for the rest of your life just isn’t sustainable), it can be equally hard to maintain a healthy weight once you’ve reached your goal. However, the really hard pill to swallow is that some diets aren’t even that good for you in the first place. After all, just because a diet makes you lose weight, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s conducive to a healthy lifestyle. So how can you tell the good diets from the bad ones, and how effective are the good ones anyway? Good diets versus bad diets When you’re on a mission to shed pounds for an upcoming wedding or long-awaited holiday, it is often counterintuitive to stop and think: “Is this diet actually good for me?” Often we become so focused on the number on the scales, we forget to give our bodies what they need to function and thrive. Juice diets are a good example. These ultra-low calorie fads lure people in with fast results and buzz words such as ‘detoxifying’ and ‘cleansing’. First off,
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