by
Victoria Cox, MSC, Registered Dietitian
For the purpose of this article, let us define a diet as “a specific selection of foods, in specific amounts, to which one restricts oneself, usually to lose weight, or for medical reasons”.
Before we dive into the many reasons why “going on a diet” is probably NOT a good idea, let us clarify that we are not encouraging anyone to go against the dietary advice given by their doctor or dietitian as it relates to a specific medical condition. There are indeed diets, or rather “medical nutrition therapies”, that specific individuals need to follow to help with conditions such as kidney disease. Instead, we are talking about generally healthy people who decide that they need to go on a diet because they want to lose weight, or generally reduce their risk factors for developing a chronic disease. You might be surprised, because surely this is a good thing. Let us explore the dark side to diets.
•Diets are something that we are either “on” or “off” of, making them by nature… short-lived, or temporary.
How often have you heard someone say “I was on a diet last month, but then my birthday came around and I completely fell off”. In this situation, we see that someone might have been eating healthily for a one-month period – but then they stopped and reverted right back to their lesshealthy patterns after their birthday celebration.
None of their healthy eating choices continued on. In the grand scheme of our lives, a one-month period of healthy eating is just not enough to meaningfully improve our health. The problem is that we see diets as discrete entities, during which we must eat perfectly healthy. We convince ourselves that birthday cake does not belong in our diet, therefore, when we do inevitably eat the cake, we decide that the diet is “done…finished…that’s all, folks!”. The reality is, we need to see eating healthily as an ongoing, lifelong journey, not as a diet that has a beginning and an end.
• Diets are restrictive, and restriction leads to cravings.
Yet another phenomenon that many of us are personally familiar with – the feeling of wanting something even more than usual when we are told that we cannot have it. For example, while we may easily go weeks without eating chocolate, and not really think about it, from the minute we begin a diet that stipulates “no chocolate or candy or sweets allowed”– our desire for chocolate suddenly increases!
Research consistently shows that the more we over-restrict foods, the more we tend to become preoccupied thinking about and craving them and ultimately the more likely we are to end up binge-eating them. This is a vicious cycle. Picture this:
• We crave chocolate but are on a diet, therefore, we eat an apple instead. We keep this up for a few weeks and feel proud of our self-control. By week five, we are spending way too much time obsessing over chocolate, but not letting ourselves eat any. Then suddenly, the craving becomes too much – we go to the supermarket, buy five large chocolate bars, get back to the car and eat them all at once in a frenzy. We then feel bloated and miserable, disappointed in ourselves and decide that we have ruined our diet. The diet is over, and we are left feeling defeated.
• Instead, we need to recognise that healthy eating is NOT about telling ourselves that we can never again eat our favourite dessert. Rather, we need to aim for a pattern of eating where 80% of the time we are sticking with healthy meals – and then the rest of the time, we allow ourselves to enjoy our favourite desserts in moderation, without any guilt or feelings of having ruined anything.
• Diets are often nutritionally inadequate.
When we think of both the types and amounts of foods that people restrict themselves to when on a diet, it becomes clear that we can easily start missing out on vital nutrients.
With regards to the amount of food, many people believe that they need to eat very small portions when on a diet, especially if aiming to lose weight. Often they over-restrict, which results in eating too few calories, leading to inadequate energy intake and excessive hunger. This can cause lightheadedness, tiredness and fatigue…not to mention, we’ll probably get “hangry” (aka hungry and angry!). Furthermore, many diets are very strict about cutting out entire food groups. For example, some diets dictate that we must cut out all carbohydrates. Any diet that advises removing an entire food group is almost certain to increase your risk of vitamin and/or mineral deficiency.
If we remove all, or almost all, carbohydrates – we open ourselves up to a severely inadequate intake of fibre (which can cause constipation), along with inadequate intake of B vitamins, vitamin C, and more.
So How Should We Proceed?
There is NOTHING wrong with deciding that you want to make healthy changes to the way you eat, in fact, it’s wonderful to make this decision.
However, it is important that we avoid the path of going on an extreme, restrictive, and short-lived diet. Look out for next month’s article, in which we will provide you with tips and tricks on how to make healthy, long-lasting changes to your eating patterns – without having to put your favourite foods on the “forbidden” list!
WITH REGARDS TO THE AMOUNT OF FOOD, MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT THEY NEED TO EAT VERY SMALL PORTIONS WHEN ON A DIET, ESPECIALLY IF AIMING TO LOSE WEIGHT.
