THE DIET BATTLES
WHICH IS THE CLEAR WINNER?
DIETS DON'T WORK - REALLY?
Almost all diets work, at least initially. The problem is not with the diet, but with human psychology plus controlling the appetite and having the diet be sustainable (doable, easy to tolerate).
It is interesting to note that even good diets are not maintained over the long term, but that is due to human nature and failing to align with it properly. My book The Quickest Route To A Healthy Lifestyle specifically emphasizes sustainability and how you can be successful if you align with the forces of nature, so that the way of eating is easy and likable. Link to the book from Books, Booklets, Special Summaries.
If a diet is "special" but non-sustainable, we give it - thumbs down.
Note that even good diets are not maintained over the long term, as that is human nature.
Sustainability as a part of one's natural lifestyle is the key.
Two key criteria for diets:
1. Actual effects on health measures (of course!)
2. Sustainable
1. Not hungry (no irrestible urges) -
a. Hunger signals
b. Satiety signals
c. "Energy" perception
2. Palatable (enough)
The low fat vs the low carbs diet battles:
The winner is low carbs, specifically the Atkins Diet, as it reduces the bad health markers and increases some good healthy markers significantly, but intuitively and logically it seems to me that it encourages people to eat out of balance in one particular direction, with too much saturated fat. (See The Saturated Fat Question.)
If you do it in a reasonable way, it is a good strategy. (Check with your doctor first!)
THE COMPONENT THAT MAKES THE MOST DIFFERENCE
No diet can work if it has bad glycemics - meaning it causes blood glucose spikes. Those spikes are to be avoided like the plague.
No diet can work if you eat too much. (Duh!) But some people seem to still believe that a miracle can occur to be able to go around that reality. (Cheez! We sure can be gullible! Including me, before...)
THE REAL QUESTION IS...
