Dieting defined and maligned

"Diet" = "Die" with a T

Much confusion abounds regarding diets.

When most people hear this word, they think of eating plans designed to help them lose weight ("diets"). It's a buzzword in the popular culture and in mainstream medicine. There are literally hundreds of "diets" out there helping people to yo-yo up and down from fat to thin to fatter and beyond, and each one of them has its devotees…

As I've said about a million times before, "diets" DON'T WORK.

And now, there's proof. History's largest study on "diets" to date has verified what I've been saying all along: When it comes to weight, you can't put a band-aid on a bullet-wound. According to the journal American Psychologist, some University of California researchers analyzed more than 30 prior studies on various "diets" and concluded:

• Most "dieters" put back on all the weight they lose in the years immediately following their initial weight loss
• Sustained weight loss occurred in only a fractional minority of those who'd "dieted"
• The average female "dieter" put back on 55% more weight than she'd initially lost
• After regaining their original weight loss, as many as two-thirds of "dieters" ended up heavier than they were before they started
• Groups of "dieters" often ended up heavier than similar control groups who hadn't tried to lose weight

The general conclusion the U of C researchers came to was that "diets" are HARMFUL TO HEALTH in the vast bulk (no pun intended) of cases - adding to the likelihood of heart attack, stroke and cardiovascular disease. And although the study proves what I've long known, it did raise a little bit of a red flag to me that the research doesn't mention by name any of the "diets" that were studied.

I know for a fact that the Atkins Diet (no quotation marks - because it's a lifelong, nutritionally complete eating plan) and other low-carb, high-fat plans have helped many people to achieve permanent weight loss and greater health. In fact, just last month, I reported to you about the Stanford University research proving the Atkins approach top of the heap among a group of mainstream "diets" studied…

But I can't tell whether this latest U of C study even included the Atkins Diet (or similar ones). If it did, then I can tell you with certainty that the findings would have been even more disheartening without it!

And if the research did not include low-carb plans, I'd love to see how the overall success rates would have gone up once the Atkins plan was averaged into the mix…

Bottom line: A healthy diet (no quotation marks) is the only way to stay trim and healthy over the long haul. That means lowering simple sugars and carbohydrates to the bare minimum - and eating plenty of mineral-rich meats, eggs, and dairy, preferably of an organic, grass-fed, or hormone-free variety.

A few fruits and high-fiber complex carbs (like flaxseed) are OK, along with a few green leafies (the less they're cooked, the better), but you shouldn't overdo the veggies…

Or you'll end up a casualty of the "diet" mentality.