Which Popular Weight Loss Diet Suits You?

There are tons of diets out there. Some focus on reducing your appetite, while others restrict calories, carbs, or fat. With an overwhelming number of diet programs available, finding the answer can prove challenging. After all, there is no perfect diet for everyone – meaning what works for you may not work for someone else. So, before you pick a plan, be sure to do your research on what it can and can’t do for your health.

Before choosing a health or weight loss approach, it’s important to do some self-evaluation by asking yourself some questions:

1. What can you live with in the long term?
There are many diet plans on the market today that promote good health. The key is to find one that doesn’t cause you stress or agony. Factors such as enjoyment, flexibility, and longevity should be strongly considered. If the diet is a quick fix rather than one that promotes lasting lifestyle changes, this could pose a problem. Extreme diets that promise big weight loss up front aren’t always sustainable and you may end up overeating or even binge eating if you feel deprived. Consider if the diet’s habits are ones you can continue throughout your lifetime, not just 21 or 30 days.

2. Which diet program is best for your overall health?
Some diet plans, such as the MIND diet and the DASH diet, are meant to focus on certain areas of health and weight loss may be a bonus. Others are created with weight loss as a primary goal. It is important to remember that we all are unique individuals. We all have different states of health and different lifestyles, which could affect what diet plan is best for us. That means that you should not be considering what is working for your friends or family members. Instead, you should pay attention to what works for you individually. Many diet plans cut out entire food groups, which can create nutrient deficiencies as well as health problems.

3. Is the diet approach safe for you to follow?
Make sure that the diet has been studied extensively for safety and do a self-check to ensure the diet fits with your own values and preferences. The diet you choose needs to be safe and effective, while taking into account your lifestyle.

In this article, we are going to learn about the most popular weight loss diets and the science behind them. Read on to see which plan might be best for you!

1. Mediterranean diet
The Mediterranean diet is based on the traditional foods that people used to eat in countries like Italy and Greece back in 1960. It’s low in refined sugar, red meat and processed foods. Numerous studies have now shown that the Mediterranean diet can cause weight loss and help prevent heart attacks, strokes, type 2 diabetes and premature death. It also may improve kidney function and gut health.

Mediterranean diet varies by country and region, so it has a range of definitions. But in general, it’s high in vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, beans, cereals, grains, fish, and unsaturated fats such as olive oil. It usually includes a low intake of meat and dairy foods and tends to replace butter with oil, while flavoring comes from herbs and spices rather than salt. The Mediterranean lifestyle also involves regular physical activity, sharing meals with other people and enjoying life. Try googling “Mediterranean recipes” and you will find a ton of great tips for delicious meals!

2. DASH diet
DASH stands for Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension. It’s a plan specifically designed to help lower blood pressure. It involves reducing your salt intake and loading up on foods that are chock-full of heart-friendly minerals like calcium, potassium and magnesium. The DASH Diet is mainly touted for its positive effects on blood pressure levels, but the science-backed plan may also lead to weight loss for some individuals due to its focus on eating whole, fresh foods. The food options available on the DASH diet focus on whole foods, such as fruit and veggies; fat-free or low-fat dairy; whole grains; and lean meats, like fish and poultry. Meanwhile, the plan requires eliminating processed foods, like sugary drinks and packaged snacks, and limiting red meat, which in excess has been linked to poorer heart health and heart failure.

3. Paleo diet
The paleo diet allows you to eat only those foods that humans ate when they first roamed the planet millions of years ago. The theory is that most modern diseases can be linked to the Western diet and the consumption of grains, dairy, and processed foods. The diet can improve your health by eliminating high-fat and processed foods that have little nutritional value and too many calories.

This plan emphasizes loading up on fruits and vegetables that are bursting with healthy vitamins, minerals, and fiber, which fills you up faster, so you eat less, helping weight gain control. Some more flexible versions of the paleo diet also allow for dairy like cheese and butter, as well as potatoes and sweet potatoes. Several studies have shown that the paleo diet can lead to significant weight loss and reduced waist size. In studies, paleo dieters automatically eat much fewer carbs, more protein, and 300–900 fewer calories per day. You’ll lose weight because any time you restrict entire food groups, your calorie intake tends to be lower. And whenever you burn more calories than you consume, you’ll have weight loss.

4. MIND Diet
The MIND diet, or Mediterranean-DASH Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay, is a sort of hybrid between the DASH diet and the Mediterranean diet. It features foods meant to reduce the risk of developing dementia or slow the decline in brain health. The MIND diet focuses on the intake of plant-based foods and limiting the intake of animal products and foods high in saturated fat. The emphasis is on plants, and what’s noteworthy is that this diet specifically urges a higher consumption of berries and green leafy vegetables. Because this diet is plant-based and includes many different types of food, it’s generally easy to stick with, whether you’re preparing meals at home or dining out. However, following this diet may result in a slightly higher grocery bill because of the emphasis on berries and nuts, which can be pricier than some packaged, less-healthy snacks.

5. Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting cycles your body between periods of fasting and eating. Rather than restricting the foods you eat, it controls when you eat them. Thus, it can be seen as more of an eating pattern than a diet.

The most popular ways to do intermittent fasting are:


Intermittent fasting is commonly used for weight loss because it leads to relatively easy calorie restriction. It can make you eat fewer calories overall – as long as you don’t overcompensate by eating much more during the eating periods. Intermittent fasting is generally very successful for weight loss. It has been shown to cause weight loss of 3-8% over a period of 3-24 weeks, which is a lot compared to most weight loss diets. In addition to causing less muscle loss than standard calorie restriction, it may increase your metabolic rate by 3.6-14% in the short term. Furthermore, intermittent fasting has been linked to increased levels of human growth hormone (HGH), improved insulin sensitivity, improved cellular repair, and altered gene expressions.




References:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/mediterranean-diet-meal-plan#bottom-line
https://www.everydayhealth.com/diet-nutrition/the-dash-diet.aspx
https://www.thesun.co.uk/fabulous/8108673/weight-loss-best-diet-low-carb-keto-mediterranean/
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/9-weight-loss-diets-reviewed#section10