There’s just no getting away from it: every January without fail, there’s so much talk about new health kicks and the latest dieting tips *sigh*. Have you ever wondered what happens to your body when on these diets and why nutritionists like myself are so against them? Throughout the year, this blog will explore the different types of diets which have been very popular in the past, and their impact on the human body. This article is the first, starting with calorie restriction, WW and meal replacement shakes. Are these diets actually healthy?
Calorie Restriction
Let’s start with the saying ‘less calories in, more calories out’ – how many times have you heard somebody quote this in relation to weight loss? Theoretically, from a simplistic viewpoint, eating less calories than you are ‘putting in’ will cause short term weight loss as the body has to use back up energy stores (stored glycogen and fat) to function. However, our bodies are not that simplistic in real life which is why this approach doesn’t work for weight loss in the long term. If we are underfeeding our body, it will go into ‘survival mode,’ which means slowing the metabolism down to make the body more fuel efficient. This means that every calorie eaten will be burned slower and go further in terms of energy supply. Which means that any initial rate of weight loss will slow down until reaching the point of a plateau. Now what? To keep losing weight you’d have to restrict calories even further…but this is very unrealistic. Our bodies need adequate food intake to function well. Restricting calories to a point where very little is eaten is dangerous to physical health, as well as promoting a very disordered relationship with food (if you feel the need to keep restricting food you could be struggling with an eating disorder).
This type of diet is all about weight loss. The problem is that weight isn’t associated with health. Restricting calories comes with the dangers that:
- You might not be eating enough for your body to function properly.
- You might not have enough scope in your diet to fit in adequate nutrient intake.
- Restriction on the diet of any kind can be dangerous psychologically and lead to a very unhealthy mental relationship with food.
WW
Off the back of calorie restriction, it’s a good time to mention WW (formerly known as Weight Watchers). The blatantly obvious fact is that its in the (old) name – weight watchers – meaning they are all about weight, which is already a red flag considering that health isn’t associated with weight. Splashed all over WW’s advertising is the message that ‘you are not restricted’ and that you can include everything in the diet. The problem is that it’s fundamentally based on tracking what you’ve eaten, with a points based system. Which means that there are still dietary restrictions as you have a set number of points for each day. The problem with this is that:
- Tracking food in any form can become obsessive, with a high chance of leading to disordered eating.
- Following points distracts from the ability to tune in with your own body signals and natural appetite.
We are all in completely different bodies, with different genetics, lifestyles, dietary preferences etc. There is no one size fits all. Appetite changes daily – one day you could be extra hungry and need to eat more and another day you might feel like eating less. A set points system does not allow for this natural biological flexibility. (see ‘What is Intuitive Eating All About?’ to read more on a healthier approach).
It must be mentioned that WW now have a ‘Zeropoints’ programme where they claim that there’s no tracking or measuring. However, what this actually means is that they’ve assigned certain foods (in their words nutritional powerhouses) zero points – which means that you can eat an unlimited amount of certain foods without tracking points. This is still a form of restricting as it’s sending the message that certain foods are ‘good’ therefore you’re allowed to eat them, and implying that any other foods outside of this category are ‘bad.’ This is a problem as all foods fit within a balanced diet (yes, including chocolate). This mentally leads into disordered eating territory as it’s likely that when you inevitably crave a food which isn’t on the ‘Zeropoints’ list, you will probably harbour feelings of guilt/shame for eating these foods. There’s no doubt about it, the ‘Zeropoints’ programme at WW is still a form of restriction and a form of dieting. It’s not necessary to have to cut out any types of foods from the diet in order to be healthy (with the exception of a genuine food allergy).
Meal Replacement Shakes
There are many types of meal replacement shakes which are advertised as weight loss tools. It varies by brand, but most contain roughly 200-300 calories per shake and advertise that they should replace two meals per day. The first problem is that our bodies are designed to eat and break down food. With the exception of medical conditions where liquid nutrition is the only option, food over synthetic shakes is the healthiest option. When we eat, there is a process which our digestive system goes through to break down food into energy and waste etc. Simplistically, a typical meal will take a few hours to break down. Certain macronutrients take longer to digest than others e.g. a high fat meal will keep you feeling fuller for longer. However, in meal replacement shakes, there is not much to break down as the nutrients within it are not bound within the structure of food, so they are absorbed a lot quicker, directly into the bloodstream. Therefore, the shake won’t keep you satisfied for anywhere nearly as long as a meal would. It’s also unlikely that a shake would give you adequate energy to keep you going through your normal day-to-day (which is the point as it’s basically another form of calorie restriction).
There’s also the issue of fibre. Fibre plays a very important role in the health of our gut and colon, as well as slowing down digestion. Current dietary guidelines recommend that adults have a fibre intake of 30g/day. Fibre is essentially the ‘leftovers’ from food which the body couldn’t breakdown and absorb, such as skin from fruit and veg. If two of your daily meals are meal replacement shakes, there is a big risk that you are missing out on getting enough fibre. The shakes are also padded out with synthetic flavourings and sweeteners which are not a healthier option than eating normal food.
Take Away Messages
At the end of the day, any diets which include any form of restriction, whether it’s calories or a particular food group, are not healthy. These are the take away messages:
- The bottom line is that for optimum health, we need to eat a diet containing a good mixture of the macronutrients (protein, fat and carbohydrate) and micronutrients (vitamins and minerals).
- Diet culture puts aesthetics before health with the false promotion that everybody should be striving for a thinner body. This is just not true. You can be healthy at any size.
- Weight is not associated with health, therefore any diet striving for weight loss alone is more likely to have a negative impact on health than a positive one.
- Everybody is different and functions better on different types of food. There is no ‘one size fits all.’
If you’ve reached this point and you’re ready to improve your relationship with food, you can book your free 20-minute discovery call with Hattie here.
