Year-round, the internet and print media bombard us with reasons to lose weight and suggestions about how to do it. That can range from ‘New Year, New You’ ideas, through to articles on how to get your ‘summer body’ ready, and onwards to diets to make you look great at Christmas parties.
This information tends to universally urge you to avoid things like sugar and alcohol. Beyond that, the ‘demons’ differ. Some diets demand that you shed weight by cutting carbs, while others have you calorie counting or avoiding all types of dietary fat.
Social media is packed with ideas for how to create a calorie deficit by combining certain foods with exercise. Especially on TikTok, you can find plenty of meal prep ideas to enable you to eat the same low cal/low-fat/low-carb meal for several days running.
This race to lose weight is compounded by public health campaigns. For instance, in the UK, the government is keen to point out that 28% of the population is classified as obese and an additional 36% are described as overweight. The associated health risks are loudly warned about. (source: commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/sn03336/)
The other side of this bombardment of dietary advice and methods is eating plans for people who want to achieve weight gain. There are also diets that build muscle or suggestions for foods to boost energy levels.
The problem is that many of these campaigns, articles, and diet plans are well-intentioned but leave out crucial information. They are also often temporary fixes at best. That’s partly because they are often hard to maintain, produce unwanted side effects, or quickly become boring.
This means within weeks (or even days), dieters trip up or abandon their plan to lose or gain weight. In the case of anyone trying to shed excess pounds or kg, they may have slowed their metabolism down with their chosen diet. A return to normal eating habits can often mean gaining even more weight than they started with.
Worse still, some of these diets are detrimental to general health. If you do stick to them for a while, you could be creating significant damage, including a sluggish metabolism, poor digestive health, or even an increased risk of heart disease.
That’s because many of the weight management methods that are widely publicized simply do not provide the balanced nutrition you need.
The myth about calories to lose weight
The most widely promoted way to lose weight is to count calories. People are urged to eat fewer calories than they use during their normal daily activity and to do exercise to burn more of them away.
However, standard calorie targets are highly misleading. Every individual has their own personal metabolic rate and dietary needs.
This is why calorie-counting diets don’t work, according to an expert in this field, Tim Spector OBE. He is an award-winning author of bestselling books ‘The Diet Myth‘ and ‘Spoon Fed‘ and is a Professor of Genetics at Kings College, London. (source: tim-spector.co.uk)
Professor Spector promotes the view that to manage your weight successfully, you must rethink your whole relationship with food. That is not simply about finding a miracle diet plan or even following the trend of creating a calorie deficit.
In fact, he is highly vocal about how badly led astray consumers are and lobbies for greater control over what medical organizations and government bodies in the UK say. Professor Spector believes:
“Much of the current advice about food and nutrition is dangerously inaccurate, misleading and often downright wrong.”
Instead of obsessing about calories (or carbs, or fat), we should all get help with understanding what our own bodies need, as well as our individual health characteristics and digestive function. This is particularly focused on how our ‘gut’ operates in breaking down the foods we eat. Professor Spector maintains that each person’s “individual biology and unique microbiome profile” are central to what represents a ‘healthy diet’.
So, rather than focusing on the energy value of foods, consumers should instead try to understand nutritional values better and know which nutrients they need more of.
Pre-prepared ‘diet’ foods
If you accept what Professor Spector says – or you simply appreciate the need to eat a healthy, balanced diet – you must consider avoiding the quick, convenient, and pre-prepared food products that line supermarket shelves and chiller cabinets.
This includes shakes in a can, compressed bars, and slimmer’s meals, marketed as being a healthy way to lose weight. The truth is that these products are processed foods, and some are even ultra-processed foods.
All the work to reduce calories, carbs, or fat goes hand in hand with tinkering with the ingredients in ways that reduce their nutritional value. They are also provided with longer shelf lives and a more appealing taste by the addition of chemicals and salt. Your low-fat dish may also have added sugar!
Also, stripping out dietary fats of all kinds is unwise. There are types of fat your body needs to sustain your energy levels and maintain functions such as heart health. This includes essential fatty acids (the clue is in the title) like omega-3.
More dangers of processed and ultra-processed foods
Diet products and trends can create a nutritional deficit and make it harder for your digestive system to work efficiently. They can also ‘fool’ your metabolism in unhealthy ways.
Professor Tim Spector has been quoted as saying:
“Ultra-processed foods make you hungrier, overeat, and harm the microbes in your gut.”
This is why you can often find it even harder to maintain your ideal weight after following a diet plan based on pre-prepared products.
Studies into how ultra-processed foods negatively affect our health include ones proving that some substantially increase the sugar and fat we consume. This is partly due to the fact food labels can be ‘ingredient fables’, according to Professor Spector. He is part of a growing body of opinion that modern food labels are largely inaccurate. (source cell.com/cell-metabolism/pdf/S1550-4131(19)30248-7.pdf)
When you add this to the distraction of counting calories, carbs, and fat rather than focusing on the quality of what you eat, you can see why there is such alarm among expert nutritionists.
What should you look for?
The message is simple: To manage your weight and maintain your health, you need to eat a well-balanced diet and do regular exercise. That means opting for what supports your health rather than what lowers your calorie intake dramatically.
For instance, a juicy, fresh orange containing 50 calories (along with vitamins and fiber) is far better for you than a can of fizzy orange-flavored drink with zero calories and lots of artificial sweetener.
Also, within your purposeful nutrition, you need to balance how many fruit and vegetables you eat with other substances your body requires daily. That includes essential fatty acids, as mentioned earlier, and carbohydrates!
Carbs – like calories – have been promoted as the enemy of weight management and to be avoided. That flies in the face of the fact that we need what they provide. Not only are they a source of energy, but foods classed as carbohydrates are often excellent sources of the key vitamins, minerals, and trace elements we thrive on.
Healthy carbs packed with nutrients include potatoes, sweet potatoes, whole grains, nuts, seeds, beans, and pulses. All of these can support a healthy, balanced diet. They will also make you feel full, enabling you to avoid binge eating or craving sweet things.
What does a food relationship rethink involve?
If calorie counting and avoiding carbs are both ‘out of the window’ and you need some types of fat for your health, what can you do to manage your weight?
As already mentioned, the big take-home should be to greatly reduce your reliance on processed foods and stop buying ultra-processed foods. Also, you need to reduce or stop eating refined carbohydrates – primarily sugar or white flour. These should be replaced with whole grains and other carbs that provide a dietary boost and good nutrition.
In addition, you should cut out trans fats (ultra-processed and synthetic fats) and reduce saturated fats. Instead, focus on essential polyunsaturated fats available from fish, nuts, seeds, and plant oils. These, too, are packed with valuable nutrients.
Also, learn the value of herbs and spices. They add flavor to your dishes but can also increase their nutritional benefits.
Lastly, make sure you eat as much fresh produce as possible, foods that have not been processed, heated, or otherwise altered. Get a good balance of types and colors of fruit and vegetables to support your gut, metabolism, and general health.
This will lead you to choose nutritionally rich and beneficial foods that make you feel full, support your digestive system, and keep your metabolism ticking at the right pace. Variety and creative cooking with fresh ingredients will also make your healthy diet far less boring too.
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