Diet fads and facts

Is it a diet or a healthy eating plan?

There’s more than one diet that can help you lose weight — a higher protein diet, a low fat-high carbohydrate diet, a low GI diet and even a vegan diet have all been found to have some benefit in helping people lose weight. But the key to long-term weight loss is choosing a way of eating that you can follow for the rest of your life — not just a couple of months.

So before you embrace a new diet, here are some questions to ask:

• Will this diet do more than just shrink my waistline — is it also a healthy way of eating that will protect my long term health?
• Can I stick with it for good — not just a few weeks?
• Does it promise rapid weight loss? It’s important to lose fat, but fast weight loss may mean you lose water or muscle as well. Losing muscle will only make your body less efficient at burning up kilojoules which can lead you to put on weight instead.

What really works to help you lose weight

Include lean protein and healthy carbohydrates at each meal

Combined, lean protein and healthy carbohydrates together can help you feel satisfied and fuller after you eat, so you’re less likely to snack between meals. Examples of lean protein are very lean meat or poultry, fish, eggs, low-fat dairy foods and plant proteins such as tofu, lentils or beans. Healthy carbohydrates include bulkier wholegrain foods such as grainy breads and oats and vegetables like legumes. You don’t have to eat a lot of these carbohydrates but including them will help you last the distance until your next meal.

Eat more vegetables

Larger servings of vegetables — whether steamed, stir fried, roasted with a little olive oil or in a salad — will fill you up without weighing you down.

Be smart about fats

A healthy diet should include some fat. This doesn’t mean eating fatty steaks or cheese-laden pizza, but you should include foods with healthy monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats as part of your everyday diet. These ‘good’ fats are found in foods such as oily fish, avocado, olive oil and unsalted nuts and seeds. However, you still need to eat these foods in moderation as all fats are high in kilojoules and can still contribute to weight gain. Be cautious with products labelled low-fat or fat free — check the nutrition label for the kilojoule content. Foods labelled as low-fat or fat-free may contain added sugar to make up for having less fat — so ‘low fat’ or ‘no fat’ doesn’t mean no kilojoules.

Tips to control your fat intake

• Use non-stick pans and oil sprays for frying.
• Grill, bake, steam, stir-fry with a little oil or microwave where possible.
• Use more poultry and fish instead of red meat.
• Trim all visible fat from meat and remove skin from chicken.
• Chill soups and stews and remove the fat that collects on the top overnight.
• Be stingy with using fatty spreads like margarine, mayonnaise and butter — or skip them altogether. A sandwich with a moist filling doesn’t need any spread.

Eat breakfast

Eating breakfast is shown to be a habit common to most people who lose weight and keep it off. One theory is that a healthy meal first thing in the morning may kick-start your metabolism and help you burn more kilojoules throughout the day. It may also help you to stop snacking on less healthy, high-kilojoule foods later in the day.

Good breakfast choices are low glycemic index (GI) carbohydrates such as whole grain bread, rolled oats, muesli with low-fat milk, soymilk or low-fat yoghurt, fruit with low-fat yoghurt, a boiled or poached egg, or baked beans with whole grain bread.

Keep a daily food diary

Results from a study run by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute in the US showed that keeping a food diary may help with weight loss. By recording what you eat, where you eat, when and with whom, you’ll be able to see patterns forming after a week. You can then use the diary and your observations to identify food habits that need change.

Eat your kilojoules — don’t drink them

The problem with drinking both soft drink and juice is that you’re consuming kilojoules without the filling power of food. You’re better off avoiding soft drinks and juice and instead drink water and eat a piece of fruit.

Limit your alcohol intake

Alcohol can stimulate your appetite and encourage you to eat more. It is also high in kilojoules but contains little nutritional value. Drinking less alcohol helps with weight loss by helping to cut down the kilojoules you consume.

Don't forget about exercise

A successful weight loss plan should include exercise. Check out our related information on exercising to increase your metabolism and aerobic exercise.

The trick to a successful weight loss plan is no trick at all! By combining these healthy living tips — changing your food habits and doing regular, appropriate exercise — you’re on your way to creating a leaner, healthier you.

Further information

Harvard School of Public Health. Six Ideas for Low-Sugar Drinks.
www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/healthy-drinks/low-sugar-drink-ideas/index.html

Go for 2 and 5
www.gofor2and5.com.au

Glycemic Index (University of Sydney)
www.glycemicindex.com

Sources

Cho S Dietrich M Brown C et al. The Effect of Breakfast Type on Total Daily Energy Intake and Body Mass Index: Results from the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES III). Journal of the American College of Nutrition, 2003; 22(4): 296-302.

Diabetes ACT. Alcohol and diabetes. [online] Holder, ACT: Diabetes ACT. C2010 [accessed 18 Aug 2010] Available from:
http://www.diabetes-act.com.au/UserFiles/File/fact_sheets/01_Alcohol.pdf

Harvard School of Public Health. Fats and Cholesterol: Out with the Bad, In, with the Good. [online] Boston, MA: The President and Fellows of Harvard College. c2010 [accessed 6 Aug 2010] Available from:
http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/fats-full-story/index.html

National Heart Foundation of Australia. Carbohydrates and sugars. [online] Australia: National Heart Foundation of Australia. [last updated 24 Apr 2010, accessed 11 Aug 2010] Available from:
http://www.heartfoundation.org.au/sites/HealthyEating/MakingSenseofFoodLabels/Pages/Sugar.aspx

Hollis JF Guillion CM Stevens VJ et al. Weight loss during the intensive intervention phase of the weight-loss maintenance trial. American Journal of Preventive Medicine. 2008; 35(2): 118–126.

Lichtenstein AH Appel LJ Brands M et al. Diet and Lifestyle Recommendations Revision 2006: a scientific statement from the American Heart Association. [online] Circulation. 2006; 114:82–96. Available from:
http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/content/short/114/1/82

Last published: 30 October 2011

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