Introduction
With unrealistic body images plastered all over social media. Teenagers and women have become more prone to taking extreme measures to fulfill those expectations. FAD diets or Healthy eating is often confused with eating sparingly and following strict diets. Something that was supposed to be a healthy lifestyle has become an obsession. So that it affects people’s mental well-being, even costing them their lives.
There seems to be a new diet regime every time you refresh your newsfeed. With all of them promising fast and effective weight loss. However, no one mentions the cost of these “effective diets”. And for these “effective treatments” participate in paid clinical trials near you.
What are FAD diets?
According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, FAD is defined as a practice or interest followed for a time with exaggerated zeal. In other words, FAD diets can be explained as a pattern of diet. Which is practiced for a specific time with full interest. Different types of FAD diets have been introduced. Intermittent fasting, the Mediterranean diet, the Paleo diet, the hCG diet, the DASH Diet, the Volumetrics Diet, the Keto diet, and so on.
What sort of people opt for FAD diets and why?
People who follow these diet plans are usually looking for quick results in a limited time. Famous individuals such as celebrities of the entertainment industry and athletes opt for such diet plans to gain maximum output.
The pros and cons of FAD diets.
The benefit of such diets is not limited to the loss of extra pounds. They also boost your morale and give an emotional uplift. Plus, most of them are pocket friendly.
As fruitful as these diets may seem, they are proven to be silent killers since they affect your health, damaging your body fatally over time. Some of the side effects include dehydration, nausea, vomiting, weakness, and fatigue, as well as constipation.
Intermittent fasting – Is it worth it?
Intermittent fasting is one of the most popular and effective patterns of the FAD diet regimen. In common words, it is a combination of two habits i.e eating and fasting where the emphasis is on time rather than the type of food.
The most heavily practiced patterns of intermittent fasting include the 16/8 method, the eat-stop-eat method, and the 5:2 diet. The 16/8 method, also known as the Leangains protocol is the simplest and the most commonly employed pattern. The protocol for this particular fasting regimen involves two major changes, i.e skipping breakfast and the duration of the eating period gets confined to 8 hours during the day, resulting in fasting for 16 hours.
The benefits of intermittent fasting make it a very effective dietary modification. At the molecular level, the increased levels of human growth hormone and the decrease in insulin levels allow the production of norepinephrine which directly helps in fat reduction resulting in weight loss. In addition to this, the process of autophagy during fasting aids in the removal of old and dysfunctional proteins. Furthermore, it also plays a significant role in improving heart health and lowering insulin resistance.
The major drawback of this eating pattern includes hunger. So, it is recommended to consult a seasoned nutritionist before incorporating this pattern of fasting into your daily lifestyle.
Mediterranean Diet – The European Way.
The Mediterranean Diet is a dietary pattern that revolves around the use of plant-based foods such as fruits, vegetables, legumes, herbs, nuts, and seeds. The use of olive oil is a staple in this type of diet, as it helps in decreasing cholesterol levels. Moreover, fish use is also considered an integral part as it has an abundance of Omega-3 fatty acids. The Omega-3 fatty acids help lower triglyceride levels.
Diets your heart can handle
The ketogenic diet has been described as a FAD diet pattern that involves the use of fats as the main energy source. It is considered the go-to method for weight loss in people who experience the effects of diet plans in multiple systems of the body, such as respiratory, digestive, neurologic, and cardiovascular systems. Not all diets are damaging to your heart, some of them do work for the well-being of our body’s most important organ.
The diet plans which are beneficial to your heart include but are not limited to, the Mediterranean diet, DASH diet, volumetrics Atkins diet, South Beach diet, vegan diet, and TLC diet.
The culprits of cardiovascular diseases are those plans which suggest increased consumption of saturated fats, salt, red meat, bacon, and processed or canned food, one of such diets is the Keto Diet.
DASH Diet:
As the name suggests, the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) Diet is considered to be the best for lowering high blood pressure. This diet instructs us to consume ingredients high in pressure-decreasing gems, such as calcium, fiber, potassium, and protein. These nutrients are present in the meals we usually take. Such as fruits, vegetables, lean meat, low-fat dairy, and whole grains.
DASH also stops its followers from consuming fatty meals, full-fat dairy, high salted meals, sodas, and other sweets. It also suggests lowering the sodium (salt) consumption to 2300mg/day, which eventually, should be reduced to 1500mg/day.
The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute recommends this nutritional regime for those who are looking to reduce or control their blood pressure. DASH Diet, mixed with physical activities, can prove to be useful in balancing weight loss and health.
Volumetrics Diet:
The Volumetrics diet was introduced by nutrition studies professor Barbara Rolls from Penn State University. This diet focuses more on the way you eat instead of what you eat. Barbara divided food into four categories.
Non Starchy fruits and vegetables, nonfat milk, and broth-based soup fall under category one (extremely low-density). Starchy fruits and vegetables, grains, breakfast cereal, low-fat meat, legumes, and low-fat mixed dishes like chili and spaghetti fall under category two (low-density). Meat, cheese, pizza, french fries, salad dressing, bread, pretzels, ice cream, and cake belong to category three (medium-density). Crackers, chips, chocolate candies, biscuits, almonds, butter, and oil come into group four (high-density). Those following this plan are supposed to take a considerable amount of categories one and two. Take controlled portions of category three and keep category four to the bare minimum.
This dietary program allows its devotees to have their favorite foods. It helps in healthily reducing weight.
Keto diet:
A ketogenic or Keto diet helps your body to go into ketosis by consuming more fats and proteins while having trace amounts of carbohydrates. Although proven to show fast results, this diet becomes a reason for many health issues. High LDL (bad) cholesterol, kidney stones, and type 2 diabetes are some of the problems arising from long-term following the keto diet. High cholesterol will affect the blood vessels causing a blockage (atherosclerosis) making it difficult for the heart to pump blood. This can eventually lead to multiple heart problems including arrhythmias and heart failure.
Even though the keto diet has a very high success rate in providing weight loss, the long-term effects of this regime are just not worth the hassle!
Conclusion:
Different research methods such as clinical trials advocate the use of FAD diets for the betterment of heart health. However, more Clinical Research in Cardiology in the US is currently being done for the provision of concrete knowledge for individuals. In a nutshell. it depends on the user on how they implement these dietary modifications to achieve a sound and healthy lifestyle.
Also read: Online Pharmacy before covid-19 and after the covid-19
