Diet fads diluted: which one works?

Paleolithic Diet

One of the diets that is becoming increasingly popular is the paleolithic diet. This diet is a critique of processed foods, intensive breeding of livestock and the year-round availability of seasonal foods. Some scientists believe that going back to our roots and adapting to the diet of our ancestors might solve the problem of obesity, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. All those diseases are to an extent connected to what we eat and have emerged during the past 50 years. The recommendations are to eat vegetables, roots, nuts, fungi, some omega-3 essential fatty acids and unprocessed fish or meat, but the meat has to be from animals that are grass fed. What should be excluded from our diets are dairy products, processed oils, potatoes, legumes and refined salt and sugar.

There are many ways that the paleolithic diet can fit into our eating habits. There are several breakfast recipes, such as eggs, pancakes or waffles with fruit. Most fruits are included in the paleolithic diet, although it is important to limit those with high sugar content. For the main course, it is always possible to prepare meat or fish with veggies or more interesting recipes like zucchini pasta or cauliflower rice. This is not only a diet, but a lifestyle that a person has to follow. It is not just about eating healthily, but also exercising regularly and living consistently.

I tried the paloethic diet myself for half a year and the effects surprised me. My sports coach recommended it to me as I was often feeling sick from heavy foods and I wanted to feel better and score higher in the sports chart. After a few months I not only felt better, but also I scored higher and I lost weight as a side effect. This persuaded me that I should continue with paleo and see where it takes me. I was never keen on dairy products, so it wasn’t a problem for me to take milk, cream or cheese out of my fridge. But if you were a dairy products person then I probably wouldn’t recommend paleo for you.

Veronika Vohlmuthova

The 5:2 Diet

Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the past year or so, it’s more than likely that you’ve come across ‘the 5:2 Diet’. Hailed as the ‘diet for foodies’, the regime consists of eating only 500 calories for two days of the week, and whatever you want (within reason) for the other five. Before you recoil in horror at (gasp) fasting being promoted as a healthy way to lose weight, it might be wise to note the host of health benefits involved; according to ‘The Fast Diet’ website, ‘studies of intermittent fasting show that not only do people see improvements in blood pressure and their cholesterol levels, but also in their insulin sensitivity’.

 With celebrities such as Miranda Kerr, Beyoncé, Ben Affleck and Hugh Jackman raving about the fasting diet, I decided to give the wonder diet a go, reassured that my chocolate cravings would not have to be suppressed (well, at least not during one of my allocated non-fasting days). While the first few hours of fasting were easy enough, by my 3pm seminar my fellow classmates were being aurally assaulted by my quite vocal stomach, having had only a banana for sustenance (which was already one-fifth of my daily allowance gone). After sticking with the diet for three weeks, and annoying/worrying my friends in the process, I lost a minimal amount of weight that promptly returned a week or so later. Though it may have helped Hugh Jackman get ripped for Wolverine, it’s safe to say that, for me at least, the 5:2 diet succeeds only in creating a grumpy student for two days each and every week.

Bethan McGrath

The Anti-Diet Diet

Our bodies were not designed for self-starvation and they rebel when we try it. Most people who lose weight on a diet gain all or even more of it back within a couple of months of stopping, and they make themselves pretty unhappy along the way. As well as losing time, energy, and effort that they could’ve invested into their studies or personal lives, they lose one of the most invaluable things a person can have: a portion of their self-esteem.

Dieting works against our bodies. I suggest, that if you do want and need (most people on diets probably don’t) to lose weight, you try working with it instead.

Firstly, this means more exercise, but I suggest that you pick a sport you adore and that drives your body wild with enjoyment. Not into team ball sports? Try dance, water sports, yoga, fencing, martial arts, hiking, or one of the other countless types of sport on offer. If you’re not sure what you do enjoy, then this is the time to try things out!

Secondly, this means making sure you get the sleep that you need, taking time to relax after a stressful day, and being honest with yourself, and in your relationships. Your emotional wellbeing is vital to your overall physical health.

Thirdly, this means letting your body teach you how to eat. Most of us have forgotten how to listen out for our body’s signals about eating. If we listen carefully, we can figure out when we are hungry (then we should eat), when we are full (when to stop eating), and even what kinds of foods our body needs right here and now to nourish it best. This will definitely take practice, but, along with sport, it will lead to a healthy lifestyle, and one that should provide you with satisfying, long-term results.

Susanna Chapman