Download Topic 10 - Truths and Myths

Very low calorie diets - such as ‘1000 kcal diet’. Restricting calories will only work in the short
term and not the long term. Most women need around 2000 kcals and men around 2500 kcals.
Eating too little calories for long periods of time can cause your metabolism to slow down and
therefore you gain weight very easily. The only situations where very low calorie diets are used are
prior to bariatric surgery as it causes shrinkage of the liver and is under medical supervision.
Truths and myths
Liquid/formula diets - where drinks or meals replace the majority of food intake. Some of them
allow one meal daily, usually the evening one. As with the others above they cause weight loss from
restriction of calories and often they contain a substance that swells in the stomach to promote a
feeling of fullness (but can often lead to wind and stomach pain too!). Again these diets do not
educate the person to help them change their eating habits, cause too fast weight loss and cannot
be maintained long term.
There are too many fad diets to mention as new ones are brought out all the time – after Christmas,
leading up to summer holidays etc. In essence though, fad type diets only work in the short term,
not the long term.
As mentioned, be wary of advice in the media regarding food and diet, unless it is written by a state
registered Dietitian.
If you would like to find out more about healthy eating and sensible weight loss then the following
websites are recommended:
www.bdaweightwise.com
www.bda.uk.com/foodfacts/index.html
www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Goodfood/Pages/Goodfoodhome.aspx
Come along to our free weight loss class
to become more active, healthier and slimmer.
To book your place, contact your local leisure centre
or book online at www.sllcbooking.co.uk
Scottish Charity No. SCO37439
Week 10
www.eatwellscotland.org/
Weigh to go!
Week 10
Truths and myths
Many myths surround food, especially in relation to dieting. For instance, many people believe that
starchy foods such as bread, cereals, pasta and potatoes are fattening. These foods actually have
a very low fat content and they should be included with all meals. They become high in fat and
calories when high fat foods are added to them. For example, butter on bread, cream based pasta
sauces, adding full cream milk to cereals.
Some fruits and vegetables are labelled
as ‘fattening’ including bananas, grapes,
peas, beans and sweetcorn. These foods
are all fat-free and are high in vitamin
C and fibre. Like starchy foods, all fruits
and vegetables should be included daily
for a healthy balanced diet.
A lot of mixed messages are present in the media with regards to healthy eating and weight
management. If a celebrity has lost weight through a fad diet then it is promoted as a ‘wonder’ diet
however it is usually the fact that they have access to personal trainers, chefs, stylists and also plastic
surgeons that may have helped with their transformation! Often ‘diet’ articles in the press are not
written by a dietitian therefore may not be totally truthful.
Below is a discussion of fad diets, often advertised in the media.
Definition of a fad diet
A fad diet involves eating a very restrictive diet or an unusual combination of foods for a short
period of time. The word ‘fad’ suggests that it is unusual and is a novel or new concept. It will have
no scientific backing but may mention ‘research’ which when investigated, may have been carried
out on a small, invalid amount of people. This type of research can easily be printed or reported in
the press however only valid scientific studies with genuine findings can be published in a
medical journal.
How to spot bad dietary advice:
Promises a quick fix – changing long standing habits can take time and you should look
at changing behaviours for the long term rather than the short term
Recommend magical fat-burning effects of foods (e.g. grapefruit) - no foods can burn
fat, only exercise can
Promote the avoidance or severe limitation of a whole food group, such as carbohydrate
or dairy foods - missing out foods can lead to nutritional deficiencies and lack of energy
Promote eating mainly one type of food (e.g. cabbage or soup) – eating one or few
foods will lead to weight loss as you are restricting your intake and eating less calories,
it is nothing to do with the actual food that is being eaten but cannot be maintained in
the long term and can lead to vitamin and mineral deficiencies
Suggest easy, rapid weight loss (more than 1kg/2lbs a week) - weight loss should be
slow (0.5 -1kg/week (1-2lbs)) to ensure that it is only fat that is lost and not muscle
Recommend eating foods only in particular combinations – there is no scientific
evidence to back this up, again can work just purely due to limiting total intake of
calories but not long term
Make claims that sound too good to be true - advice to follow healthy eating guidelines
and the Eatwell plate very rarely changes
Focus only on your appearance rather than on health benefits
Examples of fad diets
Low ‘carb’ diets - Starchy carbohydrate (e.g. bread, potatoes, pasta, rice, chapattis etc) is required
as fuel for the body (in the same way that a car needs petrol). When no starch is eaten over a
period of days, the body is forced to burn up muscle for energy which leads to fast, dramatic weight
loss. This diet cannot be maintained long term and once finished, the weight goes back on very
quickly as the body is trying to replenish it’s stores lost and all the weight can go back on as fat.
This diet is also very high in fat therefore it increases the risk of increasing your cholesterol and
heart disease risk. High protein loads can overload the kidneys and liver which can be dangerous.
Detox diets - these are usually popular around January after overindulging at Christmas. Any
weight loss during a detox diet is purely from restriction of calories and will not benefit your health
in the long run. Eating a very limited amount of foods (can often be just fruit and vegetables) will
lead to a lack of vitamins and minerals and will cause you to feel unwell. The best way to ‘detox’ is
to reduce high fat, high sugar, processed foods and alcohol and eat plenty of fruit and vegetables
i.e. a healthy balanced diet!
Single food diet - this could be the cabbage soup diet, the banana diet, the egg diet, in fact any
food could be turned into a diet as it would sound like an interesting, novel way of losing weight.
You will lose weight again as you are restricting calories but as it is not balanced, is not healthy in
the long run and it does not teach you how to change your eating habits for good. As soon as the
diet is stopped, the weight goes back on and you’re back to square 1.
Also as the weight loss is rapid, muscle mass is lost as well as fat however, it all goes back on as fat.