Many of us are picking our diets back up today in one last, very short, push toward Hanukkah, Christmas and New Year’s.
When starting a diet, we frequently look back at past experience and on to the future. If our past diets haven’t worked, or have only shown short-term results, we turn to many sources for advice. The problem is that there is so much advice out there that it can be hard to tell what’s real and what’s unhealthy/ineffective/counterproductive. This is not a new problem. For as long as there have been people with weight concerns, there have been fad diets and advice.
In the past, books have been TRUEed advocating everything from starvation to cookies and the Master Cleanse to Adderall. Good House Keeping compiled the worst weight loss advice from one hundred years and some of it is still in use today! Few things — other than starving or taking Adderall for weight loss — can be discounted entirely but one assumes that the ice cream diet wouldn’t yield great results.
There is much debate over the very popular paleo and keto diets. The question as to whether they are healthy or a gimmick will continue. Keto has been shown to reduce seizures in children. Many of the recipes we like to share on Tasty Tuesday are in the keto vein. We like the keto recipes for their low carbs that can aid healthy blood sugar. We don’t suggest people follow any specific diet, other than one that’s right for you!
You might think turning to personal trainers is a good idea. Their jobs are all about health but that might not be the best. Their focus on one specific area of health can give them blinders about overall health. And while the government tries to provide nutritional advice, it’s frequently vague enough to be easily misinterpreted.
While there are few absolutes in dieting, there are some pieces of “wisdom” that dieticians wish we would all stop believing. Many of us think egg yolks are bad and juice is good and it drives dieticians crazy. And, dieticians point out that different aspects of diets can be great, even when lifted out of the system. There are great tips that can be applied to your own diet, without fully committing.
If you are looking for dieting advice, and not simply recipes, there is something better than Google or your friends to help you make decisions: your doctor is your greatest resource. Talk about your goals and your thoughts. Your doctor can advise you and will connect you to a dietician who understands your needs so that you’ll be on the correct track instead of reaching for a quick solution.
