Why Diets Just Don't Work
In the most general sense, a diet refers to the types of food we habitually eat. It can also be used to describe a specific pattern of food consumption or structured plan to achieve a specific goal. There is an appropriate time and place to implement a non-weight centric medical diet when an individual’s health necessitates dietary adjustments to manage specific health conditions such as food allergies, kidney disease, and digestive disorders. These diets are often tailored and monitored by a dietitian or clinician that promotes the individual’s health rather than focusing on weight loss.
However, we all typically think of “dieting” as a temporary plan to achieve weight loss, often called fad diets. In this blog post, diet is referring to fad diets such as keto, Weight Watchers, Noom, intermittent fasting, paleo, and many more. So let’s talk about why they don’t work! There is a growing body of evidence that shows dieting is not sustainable and does not result in long term weight loss. Research shows that 80%-95% of individuals who lose weight through dieting will regain it within two to five years. Yikes, no one would take or prescribe a medication with those kinds of stats.
Some key elements that typically define a fad diet include
Food rules regarding when and what you can eat
Limiting specific foods or food groups
Energy Restriction: Eating less than your body needs
The diet industry comprises weight loss programs, weight loss supplements, diet foods and beverages, fitness centers, and surgical weight loss procedures. In 2021, the industry was valued at 224.27 billion dollars with a high failure rate. Not only do diets make false promises for long term weight loss, they make individuals feel like a failure. The idea that the individual lacks “will power” can be very harmful and contributes to weight stigma and oppression of different people groups which have multiple proven negative effects on health (a big topic in and of itself!).
Let’s dive into what happens physiologically when we diet
Basically, the body interprets dieting as restriction or famine. When individuals restrict specific foods or the amount of food, the body interprets this as a signal of scarcity and activates “survival mode” to protect itself. The body will slow down its metabolism, store extra energy (calories), and burn less energy to stay alive.
By limiting specific foods or food groups, individuals may successfully avoid consuming them for several days or even months. However, over time, the body perceives this restriction as a form of deprivation. Consequently, the body starts sending signals for intense cravings, which can lead to "breaking" the diet and often result in overeating and binging.
This cycle can make individuals feel a lack of control, shame, and guilt, prompting them to reinitiate the cycle of dieting and restriction in an attempt to regain control. This perpetuates the cycle of deprivation, breaking the diet, binging, and recurring guilt and shame (also known as the restrict-binge-shame cycle).
So you constantly try to restart the diet feeling like a failure, when in reality it’s the diet failing YOU! Check out this non-exhaustive list of dieting symptoms - yes, there are many more!
Additionally, dieting cycles can lead to yo-yo dieting (repeated weight loss & weight regain) and can lead to a number of health consequences, including:
Heart disease
Type 2 diabetes
Some types of cancer
Changes in metabolism
Heightened depression, anxiety, and risk of eating disorders
Diet culture makes individuals feel like they must diet to lose weight and be “healthy.” Paradoxically, it also cultivates a sense of inadequacy when one falls short of achieving these goals, a reflection of the fact that diets are ineffective. Working with a non-diet dietitian can support individuals to heal their relationship with food, reconnect with their body, and focus on health promoting behaviors to end the dieting cycle once and for all.