Blog #3: Popular Diets, do they actually work?

Ever since the dawn of modern society, people have been looking for that perfect diet. Some specific blend of foods that would just cause the pounds to drop right off with little exercise. Unfortunately, that’s not how diets work. Diets don’t magically cause fat to be burned while you sit around and do nothing. But is there one diet that is better than the rest? One diet, that when used in conjunction with exercise, causes you burn off maybe just a little more fat. To find out, I’m going to examine three popular diets, Atkins, Weight Watchers, and a vegetarian based diet.

The Atkins Diet is simple on the outside, just massively reduce your carb intake. It’s based on the idea of ketosis, the mechanism in our bodies that forces our metabolism to burn fat instead of glucose. However, the problem lies in the fact that ketosis only kicks in when we have low blood sugar. So in order to induce that state, you have to eat only good (unrefined) carbs. Those are broken down much more slowly than refined carbs. But as with any other effective diet, you still have to exercise. And Atkins is not an easy diet to stick too. So, while it works, it’s a lot of effort that most people won’t want to stick with after a while.

Weight Watchers is a very popular diet. Basically, the food’s worth is broken down into ‘points.’ If a food is in high in fiber and low in fat, then it’s assigned less points. The points one gets daily are based on body weight at the start However, it’s much more involved. There is an entire support network for Weight Watchers. Including regular meetings. So that solves one of the problems with Atkins Diet. You have a network of people willing to help you stick with your diet. Which takes out one of the biggest issues in dieting, which is ‘can I stick with this?’

Vegetarian diets are nothing new. It’s a simple idea, no animal based protein sources. Most vegetarians are ovo-lactovegetarians, which means they eat other animal based products like eggs, milk and honey. I would have to see that this is the easiest of the three to stick to. No complex plans, just a simple idea. And the benefits are more documented compared to Atkins and Weight Watchers. Vegetarians generally have a lower body weight, better cholesterol levels, live longer, have a lower risk to developing cancer, and a lower risk of developing heart disease. But it’s not just about eating more vegetables and calling it a day. You still have to watch out for the other pitfalls of food. But overall, I think that this is the easiest diet to follow.

1. Nordqvist, Christian. "The Eight Most Popular Diets Today." Medical News Today. MediLexicon International, 1 Oct. 2015. Web. 23 Feb. 2016. . 

2. https://www.gonzaga.edu/Files/Athletics/Rudolf-Fitness-Center/Flyers/PopularDietIdeas.pdf