Diet trend low-down for 2015

  Studio 5 segment on Diet Trends

  VB6 or Chegan (Vegan before 6 or cheating vegan)  This diet has hit the celebrity diet circuit and just to give an idea of what it involves, you eat like a vegan before 6:00 pm, then anything goes after 6:00 pm (thus the nickname, cheating vegan or chegan).  Pro to this diet is that a person can eat a lot of fruits and vegetables during before 6.  The downside is that anything that encourages “cheating” is eroding away at your healthy relationship with food.  Food is food – not a person to be cheated on. Plus, a person can binge on a lot of junk food after 6 pm. 

    Shakeology (liquid meal replacement diets) Meal replacement with a variety of purchased shake flavors.  Pro – you can get a lot of good nutrition in some of these shakes or smoothies. However, the downside is price ($4/shake) and you are bypassing your body’s natural feedback system.  When you don’t chew your meal, you don’t get the same sense of fullness or satisfaction.  It can also lead people to think that they’ve got all their nutrition in the one shake so it doesn’t matter as much what they eat the rest of the day. 

    Medifast or take shape for life (very low calorie with meal replacement diet)  Highly structured and restrictive diet that produces sometime spectacular weight loss through severe calorie restriction and ketoacidosis. Pro – noticeable weight loss. Cons – rigid structure and restrictions make it hard to stick to and transitioning back to a regular diet difficult. Social situations can also be awkward since you can’t eat the same food that most people are eating. 

    Paleo or whole 30 (food group elimination diets)  Elimination of grains, dairy, legumes.  Pros – people tend to consume more fruits and vegetables.  Cons – missing out on great nutrition-rich food groups and because carbs are so restricted, energy levels may lessen.  Hard to maintain long-term.

   Lipozene or other diet pills such as hydroxycut (appetite suppressants) Fiber pill that serves as an appetite suppressant prior to eating meals. Pros – doesn’t require any type of drastic or unhealthy diet.  Cons – side effects of the fiber in pill form (teaching your body to fill up without food is less than natural).  Doesn’t teach healthy lifestyle through balanced diet and increased physical activity. 

    Intuitive Eating (the anti-diet) Pros – works on healing our relationship with food, and our bodies and teaches how to achieve what is healthy for your body by abandoning the dangerous diet mentality.  Cons – not as popular, structured or rigid so it may not give you the two-week weight loss before swimsuit season. 

My pick is definitely intuitive eating – the past 3 decades of increasing dieting behavior in this country have only made us heavier, more unhappy and more unhealthy.  For individualized, nutrition counseling on how to step off the diet merry-go-round and make life-long changes for your health, contact me at trish@nutritiousintent.com.