The best Diet you should follow is revealed in latest study.
A poor consequence of telling people you’re a Personal Trainer when you first meet them is that they will immediately then tell you all about what their lastest workouts and diets are. “Oh my god Jerome, you’re a trainer? Let me spend the next 45 minutes telling you what I did in my Crossfit workout today”, “Jerome, I’ve just started Paleo and I’ve already lost 3 kilos. Our neanderthal ancestors never ate grain and so now I eat no carbs, high protein high fats and oh my god, I feel amazing!”.
Sorry, it makes me sound grumpy, and if you’ve found something that has given you results, great. I’m truly happy for you. But I’ve been a trainer for over 20 years, and I’ve heard it all. And I’m just trying to be funny in my intro.
The truth is that fitness and nutrition industry has so many new fads that I’ve seen them all come and go. The latest fitness trend and diet fads get everyone hooked in, then within a few years they’re lost to the wilderness (Does anyone remember Tae Bo?).
It’s amazing that in 2024, there is so much content out there that all it takes is a person to read one article, listen to one podcast or watch something on Youtube, then completely change their diet and food routine to supercharge their results.
So, what’s the answer? Which is the best diet to stick to? Well, the answer is simpler than you think.
You see, all diets work. All of them! It doesn’t matter if it’s Paleo, Vegetarian, Mediterranean, CSIRO, Eat right for your Blood Type, or Vampire’s Kiss (I made that last one up). If you stick to it, then you’ll most likely lose weight. Well, if that’s our goal to begin with.
Here’s why.
The answer to why all diets work isn’t what you eat during that diet, it’s actually what you’re NOT eating. Think about it, what really causes 99% people to say to themselves, “Ok, I need to start a diet”. It’s because leading up to that moment, they’ve been eating and drinking too much crap. Then feeling crap.
Sometimes it’s after a big weekend, a buffet binge, trying on pants that are now too tight or perhaps you’re just sitting on the couch on a Sunday night gorging on potato chips, chocolate or ice cream. Whatever it is, it’s bad enough for you to say, “Enough is enough. Tomorrow, I start”.
So you pick the latest diet trend (for the last few years, Intermittent Fasting has been huge), and you give it a go. You then stick to it for a week or two, and voila, you’ve lost a couple of kilos and feel lighter. SUCCESS. This diet is awesome! I’m going to tell all my friends about it. And I can’t wait to tell my trainer Jerome!
(You see what I did there, I circled back around to my earlier joke. I’m so funny).
Therefore, when I read this latest study on the best diet to follow (study published 14 February 2024, link to study below), it’s music to my ears. Here’s the study:
They gave 448 people, of all ages and genders, who have a BMI of 28 – 40 (which is range from slightly overweight to obese) two separate diets to stick to. One was a low carb diet, and the other was a low-fat diet. Both diets were considered healthy, by emphasizing vegetables and other whole foods and minimizing sugar, refined flours, and trans fats.
And after a year, they found that both diets worked! Those who stuck with their assigned diet had lower BMI’s, had lower blood pressures and lower insulin levels than those who didn’t stick to their diets as much.
The only factor that separated the study subjects was the level of adherence to the diet, not the type of diet.
It didn’t matter which diet you did, it only mattered how much you stuck to it!
So….. the best diet you should follow, is the one you can stick to. Simple. You’re welcome.
Link to Study: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37931749/
As always, if you’ve read this far, you get rewarded with a Dad Joke. Here goes:
I made a Chicken Salad last night…. apparently they prefer grain.
Jerome Samaha
Owner – Balmain Health Club
jerome@balmainhealthclub.com.au