Do Diets Really Work?
Do diets really work? That is much too general a question for a simple answer. They work very well in some cases, but almost always when part of an overall weight control plan.
Do Diets Really Work?
Actually, the word diet, and diets, is used a bit inaccurately in common usage. The real definition of diet is the total intake of food. The word dieting is more accurate and means a controlled intake of food. Dieting can be used to gain weight as well as lose it. Many athletes, for example, regulate their food intake for the purpose of bulking up muscles and just putting on extra pounds.
Most people, however, think of a diet as a restricted intake of food designed to reduce unwanted weight. Using this common definition, do diets really work? The first consideration is who is doing the dieting. Every person differs in metabolism rate and lifestyle. These factors will determine the success of any diet. Since faster metabolism and a healthy lifestyle would tend to reduce, or at least maintain, weight unless overeating was taking place, a diet would certainly work for a person with both of these factors. The very same diet may not work as well for a person getting no exercise or with a very slow metabolism rate.
Some research has shown diets that are standing alone and not part of an overall weight reduction plan may actually be fooling the body and have a most unexpected result. The production and storage of fat at a cellular level seems to be triggered by the amount and frequency of feeding. When meals are infrequent and amounts are small, it is almost as if the body sense starvation times approaching and starts to prepare. This cellular reaction stems from millions of year of evolution that took place in an environment so totally different than we live in today. The poor cells do not know you are dieting and they do not know that there is a grocery store down the block. They begin to store fat to get you through the rough times.
So, dieting might encourage the body to produce and store more fat than would be done when the normal diet is maintained. Most diets being followed today do not encourage a total reduction of food, or starvation, for this reason. The diet tries to regulate the types of food ingested and the size and frequency of meals. Most diet plans will still encourage regular feeding times and frequent physical activity. Once the cells are convinced you are not going to starve to death huddled in a cave, they will begin to use excess stored fat cells.
A diet, or the act of dieting, will work to either gain weight or lose weight, if it is done in a sensible way. This means that it be done as part of a careful overall health plan that considers the need for proper nutrition as well as the desire to shed excess pounds.