3 Reasons To Reconsider a Restrictive Diet
You hear it all the time, “Summer is coming, I have to start my diet!”. The unfortunate reality is that diet culture has continued to become increasingly prevalent for many years now. People are drawn to quick fixes in their diet to lose weight in a very short period of time. There are hundreds of diets on the internet that involve eliminating entire food groups or restricting the foods you love. As a student studying nutrition, I am here to provide you with some evidence-based knowledge which will guide you away from a quick fix mindset and towards sustainable health behaviours. I am here to tell you it is possible to meet your health goals without eliminating any food groups or any of the foods you love.
Crash diets, restrictive diets, and their results, are usually not sustainable and here’s why...
Eliminating Certain Foods from Your Diet Will Only Make You Crave Them More
It is not a coincidence that almost everyone you know craves some kind of food, whether that is chocolate, chips, cookies or etc. This is because physiologically, areas in our brain that are responsible for memory and storing emotions are activated when we eat something we enjoy. Our brain senses this pleasure and associates these foods with happiness and joy. In particular, the area in the brain that stores memory (amygdala) is associated with reward circuits. (2)
Think back to a time you were upset, stressed or anxious. Did you feel better after a nice scoop of ice cream? This is also not a coincidence. The likely reason you felt better is because carbohydrates and fat work together to boost levels of the hormone dopamine, which is often called the happy hormone. (2)
When you completely eliminate enjoyable foods from your diet, these cravings only become more powerful. Your brain does not forget how happy and satisfied you felt after eating, for example, a cold and sweet ice cream. So, as you can imagine, your craving to feel that boost of dopamine again only becomes stronger. (2) When you do finally feed your body with the food it craves, this may lead to feelings of guilt or shame. This ultimately creates an unhealthy cycle and a bad relationship with that food.
The second reason why you should avoid quick weight loss fixes is because of something called yo-yo dieting.
The Yo-Yo Dieting Effect Aka Weight Cycling
When you significantly decrease your calories, your body is not receiving the energy it needs to carry on throughout the day. Your body tries to save as much energy as it can, which can lead to a lower basal metabolic rate (how much energy you burn at rest) and subsequently slow down your metabolism. In short, your metabolism will slow down in hopes to conserve as much energy as it can (save energy stores). (4) To add, your body’s main source of energy is glucose, which is obtained when the body breaks down the carbohydrates that we eat. When you run out of glycogen stores (glucose stores) your body will convert fat into glucose for energy. When all of your fat stores run out, your body subsequently turns to protein stored in your muscle and converts it into glucose for energy. (4) This results in lost muscle mass, which can be detrimental for your health as you grow older, as it can increase risk of osteoporosis. On top of this, less muscle mass also contributes to a lowered metabolism. (4)
Ultimately, once you go back to consuming more calories, you will likely gain weight quicker than you would have before as your metabolism is now lowered. Further, when an individual is continuously “yo-yo dieting”, or going through cycles of starting and stopping severely restrictive diets, this can cause a person a lot of stress and lead to an increase in a hormone called cortisol. High levels of cortisol can promote belly fat which can contribute to diabetes and heart disease risk in the long-term. (5)
Diets are Short Term Fixes: Try to build a healthy lifestyle that you can sustain for life
As humans we are drawn to the quickest or easiest way to lose weight. When scrolling through the internet, you are constantly bombarded with new bizarre diets or YouTube videos with inaccurate and false claims (ex. “Get abs in just one week”). If you find yourself getting that boost of dopamine from just the food you eat, try and seek that joy and happiness through other activities. This includes exercise (this releases a ton of happy hormones!), surrounding yourself with supportive family and friends, going out for a walk, getting your hair or nails done, going for a massage, or just doing something you love.
Here are some tips to consider when making changes to your diet:
Rather than taking something out of your diet, consider adding something healthy to it instead.
Feed your body the nutrients it needs to get the maximum amount of energy out of each day.
Try and adopt healthy behaviors or habits that you can sustain long-term.
Remember, having a cookie, piece of cake or pie will not be detrimental to your health, as one particular food cannot make or break a healthy diet. It’s more important and beneficial to focus on the overall dietary pattern. Is your diet rich in fruits and vegetables, varied protein sources, healthy fats, and sources of fibre? What are ways you can make room for a little more of these foods?
Below you will find two diets that have been shown to reduce blood pressure as well as the risk of heart disease and diabetes. It is important to note that neither of these diets are super restrictive, nor do they tell you that you cannot still eat the foods you love.
The DASH diet (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension).(1) This includes:
Vegetables and fruit
Grains (mainly whole grains)
Low fat or no-fat dairy foods
Lean meats, poultry and fish
Nuts, seeds and dry beans
Fats and Oils
OR
The Mediterranean diet.(3,6) This includes:
Healthy Fats
Fatty fish rich in omega-3’s at least twice a week
Nuts and seeds
Fruit, vegetables, whole grains and beans
Red meat and sweets eaten occasionally
The above diets are suggestions for general guidance on healthy eating, but ultimately everyone is different. For individualized nutrition recommendations, it is always best to speak with your health care team or a Registered Dietitian. It is also important to recognize yourself as an expert of your own body, and do what feels best to you! One thing to remember is that a good dietary pattern is one that you can stick to over the course of your life.
References:
Heart & Stroke Foundation. (n.d). The DASH diet to lower blood pressure. Available from: https://www.heartandstroke.ca/healthy-living/healthy-eating/dash-di
Kessler, D. (2009). Why we overeat. Nutr. Action Health, 7-8. Available from: http://69.164.20 8.4/files/Why%20We%20Overeat.pdf
Mayo Clinic Staff. (2021). Nutrition and Healthy Eating. Available from: https://www.mayoclinic. org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/mediterranean-diet/art-20047801
Nelson, D. L., Lehninger, A. L., & Cox, M. M. (2008). Lehninger principles of biochemistry. Macmillan. Available from: https://www.google.ca/books/edition/Lehninger_Principles_of_Biochemistry/5Ek9J4p3NfkC?hl=en
Talbott, S. M. (2007). The cortisol connection: Why stress makes you fat and ruins your health--and what you can do about it. Hunter House. p. 51. Available from: https://books.google.ca/
bookshl=en&lr=&id=D8VE11Zcp74C&oi=fnd&pg=PP11&dq=what+happens+when+run+out+of+fat+stores+for+energy&ots=YvnzHx975V&sig=mzDdzH8uyeDBD4yY_hJHIBPasM&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=fat&f=false
Dietitians of Canada. The Mediterranean diet: A guide to healthy eating. In: Practice-based Evidence in Nutrition® [PEN]. 2017 [cited Aug 12, 2021]. Available from: https://www. dietitia ns.ca/DietitiansOfCanada/media/Documents/Mediterranean%20Diet%20Toolkit/Mediterranean-Diet-Toolkit-A-Guide-to-Healthy-Eating-(handout).pdf
By: Angeline Galati, 2nd Year Nutrition Student
Reviewed by: Cheryl Ching, MSc, RD, Pauline Bakowski, MHSc, RD, & Kristie Pun, MHSc,RD
Disclaimer: Our blog content is for general education purposes and may not be suitable for individual health conditions. Please see your health professional or book an appointment with one of our dietitians for personalized health recommendations.
