The Problem with Diet Books

I was on Amazon recently checking out diet books and the number was staggering. Atkins, South Beach, Paleo, Wheat Belly...the list goes on. They all seem to have 2 things in common. They all promise weight loss and to achieve this weight loss you must generally remove an entire food group from your diet (usually grains, although I did find one called The Carb Lovers Diet!). I have several problems with these diet books. Firstly, the word diet itself has so many negative connotations. Diets to me imply restriction and a certain level of misery! I would personally much rather focus on the foods I should be eating than the ones that I shouldn't. I recently completed a fitness challenge at work and I loved it that the weekly assignments were things like "eat 3 vegetables a day" and "eat lean protein with every meal" instead of "don't eat candy". I found that whenI was making healthy choices I was naturally making less unhealthy ones, but I felt a lot better about it! Secondly, diets are not sustainable. In my experience, people tend to follow a diet for a certain amount of time and when they have achieved their desired weight loss they slip back into old habits. I prefer to think in terms of lifestyle change instead of dieting because change implies permanancy and sustainability. Thirdly, many normal weight people also need help making healthier food choices and since most diet books emphasize weight loss, these books often seem inaccessible. Lastly and most importantly, most of these diet books are not based on good science. The current trend is to eliminate gluten, a protein contained mainly in wheat. There are few rigorous scientific studies to suggest that this is a healthy lifestyle change unless you have a medical condition like Celiac disease. I have seen patients come back after going gluten free unhealthier than they were before because a lot of gluten free products are based on corn and white rice which have a high glycemic index (i.e. raise the blood sugar). Following food fads can have dangerous consequences. 20 years ago fat was the boogie man and everything was marketed as low-fat. Our rates of diabetes skyrocketed because food manufacturers simply replaced fat with sugar. Instead of promoting the latest trendy diet, I would like to introduce you instead to the Mediterranean style of eating. It has been the most rigorously studied "diet" since the 1940s. In fact, just this year alone there have been 4 major medical studies showing its health benefits. The Mediterranean food pyramid is rich in whole grains, fruits and vegetables as well as fish along with dairy like greek yogurt and ricotta and mozarella cheeses. Nuts, olive and red wine feature prominently and red meat and sweets are eaten sparingly but are not completely forbidden. It is a nutritional approach that promotes moderation and emphasis is placed on physical activity and enjoying food with others. This style of eating can be modified to accomodate cultural food prefences and it works well for multiple chronic conditions like diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, etc. Oldways, a foundation promoting traditional diets has a wonderful section on Mediterranan eating. http://oldwayspt.org/resources/heritage-pyramids/mediterranean-pyramid/overview I would also recommend Dr. Ornish's wonderful book "The Spectrum" which addresses lifestyle changes for cardiovascular disease prevention and treatment and includes a section on nutrition, which he bases on the Mediterranean plan. As Michael Pollan said, the best way to eat can be summed up as "eat real food, but not too much and mostly plants"!