Are you dieting again, which diet do you follow, is one better than the other?
Are you dieting again, which diet do you follow? It seems we are all feeling fat and unhealthy this time of year. For me, I ate cookies and candy as if I were a madwoman over the holidays. Please check out my blog on New Year’s and New Weight Loss as well.
I looked at many diets, the one thing common in most is, no highly processed foods. I guess there isn’t a place for any of those anywhere. It doesn’t matter whether you are dieting to lose weight or for health reasons. I thought I didn’t buy processed foods but doing a little research I found I do buy those. What is meant by processed foods? I will change this to highly processed foods because frozen vegetables are considered processed but they only contain the vegetable. Bread is considered processed because it is baked. Highly processed are things like frozen pizza or prepared for instant microwave, things that contain added salt, sugars,(especially fructose) preservatives and high amounts of fat.
Mediterranean Diet
Wow! Dieting again? Well the Mediterranean diet wins again for the third year in a row for heart health. Just what does this entail? Think of the foods that are found in the Mediterranean area. Olive oil is the go-to oil for salads, cooking and for dipping bread. This diet tells us to eat smaller portions of meat, three ounces at the most. Make sure the meals are vegetable-heavy. Twice a week have oily fish such as salmon, herring or sardines for an omega 3 boost. Omega 3s can help prevent blood clots, therefore strokes, and heart disease. It has also been shown to lower the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
Nuts are very popular but everything should be kept to small portions. Legumes have tons of fiber and protein so eat all the hummus you want, try eating it with a spoon. Eat like a peasant. Meat is served only a couple of times a month. Desserts are usually a fruit that is baked or eaten fresh. Use herbs for seasoning and less salt too.
The Dash Diet Approaches to Stop Hypertension
The DASH Diet begins by lowering the amount of salt in the diet. Salt causes the blood to hold onto excess fluid which causes high blood pressure which means a strain on the heart and other organs leading to various problems such as heart attack and stroke. There are two types of DASH Diet; the standard DASH diet allows 2300 milligrams of sodium a day and the Lower sodium DASH diet allows for no more than 1500 milligrams per day.
Some Americans (and probably Canadians) consume 3400 milligrams of sodium a day. I thought I would look up how much sodium is in a large order of McDonald’s fries, it was only 420, I was expecting more. So in order to reach 3400 mg a day, you would have to eat 8 orders of fries. That is a lot of fries! So I checked on what foods have the highest salt content, it was mostly processed food like canned chili, bacon, packaged pizza. Oh poor me, a tablespoon of ketchup has up to 154 mg. One cup of chicken noodle soup has 831 mg, I think I will check labels more in the future. In my research, a large stalk of celery has 50 mg of sodium, who thought? Look for lean cuts of meat and fish and again stay away from highly processed foods.
Oh, The Infamous Keto Diet
The infamous Keto Diet came up second to the last. Low Carbs and high fat. Check out bulletproof coffee. The biggest reason why is rated so low is that it is not sustainable. The longest I lasted was a week. Sure I lost weight fast but the work involved in preparing and shopping….. Having to eat cups and cups of just cauliflower for a meal, I got tired of chewing. But it seems like everyone is on this and they are very successful.
Many people on the Keto Diet complain about headaches, low energy and lightheadedness when they first start out, this is known as Keto flu. Keto Flu is caused by the body-switching from burning carbohydrates to burning fat. This will go away as your body gets used to this switch. This diet is not recommended for everyone especially diabetics be sure to speak to your doctor first. Make sure you do your research before undertaking this diet, you will find yourself purchasing special food and preparing it much differently than you would prepare it for the rest of the family.