Fad diet may make weight rebound after it ends
Jared, a “subway dieter,” has lost 220 pounds on a daily sandwich diet. If you’re trying to lose weight, you’ll find a lot of fad diets and gimmicks, such as the common cabbage soup diet. Sure, the weight may come off as a result, but if you have diabetes, your health may be at risk.
Luigi Meneghini, M.D., director of the Cosno Diabetes Treatment Center at the University of Miami School of Medicine, said, “You can reduce your carbohydrate intake, eat more grapefruit, or even stick to a handstand for a few days, and anyone who sticks to a diet will lose weight as a result.
But the problem is that once the diet is over, there’s a good chance that you’ll revert to bad eating habits again, and so the weight bounces back.”
Luigi said, “Most people see dieting as a temporary measure to lose weight, but dieting is not an effective way to change unhealthy eating habits.”
The key to dieting for everyone, whether you’re diabetic or not, is to lose weight and stick to healthy eating habits.
Fad diet meals pose risks for people with diabetes
Cathy Nonas, MS, registered dietitian and spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association and professor at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, says there is another red flag for people with diabetes, namely that fad diet meals can cause blood sugar to drop.
Cathy said, “Even a reduction in caloric intake at a given meal can affect blood sugar levels in people with diabetes. If the medication you’re taking is causing a drop in blood sugar, you need to reduce the dose of the medication. Also, monitor blood glucose more frequently depending on how much dieting is going on and how much calorie restriction is being consumed.”
Tara Gidus, MS, registered dietitian and national spokesperson for the American Dietetic Association and a private dietitian in Orlando, Florida, said, “Fad diet meals also cause elevated cholesterol and blood pressure, which pose a great risk to people with diabetes.”
Tara noted that diabetes affects multiple systems in the body, increasing the risk of heart disease and other chronic illnesses, and even life-threatening health.”
Tara added, “You need to be more mindful of what you eat. People with diabetes can’t regulate their blood sugar as well as regular people, and fad diet meals can increase the risk of complications.”
Here are some typical fad diet meals and what experts have to say about them.
High protein diet
The famous Atkins high-protein/high-fat diet encourages people to eat red meat, full-fat cheese, chicken, bacon, fish and shellfish, butter, mayonnaise, and olive oil.
With this approach, carbohydrates are severely restricted during a 2-week induction period, which can trigger ketosis, a condition that causes burning of pre-existing body fat.
Tara said, “Ketosis is not good for anyone, and it’s even worse for people with diabetes. Most people go into hypoglycemia even before ketosis occurs.”
Tara said the Atkins diet is too low in carbohydrates, and the high cholesterol and fat intake in the diet is another big problem, which increases the risk of heart disease. In addition, all that protein can add to the kidney burden and worsen existing kidney problems.
Tara said, “I strongly recommend that people with diabetes eliminate the Atkins diet.”
Low-carb diet
Reducing carbohydrate intake, a strategy used by many dieters, is the main rationale behind the Miami Diet.
Like the Atkins diet, the Miami diet starts with a 2-week induction period that gradually triggers ketosis.
The diet prohibits simple carbohydrates, but encourages “good carbohydrates” such as whole grains, vegetables, and lean proteins (fruits are consumed gradually after the induction period).
This approach prohibits the consumption of unhealthy fats, including fatty meats. Most importantly, it does not exclude any major food groups.
Luigi said, “The Miami diet is relatively healthy because it excludes only simple carbohydrates. Many patients have discussed this with me …… It’s easier for them to reduce their overall caloric intake by reducing their carbohydrate intake as opposed to reducing most of their food intake.”
“Phase 1 of the Miami Diet is overly strict for people with diabetes,” Tara said, “and I don’t recommend that people with diabetes go through that phase. But the Phase 3 (maintenance phase) of the diet, which is the type of food plan I usually recommend, has some ways that this phase can be beneficial for people with diabetes.”
The Controlled Carbohydrate Intake Diet
The glycemic index varies depending on the type of carbohydrate consumed, which in turn controls blood sugar levels.
High glycemic index foods, such as white bread, rice, mashed potatoes, and most cold-eating cereals, cause a rapid spike in blood sugar, so it can cause you to have a spike in energy, and then hunger ensues.
Low glycemic index foods, such as fruits, vegetables, beans, and whole grains, cause a slow rise in blood sugar and a long duration of energy, so hunger doesn’t set in for a longer period of time.
Tara said, “The glycemic index diet is controversial, and the American Diabetes Association does not support it.”
He added, “These diets include several phases, and you can only eat all-green, all-yellow or all-red foods. If you mix them up, you lose everything, but no one eats one food at a time, which is why the American Diabetes Association doesn’t support it. People have to watch their total carbohydrate intake, and science proves that’s what’s important.”
Meal replacement diet
Meal replacement products, such as shakes and snacks that help slim down fast, are another weight loss strategy.
The Slim Fast plan involves eating six small meals a day, three of which are Slim Fast products, and the rest can be healthy options, even eating your favorite foods. Of course, it’s best to eat fat-free protein, fruits and vegetables.
Kathy said, “People with diabetes can use the Slim Fast diet. It’s important to eat healthy foods, eat small portions of food, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, and get plenty of exercise. It’s also important to monitor your blood sugar.”
Tara gave a word of advice: the carbohydrate content of these products must be taken into account. If the amount of carbohydrates consumed is too low, which poses some risk, you may need a shake with a banana.
Also, if you eat six small meals a day instead of three, you will need to adjust the timing of your insulin or medication to accommodate the change, which is why it is important to discuss these dietary approaches with your doctor beforehand.
Extreme liquid diet
This approach is an all-liquid meal replacement product, typically consuming 800 calories or less per day.
With this diet, patients and physicians must monitor blood glucose closely and need to fine-tune insulin and medication dosages for safety. The average weight loss with these products is 40 pounds in 12 weeks. In the long run, weight loss can improve obesity-related diseases such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. However, in the short term, this diet can be detrimental to people with diabetes.
Tara said “In general, you can have four 200-calorie shakes a day on these liquid diets, but these shakes are low in calories and low-carb, and even if you add up the carbs, it may not be enough for people, and I don’t recommend this diet for people with diabetes.”
Also, liquid diets don’t help with healthy eating habits; healthy eating is what’s important.
What to look for in a fad diet
It’s easy to identify fad diet diets: they often attribute weight gain to specific hormones and emphasize that food can change body chemistry.
Pop diets also often tout or prohibit the intake of a specific food, which is inconsistent with the recommendations of the American Heart Association, the American Dietetic Association, or the General Surgeon General of the United States.
If you’re overweight and have type 2 diabetes, it’s important to change the bad habits that promote weight gain. Luigi believes the key to healthy weight loss is to strive for a balanced diet and more exercise, and that over time, small changes can add up to great results.
Remember that a healthy diet covers these five foods – grains, vegetables and fruits, milk, meat and legumes, and fats – which ensure that you get essential vitamins, minerals, and protein. Because fad diet meals severely limit the intake of key nutrients, they can lead to serious health problems in the body later in life.
Luigi said, “For some patients, it’s possible to keep track of the high-calorie junk foods they consume and then not consume those foods next time.”
Alcohol is also included. Tara said, “People with diabetes need to avoid consuming alcohol.”
Avoid appetite suppressants. Tara said, “Most people don’t overeat because they’re hungry; they eat for social and emotional reasons, so they haven’t developed good eating habits.”
Find a diet that works for you
Tara said, “If you’re diabetic, you have to be smarter and more conscious and not get caught up in these diets, which are hurting you far more than they are hurting the average healthy person.”
Tara added: “As for Jared, the metro dieter, given that he did it on his own, I think he did a good job of finding a diet that worked for him.”
“Is he getting an adequate amount of calcium and vitamins? I don’t know. But his approach wasn’t extremely unhealthy, either; his diet included vegetables, lean meats and bread, and most importantly, he found what worked for him. When he lost weight, he also reduced his risk of developing life-threatening chronic diseases,” Tara said.