Restrictive Diets Don't Work; Healthy Eating Does

Have you read Being Overweight May be Healthier than Dieting?

In a review of decades of research into the relationship between weight and health, nutrition experts at City College of San Francisco concluded that there is little evidence to support telling people to lose weight for health reasons (Bacon and Aphramor, Nutrition Journal, Jan., 2011).

True, there are many studies they reviewed which found correlations between being heavy and premature death, as well as correlations between obesity and conditions like type 2 diabetes, heart disease, acid reflux, sleep apnea, high cholesterol, osteoarthritis, high blood pressure, abdominal hernias, varicose veins, gout, gall bladder disease, respiratory, and liver malfunction.

However, correlation does not prove causality. The authors suggest that a sedentary lifestyle and poor physical fitness may be the real culprits.

Lead author Linda Bacon, PhD and professor of nutrition, says that, "It’s not that dieters fail. It’s the concept of dieting that fails."

Instead, the authors suggest we should be focusing our efforts on what people can do and what we know will make them healthier, such as being physically active and eating more nutritious foods.

In a previously published study, Dr. Bacon divided 78 obese chronic female dieters into two groups. One group followed a conventional weight-loss diet; the other enrolled in the Health at Every Size [HAES] plan. ("Size acceptance and intuitive eating improve health for obese, female chronic dieters", Bacon et al., Journal of the American Dietetic Association, 2005;105:929-936).

The HAES plan emphasizes eating in response to hunger cues. Both programs lasted six months. At that point, 42% of the conventional diet participants had dropped out; while only 8% of those following the HAES plan had.

The remaining dieters did lose weight; but after two years, they had regained it all on average.

Women in the HAES group stayed the same weight throughout the two years, but showed significant improvements in their cholesterol levels and blood pressure.

In addition, 53% of the dieters reported feeling like failures; none of the HAES women did.

In my opinion, both restrictive diets and simply ignoring obesity are extreme views to be avoided. Yet there is some food for thought in the HAES plan.

More on my view tomorrow in Food for Thought in the Health at Every Size Eating Plan.

Tags: cravings, enjoy your food, holiday diet tips, avoid holiday weight gain, eat healthy for life