You’ve probably heard people say they are on a diet in attempts to lose weight. If not, you might even be one of them. However, with the plethora of methods and opinions out there, which plan exactly is the most appropriate, sustainable and results guaranteed?
You may have heard of many of these diet plans but you may not know that some green powders can help weight loss. They can support many of the diet plans in this article.
So, let’s analyze 8 different diet plans and who they are best suited for. Finding a plan that works for you and encourages you to enjoy eating is important for maintaining a healthy lifestyle.
1. Intermittent Fasting
Consisting of 2 periods, eating and fasting, this means that you are given only a time frame to eat and this requires discipline so to acquire better control of calorie intake. Hence, allowing weight loss to be within your reach. 16/8 is one method that restricts your calorie intake to 8 hours per day while alternatively, you can also opt for the 5:2 method which limits daily calorie intake to 500-600 two times a week.
In comparison to other diet plans for weight loss, this proves to be the best with higher percentage results in weight loss successes.
Furthermore, this has proven to be effective for people who wish to slim down specifically on the waist area as results indicate that waist circumference has been significantly reduced. Studies have also suggested that intermittent fasting can heighten the process of fat burning while maintaining muscle mass at the same time, allowing for better metabolism.
Apart from weight loss benefits, intermittent fasting has also been associated with anti-aging effects, strengthened insulin sensitivity, enhanced brain health, reduced inflammation, and many others. As of now, there are no side effects and this method is safe for most adults.
With that, we would still like to caution some people, especially those with health problems like diabetes, eating disorders and even pregnant ladies. The reason being, they may react more negatively to low blood sugar levels. As such, we would recommend these people to engage help from health professionals before starting on intermittent fasting.
Are you concerned that drinking green powders break your fast?
2. Plant-based diets
With the rise of plant-based diets, more and more people are becoming vegan and vegetarians. These people refrain or even restrict themselves completely from eating animal products, be it for health, religion or environmental reasons. In another case, where people adopt the flexitarian diet, they eat animal products in moderation.
Vegetarianism works by staying away from all meat and fish while some may also eliminate consumption of eggs and dairy. On the other hand, veganism proves to be more of a challenge as it restricts all animal products and even animal-derived products, such as dairy and gelatin.
Alternatively, as a more popular option, people may choose to adopt a flexitarian diet where it is more of a lifestyle change. It advocates more consumption of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains while still allowing animal products to be eaten, albeit not excessively.
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Results showed people who have switched to plant-based diets have lost weight as compared to those who consume animal products. Since vegetables and fruits are good sources of fiber, they prolong the time before people start to experience hunger as they are kept full longer. Besides, this diet is also associated with reduced risk of cancers, heart disease, and diabetes. Environmentally, they have the upper edge in sustainability in comparison to diets with meat involved.
Although this diet is healthy, it is not exactly foolproof. They take away essential nutrients such as iron, vitamin B12, vitamin D, zinc and calcium and many others found in animal products.
3. Low-carb diets
The low-carb diet works by restricting food with high carbohydrates content and promotes the consumption of food rich in protein and fat. Some examples include the Atkin diet, ketogenic diet and low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) diet. With a greater level of protein in their diets, this helps to minimize cravings and control your appetite. In turn, this improves metabolism and preserve muscle mass. Using the keto diet as an example, under the circumstance of low levels of carbohydrates, our body would start to utilize fatty acids instead of carbs to convert them into ketones. This is also known as ketosis.
Research results suggest that such low low-carb diets are effective in achieving weight loss, including slimming down in the waistline area. In particular, it has shown better results than low-fat diets. Furthermore, they also help to prevent heart disease and improve blood sugar and insulin levels for people with type 2 diabetes.
However, occasionally, such a diet can cause bad cholesterol levels and digestive discomfort. This can also be difficult for people to follow. In rare cases, ketoacidosis, a fatal metabolic condition can arise if not dealt with promptly.
4. The paleo diet
The paleo diet is achieved through the consumption of whole foods, fruits, vegetables, lean meat, nuts, and seeds. It discourages people from eating processed foods, grains, sugar and dairy.
Studies have shown that this diet is effective in aiding weight loss and reduced waist circumference. With the high protein level as a likely reason, people have voiced out that the paleo diet is more filling than the Mediterranean and low-fat diets.
Health benefits that come along with this diet include reduced heart disease risk factors like high blood pressure and cholesterol.
While the paleo diet is healthy, it fails to encompass the advantages of eating whole grains and dairy.
5. Low-fat diets
Involving a reduction of fat intake to 30% of daily calories consumed, this low-fat diet has been popular among people for a long while. The reason why this is effective is that fat provides two times the number of calories per gram as compared to proteins and carbs. To adopt this method, have your diet to comprise mainly of plant-based products.
While this is proven to aid weight loss, results are minimal and not as visibly effective. In comparison with low-carb diets, low-fat diets are lacking in results.
Health benefits include reduced risk of heart disease, stroke, inflammation and improve diabetic conditions.
In the long run, low-fat diets would not be sustainable as fat is a determinant player in producing hormones, nutrient absorption, and cell health. Also, very low-fat diets have been associated with a higher risk of metabolic syndrome.
6. The Mediterranean diet
This diet comprises of eating fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, whole grains, seafood, and extra virgin oil. Poultry, eggs, and dairy products are to be consumed in moderation while red meats and highly processed foods are forbidden.
The Mediterranean diet is proven to help lower the risk of heart disease and premature death. It also helps to fight off inflammation and neutralizes free radicals.
As a downside, it does not target weight loss specifically, although many studies have shown that adopting it may help people achieve weight loss.
7. WW (Weight Watchers)
WW is a diet that integrates a points-based system that allocates different foods and drinks a value, based on their calorie, fat and fiber levels. To attain your ideal weight, you must stay within your daily point allowance.
This diet is outstanding as compared to other diets in terms of long term results as it proves to be successful at maintaining weight loss even after a long time. WW provides flexibility, allowing people with food allergies and dietary restrictions to follow the plan with ease.
However, this flexibility comes at a great cost due to the subscription fees. Also, this plan can go south if people abuse the flexibility to eat unhealthy foods.
8. The DASH diet
Designed to help people with hypertension, this diet focuses on eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meat while keeping a low level of salt, sugar, and fat. The DASH diet advice specific servings of different food groups based on daily calorie intake.
Research has proven that the DASH diet is effective in aiding weight loss and it also helps to reduce hypertension and other heart disease risk factors. Furthermore, it shows the potential to help ward off depressive symptoms and reduce the risk for breast and colorectal cancer.
On the downside, consuming too little salt has been associated with heightened insulin resistance and a greater risk of death with heart failure.
Bottom line
There are some important factors to take note of when choosing a diet such as your own dietary needs, schedule, and food preferences. The best if to choose one that you will actually enjoy, so healthy eating will naturally become a lifestyle and not a chore!
The big takeaway whatever diet you want to try to shift excess pounds is that green powder supplements like SuperGreen TONIK can be used to ensure you get vital micronutrients.
