Have you heard about the latest health food? The newsmedia says it will cure cancer and cause dramatic weight loss. Sounds too good to be true.
That’s because it’s not true.
Every few months, the newsmedia catches upon a tidbit from a medical journal and then blows it out of proportion, presenting claims that were never shown in the study. Worse yet, when you tell an overeater that “Food X” is healthy for them, the overeater will consume a great deal of “Food X” and continue eating unhealthy foods. And so, they’ll gain weight. The dieter will begin to doubt all the new scientific claims, but many dieters are so desperate for the magic bullet that they’ll continue trying every new superfood and supplement out of hope and desperation.
In a recent study published in the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition , weight loss researchers compared two different dietary approaches. The first group of patients were encouraged to increase healthy fruits and vegetables. The second group was advised to limit high-fat foods. The group who restricted unhealthy foods experienced significantly greater weight loss than the group who increased intake of healthy foods.
Weight loss is not difficult. Many of my patients return and report that weight loss was much easier than they had ever dreamed. (And weight maintenance, too.) However, it is only possible with reducing or eliminating some unhealthy choices in the diet. Frequently, blood tests are necessary in order to determine exactly which foods these are, because they can be different for different people. Skim milk and cottage cheese may contain protein to suppress the appetite for some people, but those foods are terrible for people who are lactose-intolerant. That’s only one example. Blood tests can show which foods are best for you. Many of my patients are astonished when I show them dramatic improvements in their cholesterol when they eliminate the morning oatmeal, for example. Learn what foods are unhealthy for you, so you can restrict them and lose weight for the long-term.