Which Diet Works Best?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Photo: Steve Fisch         

 

Atkins. South Beach. The Zone. Do these diets sound familiar? If so, you may have found yourself wondering which one is the most effective in the battle to lose weight.

Christopher Gardner, associate professor of medicine in the Stanford Prevention Research Center, has studied diets and nutrition extensively and taken some time to share his thoughts with BeWell.

Q: You’ve done research on some of America's most popular diets. Can you save us all some time and money and tell us which one works best?

A: The diet that will work the best for any individual is going to be a diet that promotes a healthy weight, provides for overall health beyond just weight and can be maintained for the rest of your life—not just the next six months.

In our experience, we found people were successful using widely different dietary approaches. But they were only successful when they were able to stick to whatever it was they were doing.

Q: So, it is less about the specific diet and more about preferences?

A: Yes, the good news is that this offers tremendous flexibility. The diet could be low fat, low carb, relatively high in protein, or any combination of these diets, provided that the dieter is eating good, wholesome foods and not crazy concoctions or prepackaged mixes.

Q: What about dietary supplements—vitamins and minerals? Can they help?

A: My general advice for today would be as follows:

One, most people probably do not need a multivitamin/mineral, but they are relatively inexpensive and safe for someone who wants that extra assurance. Two, take iron supplements for anemia, and three, take calcium supplements for bone strength among those most susceptible to osteoporosis (1,000 mg/day).

Q: What about fish oil and vitamin D?

A: For fish oil, I would highly recommend eating fish, rather than taking supplements. But for a variety of reasons—mercury contamination, wild versus farm-fed fish, depleting the ocean’s supply of fish—there could be justification for choosing supplements. Look for 1,000 mg/day of some combination of EPA and DHA.

For vitamin D, there are very few good natural dietary sources. We have traditionally relied on sunshine on the skin to naturally make vitamin D for our bodies, and there is reason to believe that avoiding the sun for skin cancer prevention has led to suboptimal levels of vitamin D. So, this may prove to be another useful vitamin to obtain from supplements. Although there is currently much disagreement on this, I would currently suggest 1,000-1,500 IU/day (IU stands for “international units”).

Q: What about herbals and botanicals?

A: Many of the herbal and botanical products have been used and practiced for centuries by traditional healers (e.g., traditional Chinese medicine) who prescribed them after seeing the patient. The widespread sale of herbals and botanicals by the supplement industry has changed the content and delivery of these products.

In many cases, the current use of herbals and botanicals has proven to be ineffective in major government funded research studies—e.g., Echinacea for the common cold, Saw Palmetto for benign prostatic hyperplasia, Glucosamine Chondroitin for osteoarthritis pain, Ginkgo Biloba for Alzheimer’s prevention, St. John’s Wort for depression and garlic supplements for lowering cholesterol.

Q: So, what has research shown to work?

A: What works for better health is more whole foods, more plant-based foods, fewer animal products, more local and seasonal foods, fewer packaged/convenience/processed foods, smaller portions and eating more mindfully and slowly.

If all this can be done in the context of eating great tasting food (and it can!) this is an approach to eating that people can follow for the rest of their lives—and they should to gain the health benefits that go with it.