2015 Diet Trends

Altered version of an article written for my university newspaper with students in mind.

2015 New Year Diets

It’s that time of year again, the time when most of us start a diet or health plan in an attempt to repent for all the mince pies, roast potatoes and alcohol. Every year there is a new diet being advocated by celebrities and “health gurus” alike and it can be difficult to separate the fad from the scientifically sound. This year however, it seems there a few options to choose from if you’re not only wishing to lose weight but also change the way you eat for good. Here are some of them broken down.

The Paleo Diet

Deriving from the term paleolithic referring to the pre-historic period of human history, this diet is about releasing your inner cave man or girl. The theory is that the human body was not originally designed to eat many of the processed foods we do today including cereal based foods like pasta and bread as well as dairy products. It therefore recommends cutting out grain and dairy based foods as well as any other processed foods and legumes (beans and pulses) and to eat foods/meals cooked from scratch. Along with losing weight, advocates also claim higher and sustained energy levels due to eating more protein and less gluten, long been known to cause sluggishness in many.

Pros: Grazing and snacking cave man style is encouraged; try nuts, dried and fresh fruit.

Cons: Lower intake of fibre; not helpful in the downstairs department. Try cabbages and carrots to avoid this. Expense; as students, cheap carbs are literally our bread and butter to bulk out expensive ingredients like the meat this diet encourages.

The 5-2 Diet

Also known as the fasting diet. Designed for busy people with little time to cook. Essentially, eat the way you normally would for 5 days of the week and restrict your intake to 500 calories for women or 600 for men on the other 2 days. Best to start the day with eggs or similar to boost your metabolism and then consume a modest dinner in the evening, packing in all the vitamins and minerals you might have missed out on with plenty of veg. You are allowed to pick which days you fast on so you can fit them in around your social life and exercise plan.

Pros: Flexibility! Also doesn’t involve forking out on meat and fish.

Cons: Prepare to feel hungry. Avoid this a little by carrying around nuts with you for those moments of sheer desperation when the Campus Shop calls.

The Sugar-Free Diet

Recently advertised by Davina McCall, this diet is not simply for losing weight; it is a lifestyle choice. Sugar has been dubbed the new fat; we should avoid it like the plague! It has been proven to act similarly on the brain as drugs such a nicotine and heroin producing high levels of dopamine, a hormone that essentially make us feel happy. Sound good? Not if this results in an addictive effect. Over consumption of sugar can be a cause of imbalance in the connections between our brain and gut, both of which detect sugar. This imbalance could lead to feeling run-down and even overwhelmed. To conclude, sugar has a huge impact on not only our physical but also mental health.

Pros: Cutting down on sugar, ironically, could improve your long-term energy levels and even improve concentration when working.

Cons: It’s hard to start off with! Say no to sugar in tea and coffee at first, cut down on fruit juice and if you must sweeten, use honey a less refined and more natural form of sugar.

The Dukan Diet

Made more popular in the past couple of years, Paleo seems to have eclipsed this one but it’s still worth a mention and has some of the same principles. Developed by French doctor Pierre Dukan, some could argue this is a more advanced version of the Atkins Diet but with lower fat choices. The story goes that he had a patient who came to him severely overweight and in need of losing it all, quickly. He said he would follow any help plan Dr Dukan gave him with one stipulation; that he could still eat meat! He was French after all. So the diet was made. It is apparently designed to help people reach their “true weight” bearing in mind your tendency to put on weight and other factors. It has 4 phases:

1. A week long Attack Phase eating high protein meat, fish eggs etc and low fat dairy products. As well as being allowed a small amount of oat-bran per day to keep you…regular.
2. Phase 2 is the Cruise where you incorporate vegetables, but low starch ones. The overall diet allows 100 foods in unlimited quantities.
3. The Consolidation Phase brings back in foods you were not allowed before such as fruit (yep, this is banned up until now), and starchy foods. They are brought in in moderation to avoid future weight gain.
4. The Stabilisation Phase is then back to normal eating with 3 rules: to have a protein only day once a week, to eat a small amount of oat bran a day and to use the stairs! This phase also considers the GI (Glyceamic Index) of starchy foods consumed as this is an important aspect of maintaining energy levels, key to eating well and avoiding snacking on foods that are bad for you. I’ll soon be writing a post on GI, what it means and some of the advice surrounding it.

Pros: A lifestyle choice for those wishing to shed the pounds but also keep them off!

Cons: My family have personal experience of this diet and have seen success. However, I have therefore seen first hand how expensive it can be and also how, uncomfortable (See Phase 1.)

Conclusion

For a student, my personal recommendation would be a simple healthy eating plan, not necessarily a structured diet with rules to stick to. Not to diss any of the diets mentioned above as I have chosen them due to their scientific soundness. I just think that everything in moderation, including exercise is the best way forward. From personal experience, I eat a lot of fresh vegetables, nuts, meat (lean and fatty), fish, salads loaded with filling foods like avocados and beans. My main tip would be to eat a variety of foods: eating the same thing every day is boring for me and means I am more likely to crave something different, namely sweet stuff! There is also scientific reasoning behind variety as it releases more dopamine in the brain to make us happy!

There are plenty of other diets out there, these are the ones that should be big for 2015. Remember to read up on such diets before attempting them, even contacting your GP to check it would be suitable for you and to incorporate exercise into any weight loss plans, even if it is just taking the stairs a la Docteur Dukan. Good luck!