Obesity is a problem that affects approximately 37% of the adult population in the United States, 31% in Canada, and 28% in Mexico [1]. This means roughly the third or more of these countries’ populations. Obesity is a very serious public health problem because it leads to health impairment and a rise in general mortality. Obesity raises the risk of many illnesses like type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, hypertension, heart disease, obstructive sleep apnea, joint pain, gallbladder disease, digestive issues, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, osteoarthritis, even COVID-19. Losing weight is single most convenient alternative for treating all these health issues. Losing as much as 10% of body weight can significantly improve a person’s overall health.
Evidence has shown that a weight loss of 5% to 10% within 6 mo is necessary to reduce risk factors of comorbidities and to produce clinically relevant health improvements such as reductions in blood glucose, triacylglycerols, and blood pressure [2].
However, losing weight doesn’t come easy. Moreover, in our modern society, losing weight has become a goal in itself and the ultimate personal achievement, although not for health purposes but for aesthetic ones. Motivated by showing off an athletic and attractive figure, many different kinds of people seek to lose weight, even if they are not obese or overweight.
With the simultaneous pressure of our Western beauty standards and obesity as an increasing public health issue, the weight management industry, has found a great market environment to prosper. Every day, at any given hour, we are bombarded through television or internet ads with the promising effects of miracle products, magic pills, special footwear or strange exercise apparatus. And of course, let’s not forget diets.
According to a report of 2020, the global weight management industry reached an estimated of 262.9 billion dollars worldwide and it is expected to grow up to 423.2 billion by 2027. The diet industry alone is expected to reach 257.7 billion worldwide that same year. The weight management industry in the United States alone gathered an estimated 71.1 billion dollars on 2020 [3].
In some countries, like in the United States, more people are dieting than ever before. Between 2015 and 2018, 17.1% of American adults were on a diet. And more women (19%) were on diets than men (15.1%). The most common type of diet is, precisely, the low-calorie diet [4].
However, the truth of the matter is that most diets don’t work for achieving long-lasting weight loss results. In fact, some diets can even endanger health even further in cases of consumers that are either dealing with obesity, overweight or other health problems. Keep reading to find out more about why diets don’t work and what you should look for when searching for ways to lose weight.
Diets don’t work because: most have the wrong focus
Whenever a dietary regime is recommended or preferred mostly because it belongs to a certain franchise or brand, there is definitely a cause for concern. For instance, whenever a doctor prescribes a medicine or a treatment, it is mostly because that product or strategy fits the specific needs of the patient. The brand of the medicine or the creator of the treatment is secondary… even irrelevant for the purpose at hand, which is, improving the overall health of the patient. But this doesn’t happen with popular diets. And this is the first reason why diets don’t work: it’s because they have the wrong focus, which is mostly commercial. In many cases, their interests have little to do with maintaining the good health of their followers, but with adding more supporters to their own market.
The second focus these diets usually have is that of achieving a physical image, but not an integral wellbeing. The motivation of these dietary strategies relies in achieving a certain body weight, but it doesn’t monitor other health indicators like blood pressure, insulin tolerance or blood levels. To consider weight by itself, as just a target number, is dangerous because it doesn’t acknowledge the particular needs of each consumer, their medical history, their physique, their bone structure, etc.
This involves certain dangers for consumers.
A study of women attempting weight loss using different diets found that at eight weeks many had inadequate intakes of micronutrients. On the Atkins diet subjects were short on thiamine, folate, vitamin C, iron and magnesium; on the LEARN (Lifestyle, Exercise, Attitudes, Relationships, Nutrition) diet it was vitamin E, thiamine and magnesium; and on the low-fat Ornish diet vitamins E, B12 and zinc were lacking [5].
A reason which explains this malnutrition risk when following a diet is the fact that some of the most popular, like Atkins, Keto, Ornish and Paleo, restrict the consumption of at least one major macronutrient, like either carbohydrates or lipids, or other important nutrients like grains. Omitting a whole food group is potentially dangerous because it can produce an imbalance in the metabolism (which is precisely what some dietary coaches explain that works for losing those extra pounds).
Most popular diets call for an increase in the consumption of proteins (mostly animal protein), and a very significant reduction in the consumption of carbohydrates. In some cases, individuals with insulin resistance or glucose intolerance can benefit from a low carbs diet, because their health requires it. However, when there’s no medical reason for pursuing these types of macronutrient restrictions, following these diets for a long period of time can pose major risks.
Observational data have demonstrated an increase in mortality associated with the long-term intake of both low carb and high carb diets with minimal risks at 50% to 55% (energy derived from carbohydrates). They also reported that animal-derived protein and fat were associated with higher mortality, whereas plant-derived protein and fat were associated with lower mortality [2].
In the short term, a diet can and does produce some weight loss. However, this weight tends to come back a few weeks or months after the diet is done. On a longer term, a diet can have major effects on metabolism and gut health. This is why it is better to acknowledge a diet as a jump-start strategy for losing extra pounds rather than a diet for life or the ultimate solution for weight loss [2].
The third major reason why diets don’t work is that they usually offer one-fits-all solutions for weight loss, as if losing weight depended on a fixed number of steps one has to follow. If that were the case, obesity wouldn’t be a public health issue!
Obesity is a multifactorial problem that needs an integral approach focused on health and wellness. Individual characteristics do matter. A person’s medical history, genetics, mental health, social and cultural context do matter. Special dietary recommendations should consider all these factors and be complemented with proper counselling, maintenance follow-up, biometric tests, education and additional resources for promoting healthy eating and exercise habits. Those marketing various popular diets and over-the-counter weight loss products, on the other hand, offer a one-size-fits-all solution that ignores these complexities [6].
At LIMARP, our bariatric clinic located in Tijuana, Mexico, we know obesity is caused by a big diversity of factors and that, as such, it must be treated with a systemic and integral approach. Our team of experts at our center include bariatric medicine doctors, bariatric surgeons, psychologists, nutritionists, bariatric fitness counselors, plastic surgeons, and more. If you’re interested in knowing about our integral obesity treatments, contact us today.
Diets don’t work when they have any of these signs:
If you’re considering to go on a popular or commercial diet, be mindful of what its strategy suggests. If the dieting regime or the product you are interested in falls under any of the characteristics described below, it is better to consider another alternative:
- The diet promises that losing weight will be dramatically fast and easy.
- The diet or product promises big results based only on testimonials and not scientific research that has been published in reputable journals.
- The diet claims that it is a new revolutionary breakthrough.
- The diet cuts out one or more entire food groups (like carbohydrates or fats).
- It claims that you can eat an unlimited amount of any other food (except vegetables).
- It claims that calories don’t count.
- It claims that there’s no need for exercise.
- The product promises you can eat anything you like as long as you use it.
- Any diet that claims that solid scientific research is flawed or false.
- Any diet or any product that just sounds too good to be true [6].
Diets can be a good jump-start
Diets can achieve weight loss in the short-term because of their drastic approaches to eating. In this sense, diets can be a good jump-start strategy to lose weight if you have a clear short-term objective, like losing some pounds to endure a surgery, to start a medical treatment, to fit into a wedding dress, to qualify for a fitness competition, etc. However, there is always the risk of rapid weight regain as soon as the diet ends.
The National Weight Control Registry in the United States notes that only 20% of those who intentionally lose at least 10% of their weight maintain the loss for at least a year [6]
No diet is designed to be followed forever, specially those with drastic measures. Diets are usually solution-focused strategies rather than treatment for the maintenance of optimal health. In this sense, most diets are designed to be followed for just a few weeks or a few months. They are not recommended for a prolongation beyond this time. And those that are suitable to be followed for a long amount of time, rely on a long-lasting commitment to deliver results.
Advancing the search for an optimal dietary weight loss approach suggest that a higher level of adherence, regardless of the type of diet, is a determinant factor in predicting success [2].
In other words, the safest way to accomplish weight loss and to maintain it comes from adopting a healthy lifestyle that includes healthy eating and exercise as a lifelong habit. This is the first step for success. However, for more drastic transformations where individuals struggling with obesity need to lose more than 10% of their body weight to improve their health, other measures are necessary, like obesity treatment or bariatric surgery.
Examples of safe and effective bariatric surgeries for weight loss are the gastric sleeve, the gastric bypass, the duodenal switch, the intragastric balloon and the bariatric clip. All these are available at LIMARP. At our center, we offer surgical and non-surgical alternatives for losing weight, along with nutritional guidance, psychological counselling, personalized fitness programs that adapt to your specific needs, and long-term follow up. Our center is one of the few in Mexico that has been certified as a Center of Excellence by the Surgical Review Corporation.
Contact us
At LIMARP International Center of Excellence for obesity, located in Tijuana, Mexico, we offer an integral bariatric program that treats obesity from a multidisciplinary approach, with a focus on medicine, nutrition, psychology and fitness. Contact our clinic today to learn about all our options for safe and effective weight loss. You can call our number (619) 270-8823 or send us a message through this webpage or any of our social media sites.
References
[1] World Health Organization, Noncommunicable diseases country profiles 2018. World Health Organization, 2018. [Online]. Available: https://apps.who.int/iris/handle/10665/274512
[2] R. Freire, “Scientific evidence of diets for weight loss: Different macronutrient composition, intermittent fasting, and popular diets,” Nutrition, vol. 69, p. 110549, Jan. 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.nut.2019.07.001.
[3] “Global Weight Management Industry,” ReportLinker. https://www.reportlinker.com/p05960488/Global-Weight-Management-Industry.html?utm_source=GNW
[4] B. Stierman and S. Mishra, “Special Diets Among Adults: United States, 2015–2018,” NCHS Data Brief, no. 389, p. 8, 2020.
[5] R. Toomath, Fat Science: Why Diets and Exercise Don’t Work – and What Does. Auckland University Press, 2016.
[6] R. Stanton, “Popular diets and over-the-counter dietary aids and their effectiveness in managing obesity,” in Managing and Preventing Obesity, Elsevier, 2015, pp. 257–274. doi: 10.1533/9781782420996.4.257.