06 - Effectiveness Evaluation: Which Dietary Plan Will Dominate?
Hello, welcome to "Scientific Weight Loss Course". I'm Jessica.
and I believe you already know how to arrange your weight loss meals.
But besides what we've covered, you've surely heard of dietary plans
like ketogenic diet, low-fat diet, Mediterranean diet.
Supposedly, following these plans is very convenient. For example, the
ketogenic diet means eating less staple foods and lots of meat; low-fat
diet means eating less fat and everything else is flexible. No
cognitive burden, no need to spend energy on meal planning.
Are these special dietary plans reliable? Are they shortcuts to weight
loss? In this lesson, we'll select several classic dietary plans and
evaluate their pros and cons for you.
Very Low-Calorie Diet
Deep down, we all hope weight loss could be as fast as possible.
Ideally, we'd lose weight overnight and wear our favorite clothes the
next day. But this is obviously impossible. Back to reality, among all
dietary plans, which one has the fastest weight loss effect?
In the medical field, there's a "very low-calorie diet" that requires
daily caloric intake to be less than 800 calories. Just this one
requirement - as long as daily caloric intake is less than 800
calories, you can lose weight quickly. Losing 20 pounds in 30 days is
not a dream.
However, while short-term effects are good, this diet's drawbacks are
obvious - hunger. Think about it, 800 calories a day is almost like
fasting. To eat like this for a month, most people really can't
persist.
Some might say: 20 pounds in 30 days is worth it - being hungry for one
month is better than being hungry for half a year, right?
But I must clearly tell you: no. There's no special luck in life, only
equivalent effort and results. Although very low-calorie diet has
amazing short-term effects, it can't withstand the test of time. After
two years, not only do the effects completely disappear, but most
studies even show rebound situations.
So, current weight loss medical guidelines still place very
low-calorie diet in a not-very-recommended position. So don't try it
either.
Ketogenic Diet
Losing 20 pounds in 30 days is too difficult. Can we extend the time?
For example, in 3 months, is there any dietary plan that can help us
lose weight quickly within 3 months?
Yes, there is.
First to mention is, of course, the most popular ketogenic diet in
recent years, also called "sugar-cutting diet". The name "sugar-cutting
diet" is actually a bit exaggerated. Because in our daily diet, staple
foods, vegetables, fruits, and even meat, eggs, and dairy all contain
carbohydrates. As long as you eat these, you can't truly cut sugar. So
this dietary plan has a more objective name in medicine: "very low-carb
diet".
That is, among the energy provided by daily food, the proportion of
carbohydrates must be very, very low. How low? Below 10%, protein is
about 20%, and the remaining 70%+ is all fat. Look at the ketogenic
diet menu and you'll understand. Three meals a day of fish and meat,
paired with coconut oil, butter, nuts, eggs, full-fat cheese, full-fat
cream, etc. Less than 10% carbs means almost no vegetables or fruits,
and absolutely no staple foods.
Why is this diet called "ketogenic diet"? Because if carbohydrate
intake is particularly low, the body has no sugar and has to mobilize
fat for energy. However, the body can't directly use fat, so it needs
to convert fat first, breaking it down into various ketone bodies, then
letting these ketone bodies provide energy for us. So this diet is also
called "ketogenic diet".
Theoretically, ketogenic diet is very ideal. Think about it, fat is
like a reserve granary - the body will never use it unless absolutely
necessary. Otherwise, why would weight loss be so difficult? Ketogenic
diet directly uses fat, like directly taking grain from the reserve
granary - simple and direct. Moreover, eating fish and meat at every
meal releases energy slowly, so you won't feel hungry.
What about actual effects? In the first two weeks of ketogenic diet,
weight drops particularly fast. Although there's some rebound
afterward, persisting for 3 months will result in an average weight
loss of 5-6kg.
Sounds good, right? But don't rush to try it. Because by then, you
might not be able to persist anymore. Due to ketone body production,
you'll have bad breath; without fiber from vegetables and fruits,
you'll be constipated; because you can only use ketone bodies, even
your brain's reaction speed might decrease. Also, long-term avoidance
of carbs will make you crave staple foods intensely, like withdrawal
symptoms from drug addiction. These are all perceptible. But more
unfortunately, after suffering so much, this achievement is quickly
matched by other dietary methods after 3-6 months. Ketogenic diet
lasting more than 3 months may also cause cholesterol elevation.
To summarize, ketogenic diet has good short-term weight loss effects,
but too many side effects.
Low-Carb Diet
Hearing this, some students who've tried ketogenic diet might question:
The ketogenic diet I heard about allows eating lots of vegetables, some
low-sugar fruits, and even some staple foods. What's going on?
I can responsibly tell you: this is no longer ketogenic diet. In
medicine, this is called "low-carb diet". Under the premise of energy
deficit, the carb content in the diet is higher than ketogenic diet,
between 10-25%.
How effective is low-carb diet?
In the first 6 months, it's indeed more effective than many other
nutritional patterns, reducing about 10% of body weight, averaging over
8kg. Moreover, because you eat more fat, it can also reduce appetite
and decrease hunger. Plus, with increased carbohydrate proportion, it
doesn't have the severe side effects of ketogenic diet.
Fast, effective, relatively safe, and not hungry - it seems low-carb
diet is about to defeat other dietary patterns. But time gave the
answer - once extended to one or two years, these magical effects all
disappear. And like ketogenic diet, low-carb diet may also increase
cholesterol levels in the body, raising the risk of coronary heart
disease.
Therefore, for the once-famous low-carb diet, the medical community
gave unified advice - for short-term weight loss within 6 months,
low-carb diet is indeed a good choice. Of course, for safety, blood
lipid levels should be measured regularly. Also note that if
cholesterol is already elevated or there's heart disease risk, don't
choose this.
Low-Fat Diet
Both ketogenic and low-carb diets reduce carbohydrates. Can we work on
fat instead? Since weight loss means reducing fat, why don't we
directly eat less fat? This is "low-fat diet", requiring fat to be
reduced to below 30% of total energy. Of course, energy deficit is
still the hard truth.
What does eating like this feel like? It's like eating vegetarian as
commonly said, and eating vegetarian without being full. Little food,
rarely seeing meat. 30% fat means at most one egg, one glass of milk,
and 2 liang of lean meat per day - no other meat allowed.
Eating like this daily, so difficult - what are the effects? In 6
months, average weight loss is 4-5kg, not even matching low-carb diet.
But if you can persist for a year, congratulations - average weight
loss is 8kg, matching low-carb diet. However, all participants said it
was too hard to persist and very hungry.
In summary, low-fat diet is somewhat like eating vegetarian - if you
can persist for about a year, the effects are indeed good. However,
with almost no meat at every meal, it's difficult to persist. Without
that willpower, forget about it.
Mediterranean Diet
This doesn't work, that doesn't work either - is there a steady dietary
plan? Maybe short-term effects are average, but you don't need to
struggle to persist, and long-term it can achieve good effects?
Yes, there is - the Mediterranean diet. Mediterranean diet is very
close to the principles we discussed in the last lesson about eating
good weight loss meals. Its biggest characteristic is balance, somewhat
like a pyramid -
Carbohydrates, including staple foods, various vegetables, and fruits
occupy the pyramid's base, eaten most daily; the next layer up includes
various soy products and dairy products, also eaten daily; further up,
in smaller quantities, olive oil and nuts, also eaten daily. Further up
are fish, shrimp, chicken, duck, eaten at least 2-3 times weekly; at
the top are desserts, pork, beef, and mutton, which can be had once
weekly.
This dietary pattern is nutritionally balanced, with carbohydrates
accounting for 50-60% of total energy, fat 20-30%, and protein about
20%. Although it doesn't have the obvious short-term effects of
low-carb, low-fat, or very low-calorie diets, in the long run, it's
the easiest to persist with and least likely to rebound.
In fact, this brings not just weight loss, but health. In 8 studies
involving over 400,000 people, we found that if carbohydrates account
for less than 40% or more than 70% of total energy, for ordinary
populations, death risk relatively increases by over 20%; while a
moderate carb ratio of around 50-55% has the lowest death risk. The
world's longest-living regions also have carbohydrate ratios around
50%.
Did you notice? Energy deficit is the starting point for all dietary
plans to achieve weight loss, while persistence is the endpoint of
successful weight loss. Sometimes, slow actually achieves another kind
of fast.
What Suits You Is Best
After hearing the above content, you probably discovered:
If we compare weight loss to a martial arts world, various dietary
plans are like different schools. Each has advantages and leads at
different times, but none can comprehensively surpass other schools and
dominate the world.
Everything comes back to yourself, starting from our habits, choosing
what suits you best -
If you want rapid weight loss but like eating staple foods, you can
choose several months of low-fat diet, then switch back to
Mediterranean diet; if you want rapid weight loss but love eating meat,
persist with low-carb diet for a while, or even ketogenic diet; if you
don't pursue speed, choose the steady Mediterranean diet...
In short, weight loss is about living life. Success comes from year
after year of little bits and pieces, not forcing yourself to become
someone you don't recognize just to lose weight.
Key Points
1. Among thousands of dietary patterns, none has overwhelming victory -
choose what suits you.
2. Very low-calorie diet has limited long-term effects and is not
recommended.
3. People who like staple foods can try several months of low-fat diet,
then switch back to Mediterranean diet.
4. People who like meat can persist with low-carb diet for a while, or
even ketogenic diet.
5. Mediterranean diet is long-term effective without rebound,
recommended for everyone.
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