JANUARY is the month when the floodgates open in the health and fitness industry.
Market opportunists will promise you a magic potion for weight loss or for your general health goals, whatever they may be. If you are a person that goes from diet to diet and are on the dreaded diet hamster wheel then you will probably be easy sucked in.
Some diets to avoid are Atkins, alkaline, detoxes, cabbage soup diet, blood type diet, ketogenic, maple syrup diet, paleo, clay cleanse diet and celebrity endorsed diets. You just need to follow the Eatwell Guide – this is your foundation for good health as it is a healthy, balanced diet.
Unfortunately, in January, there will be a range of quick fix miracle options that are often unrealistic and unsustainable and a lot of the time will put your health at risk. For example, if someone is promoting low carbohydrate (bread, rice, pasta, noodles, potatoes, oats etc) intakes this will most definitely put you at risk of not getting enough B-vitamins and fibre.
There is no magic solution for weight loss and there’s no such thing as a magic diet. Fad diets offer a short-term solution to a long-term problem. Your so-called health and fitness guru won’t tell you this as they probably don’t know enough as they aren’t a registered nutritionist and haven’t studied nutrition at university. They are only concerned about lining their pockets most of the time.
Fad diets are very restrictive with a narrow range of foods, unusual combinations of foods, promote fasting, eating at certain times and usually consist of expensive and unnecessary supplements.
People have many reasons for wanting to lose weight, improve their health or change their diets. But this should not be at a cost to your health, your relationship with food or your money.
Lee McCusker (BA; MSc; MSc; MSc; ANutr; SENr) is a registered nutritionist from Belfast and can be found on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Email: attentivenutrition@
gmail.com
