New diet fads and why serial dieters are happier than ever!

All Representational Pictures

Serial dieters can rejoice. All the forbidden foods are making a come-back and guess what? They are good for you! Butter is good for you, Ghee is even better, Carbs (a certain kind) are fine, and so is Red Meat. This could just be the best time to be a serial dieter. If you follow fads, then in all probability you have heard of the Atkins Diet, The GM Diet, and The South Beach Diet and if you were being adventurous and inspired by Beyoncé you may have gone as far as the Master ACV Cleanse. In recent times the three buzzwords that you hear fitness aficionados throw around are Keto, Paleo and Intermittent Fasting.

Priyanka Bagai, Nutritionist and Fitness Coach at Fuel Your Transformation feels that "People have become more health and weight conscious these days. The moment they hear someone is trying a new diet that might be working for a particular person, they feel they should try it. However, this could have pros and cons. Keto and Paleo have been prevailing more these days as some people are seeing good results with it, maybe feeling light and more energetic as well.

They feel giving the body a change might help them lose weight and look good. However, this is not always the case. Diet A might work for someone but not suit someone. However, Fad diets like these attract people due to word of mouth promotion. However, these have to be followed under expert consultation and supervision to do it correctly"

Keto Diet

It is impossible to browse Instagram, meet your friends or read about a celebrity's transformation journey without the mention of a Keto diet. The Ketogenic diet minimises carbs, increases intake of fats and proteins. Of course, this made all the classic bad guys good for dieters. The Ketogenic diet was first designed to help people with seizure disorders. The logic is that the body uses ketones instead of glucose (found in carbohydrates) and this reduces the possibility of an attack.

Adults, however, noticed that the diet resulted in weight loss. Hurrah! Increasingly it's the most popular diet on the block. From specialised Keto Desserts, Meal Delivery Services you will often hear of amazing success stories of people losing a lot of weight on the Keto diet. Honestly a diet that encourages the use of Butter, Ghee and Dark Chocolate easily finds it's way to being a favourite. Only watch out for the processed foods and sugar, However, the sustainability of the diet in an Indian and vegetarian diet is often questioned. Also, since most of the weight loss comes from cutting carbs and weight from water, several dieters have noticed that the weight comes right back.

Paleo Diet

The other new popular entrant on the block is the Paleo diet. We often speak of the healthy lifestyle of our ancestors. The little or no eating out, indulgences reserved only for festivals and special occasions, very different from the hyper-social lifestyles we have today, where just reaching the weekend is reason enough to celebrate.

The Paleo diet, however, advocates eating like the palaeolithic man did, taking us way before our ancestors! We are talking at least 2.5M -10,000 years ago. It encourages consumption of food that man procured through hunting and gathering. It means that lean meats, fish, nuts, fruits, vegetables and seeds form a significant part of the diet. Certain oils are permitted, but no processed foods, dairy, legumes. The premise rejects processed, modified, farmed foods and encourages adopting foods we were meant to eat and not what we began to cultivate and process.

What most dieters like about this plan is that they don't have to count calories, but the tough part is avoiding certain types of foods, that industrialisation has so naturally built into our diets and is good for us.

Intermittent Fasting

Unlearn! They said never skip breakfast. Skipping breakfast will make you fat. Then enter, the magic concept of intermittent fasting. In this method, one eats normal meals 5 days a week and on 2 days creates a 500-600 calorie deficit. The simple approach is that you fast for anything between 12-16 hours and eat for the rest. In all probability you are likely to miss a meal. For most people following this, the meal they miss is either breakfast or lunch. The list of benefits of intermittent fasting are long - weight loss, prevention of cancer and heart disease, increased brain health and every day we may read about something new.

Priyanka Bagai elaborates why a lot of people love Intermittent Fasting "Since the eating window time is less and hence our body is not able to absorb and digest the actual amount of calories you would eat otherwise through the day. If the calorie intake doesn't match up to the body requirements as per metabolism and physical activity it can cause harm in the long run. If someone wants to do it for few days to regulate their system or if they have binged on holiday or over the weekend it could help in reducing bloating and water retention. Intermittent Fasting could be beneficial for a certain group who come in the obese group as they have bigger appetite and prefer eating fewer bigger meals giving them only the eating window and rest of the fasting period their body could help burn the body fat for energy.

So while these are exciting times for dieters, and we've come a long way from diets that encouraged deprivation, all these diets have given rise to many other businesses. The above diets require certain type of eating, which needs preparation. There are several businesses that have emerged that cater to these needs, so that these diets are easier to follow. These range from food delivery services, special restaurant menus to desserts. However, there is no silver bullet to weight loss. The common thread continues to be to watch what you eat, create a calorie deficit and exercise.

Catch up on all the latest Crime, National, International and Hatke news here. Also download the new mid-day Android and iOS apps to get latest updates