Obesity is a growing trend in the United States today despite the efforts that have been made to fight for a healthier society. In “2009 it was estimated that 68% of American adults were either overweight or obese” (Hu). Although we may like to blame it on our restaurants that serve people a single meal containing a day’s worth of calories, we as a society continue to make the choice to eat these unhealthy foods. With growing obesity rates in America, it is vital to know how to become a healthier society. One of the ways to solve this issue is by truly understanding the many factors that are included within fad diets, how our body actually functions when it comes to losing weight and more efficient ways to maintain ones’ weight after weight-loss. With this knowledge it is possible to promote change not only for oneself but for others around them, resulting in the weigh-loss they desire and keeping weight off for good. 

A fad diet is a type of weight loss plan that claims to produce fast, dramatic results when it comes to someone losing weight. There are a lot of these types of diets that exist in our society today that people participate in each day without knowing what they are all about. We see and here about them all the time, may it be through TV commercials, the radio or magazines. Two of the most popular forms of fad diets that people rave about today is the low-fat diet and the low-carbohydrate (low-carb) diet. Both diets claim to be the easiest and fastest way to lose weight. Although one can lose weight by participating in both diets, the question most people want to know is which diet allows for more weight-loss and what are the affects that doing both of these diets have on the body?

The low-fat diet is known for being a more balanced, safe, realistic and flexible diet to participate in when trying to lose weight when compared to the low-carb diet, which is not known for those traits at all (Sheehy). Low-fat diets involve one eating a minimal amount of fat while also watching the amount of calories consumed each day. The reason for keeping track of calories is because the human body stores extra calories as fat even when there is not fat contained within the food itself. Having fat in a diet is much more energy dense meaning that there are more calories per gram in a certain food. By reducing the amount of fatty foods that one put into the body it improves cardiovascular risk factors and protects the body from other chronic diseases (Sheehy).

 On the flip side low-carb diets, like the famous Atkins diet, create energy in the body through protein and fats (Sheehy). Low-carb diets involve eating lean meats and vegetables as much as you want each day. The thought behind going on a low-carb diet is that when you exercise the body first burns carbs and then moves on to burning fat. Therefore, if one cuts out the carbs from their diet, the body will just have fat to burn when working out. There is an initial rapid weight-loss due to the reduction of glycogen reserves and the water weight that is lost within the body (Sheehy). However, due to the lack of carbs being consumed into the body the result is ketosis, the feeling of nausea, dehydration and bad breath (Sheehy). When participating in a low-carb diet there is a “low intake of minerals and vitamins which will result in a deficiency” within the body (Sheehy). 

Not only is it important to know the basics of each diet when looking to start participating in one, it is important to know how much weight you are predicted to lose in each diet along with the metabolic risk factors involved. In an article written in the American Journal of Epidemiology, there was a study conducted that compared the results of multiple different studies conducted all around the world to discover if low-carb and low-fat diets lowered ones’ weight and how each of the diets affected ones’ metabolic risk factors within the body. This study found that both diets were equally effective at decreasing ones’ body weight and waist circumference (Hu). However, the results of the year long trials involving people being on low-fat and low-carb diets for 1 year found that though both diets resulted in weight loss, but the low-fat diet group appeared to lose more muscle mass than fat while the low-carb diet group had reductions in body fat and improvements in their lean muscle mass (O’Connor). Both diets also appear to reduce blood pressure, total cholesterol, blood glucose levels and serum insulin levels (Hu). However, the participants who were placed on the low-carb diet “experienced a statically significantly lower reduction in total cholesterol” levels within the body (Hu). Due to the ‘high amounts of vegetable protein and unsaturated fat consumed during the low-carb diet these participants were associated with a lower risk of developing a coronary heart disease over the following 19 years during their follow ups (Hu). “Nonetheless, those on the low-carb diet ultimately did so well that they managed to lower their Framingham risk score, which calculates the likelihood of a heart attack within the next 10 years while the low-fat group had no improvements” (O’Connor). When comparing low-fat and low-carb diets when referring to reduction in body weight, waist circumference and metabolic risk factors there was not a significant difference between the two diets. This suggests that both of the diets are just as effective as the other, but just because each of the diets can help one lose the weight does not mean that each diet is effective at helping to keep the weight off. 

“Only 20% of overweight individuals losing weight are successful for weight maintenance when defined as losing at least 10% of initial body weight and maintaining the loss for at least one year” (Lecheminant). A study was conducted pertaining to weight maintenance after participating in either the low-fat or low-carb diets. The participants in the study had to go through 3 months on the diet that they were assigned and for 6 months their weight was monitored. In the study the low-fat group decresed their body weight by 18% and the low-carb by 19% (Lecheminant). In the low-fat group 50% of the participants reduced their body weight during the weight maintenance period and 55% of participants on low-carb reduced their body weight during that period while the other people in the study increased their body weight (Lecheminant). During the weight maintenance period low-fat participants report having headaches, nausea, fatigue, diarrhea, dizziness and a change in their taste buds while the people on low-carb reported experiencing headache, constipation, flatus, hair loss, change in sleeping patterns, stomach cramps, dizziness, leg cramps, decreased sex drive, and dandruff (Lecheminant). “The primary findings of this study was that a low-carb and low-fat diet are comparable for body weight maintenance over 6 months, but there was significant variation in weight change within each group” (Lecheminant). About 50% of people within each of the diet groups gained their body weight back during the weight maintenance portion of the study, putting them back to where they started when they first wanted to lose weight. 

In a TEDtalk in 2014 neurologist, Sandra Aamodt spoke on why dieting does not usually work for people who are trying to lose weight. About 80% of 10-year-old girls say that they have dieted at some point in their lifetime, causing them to be 3 times more likely to become overweight when they get older (Aamodt).  Aamodt says that ones’ brain greatly influences weight-loss through the hypothalamus (Aamodt). The hypothalamus acts like a thermostat in your body, constantly striving and pushing the body to remain where the hypothalamus considers the normal weight or set point to be (Aamodt). As a human being it is in our nature to not let ourselves starve, it is programmed into your brain to conserve ones’ energy and produce more fat if one suddenly beings to start eating less food; like when dieting (Aamodt). So, if one was to lose a lot of weight the body would treat the weight-loss as if the person were starving.  The body’s set point is easily moved up (as in a higher weight) because the body is constantly trying to conserve fat and use the food that is consumed as fuel, especially in ones’ teenage year when growing, but it is not easily moved down (Aamodt). If one stays at a higher weight for too long, then the body will consider that to be the new normal (Aamodt). This is why is it so hard to maintain ones’ weight after dieting. By the time that most people are done dieting the body still has not changed its set point, therefore making it almost impossible to keep the weight off (Aamodt). Statistics show that 40% more people gain more weight than they the weight they started at before dieting at all (Aamodt). One way to help to prevent this is instead of dieting one should practice mindful eating. If one changes their lifestyle forever, then maintaining ones’ weight becomes a much simpler task because the body’s set point with gradually lower (Aamodt). 

“Successful weight-loss is said to required a three-pronged approach: changing your behavior, altering your diet, and increasing your physical activity” (Cheskin). By making permanent changes to your lifestyle, involving diet and exercise you are taking the first steps to tackling obesity in your lifetime. The first step in having a successful, permanent weight-loss would be to change your behavior. One could do this by first setting realistic goals (Cheskin). “The safest rate of weight-loss is 0.5-2 lbs a week. People who lose weight at this rate are more likely to keep it off (Cheskin). Another thing to work on changing your behavior would be to make healthy changes in your life gradually (Cheskin). By trying to make too many changes too fast can leave one feeling overwhelmed and frustrated causing one to give up on themselves and their goals (Cheskin). Eating three meals a day, with snacks will help to speed you ones’ metabolism. “You will be more successful in the long run if you allow yourself to eat when you are hungry, eat enough healthy foods to satisfy that hunger, and spread your calorie intake over the course of the day” (Cheskin). If you do not wish to eat that many snacks throughout the day you should drink more water. “Dehydration can make your body think that it is hungry, so drink 130 fl oz of water per day” (Phelps). Lastly one should look into recording their progress, like a food diary or workout log to help keep you motivated and on task with your goals (Cheskin). 

The second part of the three-pronged approach is altering your diet. According to the Amerian Heart Association 30% of people who skip breakfast are more likely to be obese (Phelps). “Most experts now recommend that a diet contain no more than 35% of calories from fat” (Cheskin). Ones’ day to day diet should consist of mostly fruits, vegetables and grains; which help you to feel more full without adding any calories to ones’ diet (Cheskin). Choosing lean cuts of meat, and poultry is also good for ones’ diet because it does not contain a lot of fat (Cheskin). One cool trick to keep in mind is that you should eat off of a blue plate. “Seeing food on a blue dish- as opposed to red or yellow- reduces appetite, as shown in a variety of studies (Phelps).  Reading the food labels on the food that one purchases is another good way to watch what one is putting into their body (Cheskin). This is not a hard thing to include into ones’ daily routine since it is required that all packaged foods provide all of the information about the ingredients that are included in the product (Cheskin). Lastly, consider the amount of calories that are in the beverages that you drink each day (Cheskin). Sugary drinks to not satisfy hunger like food does and those beverages are not a good source of vitamins and minerals for your body (Cheskin). 

The last aspect of the three-pronged approach is increasing your physical activity. “The best exercise plan includes activities that involve stretching, balance, aerobic exercise and strength training” (Cheskin). When beginning an exercise program, it should be done gradually (Cheskin). “Trying to do too much too soon may lead to muscle strain and soreness, or even injury” (Cheskin). One easy way to increase your physical activity is by taking the stairs instead of the elevator when at work or by parking in the back of the parking lot when going shopping so you have to walk the distance of the parking lot (Cheskin). Another important thing to make sure you take into consideration when developing an exercise program is putting variety into your activities. In order to prevent yourself from getting bored, do activities that work other muscle groups (Cheskin). Swimming is a great way to workout all of the muscle groups at once. By swimming laps for just one hour your body can burn up to 900 calories (Phelps). A good machine to use for cardio and muscle build up at the gym is the elliptical. If you make sure you use the handles on the elliptical you will “recruit muscles in your arms and burn almost double the calories in your overall workout” (Phelps). Building up your muscle is a good thing to do, especially when first starting out. The more muscle you have the more body fat you will burn while working out (Phelps). 

With the growing trend of obesity in America it is becoming more and more important that we as a society learn how to take care of our bodies and stay healthy. In order to accomplish this, we must be able to about all the fad diets that are made available to us each day and what they will actually do to our bodies in the short and long run. We must also understand how our body functions under the circumstance of weight-loss over a prolonged period and short period of time. Lastly we must be able to maintain the weight that we have lost. In order to best maintain weight lost one must discover how to live a lifelong healthy lifestyle. If we as a society can learn to take care of our bodies and add a decade to our lifetimes imagine all of the things that we could still accomplish in out time that would have been otherwise lost. 
