Why do physicians recommend the Mediterranean Diet and Intermittent Fasting?

Could the absolutely best weight loss diet keep you healthy and be easy to maintain for life? Yes it can and it does for me and many of my social media followers. The people that are interested in transforming their Way of Eating come to my Facebook Group for many reasons. Some are for urgent medical or health reasons on doctor’s orders; many more want to look better and have their clothes fit better; others want to lower their blood pressure, reduce acid reflux, or stop snoring; still others seek out the Mediterranean Diet and/or Intermittent Fasting as a key to healthy aging; while others just like healthy food and are there for the recipes.

Why would physicians recommend adopting the Mediterranean Diet, and more and more frequently Intermittent Fasting as well? Quite possibly the most pressing and growing public health crises worldwide is obesity, with more people becoming more obese at younger ages. Part of this is due to the convenience and cost of fast food, people with less time and less money that others are often driven to eat fast food. While there are many social, financial and environmental factors driving this dangerous trend to obesity, the fact is that there are positive, effective steps to bucking that trend and regaining your healthy weight and health.

So before during and after the pandemic, people were putting on weight and searching for answers for how to control and lose weight. As with many things in our modern societies, the easy way out would be to take a pill, and as many of us know that has been tried and pharmaceutical appetite suppressants are poor solutions. Newer versions of pill diets include things like green coffee beans, Garcinia Cambogia, detox pills, and various other “fat burning” concoctions. While some of these may have some short term effect, they are generally not regulated by the FDA so the long term effects are not known.

The other popular diets can also help people lose weight in the short term. These include Weight Watchers, Nutrisystem, Ketogenic, South Beach, Atkins, Noom, and a slew of other, usually expensive diets. Yo-yo dieting where dieters lose and gain weight is very hard on the body, and none of these types of diets are effective long term solutions to obesity or being overweight. The packaged meals are expensive and not a reasonable substitute for a properly balanced diet. They all take a considerable amount of work, counting calories, following strict guidelines, eating often times bland tasteless meals.

For instance, many people joining our group are looking for alternatives to the ketogenic or “keto” diet which features low carbohydrate and high fat consumption. Some of the known side effects of this diet include: diarrhea, weight regain, decreased muscle mass and athletic performance, complications for diabetics and an increased risk of heart disease. This is according to the Mayo clinic. These are not what I am looking for in a diet.

Cleanses or juice cleanses are another fad that has grown quite popular. Although on the face of it vegetable or fruit juice is healthier than soft drinks, juices with the pulp removed are pure sugar and will give a sugar boost to your blood system. Studies have consistently shown that one of the primary benefits of juice fasting is detoxification, which are the normal function of your liver and kidneys. Another down side is the boost in triglycerides that your body gets when juice fasting. Triglycerides are a form of fat that can impair liver function and increase arterial plaque. That is also not what I am looking for in a sustainable long term diet.

Although I did considerable research before settling on a lifelong Way of Eating that includes both Intermittent Fasting and the Mediterranean Diet, it was really quite clear from the wealth of studies that have found the Mediterranean Diet as traditionally practiced to be the healthiest for humans. Intermittent Fasting is a bit different. Although I had heard of studies with rats and calorie reduction lengthening life spans over the years, I also recall thinking that it is not something I would ever do. First of all I didn’t think I had the will power to miss meals regularly or eat smaller amounts of food. I also associated the restricted diet with juicing, macrobiotics, vegan only, and salad only foods. As I learned more through my adoption of the Mediterranean Diet and tried different fasting lengths I started to realize how easy both of these practices were to adopt.

Another misconception that is widespread due to the other diets is the word diet itself. People associate diet with deprivation, never eating the food you like, child’s portions, walking away from meals hungry, studying calorie counts, eating tasteless food, going hungry, and feeling guilty about break their diet or cheating. I have heard of people being kicked out of groups similar to mine for not complying with strict guidelines, also of

Sponsor Ads

• Ad Space Available - Rent it Now!

Report this Page

Created on May 27th 2020 01:59. Viewed 225 times.

Share on APSense

Comments