#27: Food Swings: Demystifying the Buzziest Diet Plans

Modern life between careers, kids, and health, it can be mayhem. That's why we're here. I'm Dr. Lisa Varghese Kroll. And I'm Dr. Lawnway Felucis. We're physicians, moms, and long-time friends who break it all down for you. Wondering how to juggle all the balls and still stay sane? Looking for advice but don't want to be overwhelmed? Curious about how to make the most out of life for your family? But enjoy it at the same time? You're in the right place. Welcome to Health and Home with the Hippocratic Hosts. On this episode, we're talking about the latest diet trends. A lot of us want to eat healthier, but how do we know where to start? Should we trust that celebrity endorsement? Should we throw out everything currently in our river traitors? And should we really eat only steak and chewing gum for 14 days? Hey, Lawnway. Hey, Lisa. Summer is here at last. I suppose so. As you know, I'm a winter person. My Canadian roots. I just have to get through these long months of warmth and sunshine before I can have my snow back again. Yes, so so. I recognize I recognize I'm in the minority. Yes, that's a nice way of putting it. Much nicer than weirdo. I embraced my inner weirdo long ago. Good for you. Well, so while everyone else is excited about hot weather, summer is also when we start receiving more and more questions about diets and weight loss, right? Very true. Very true. And everyone's heard by now that diet and exercise are the keys to good health, but it's hard not to be tempted by a trendy new way of eating that's getting a lot of buzz on social media. What's the real truth behind the biggest diets out there? So some of you may remember that we talked about how to get kids to eat fruits and veggies in episode 20 and how to start and stick with a new nutrition and exercise plan in episode 21 on New Year's resolutions. So now we're adding to that by talking about the facts behind specific diets and eating plans that you might be considering. That's right. So let's jump right in. So, you know, there are lots of different diets out there in the world. There are branded diets from specific companies. There are diet specific to medical conditions such as gluten-free diets for people with celiac disease or gluten sensitivity or low-fod-map diets for irritable bowel syndrome. And then there are diets that might be based on personal convictions such as vegan or flexitarian diets. But today we're going to talk about the most well-known diets that are based more on choice and not on medical need. And the first one on the list is the keto diet. And we need a little bit of a disclaimer here because while there are lots of people online promoting keto for weight loss, it actually is a medical diet, mainly used to decrease epileptic seizures in children. So while we never recommend starting any diet without close supervision from your physician, having your physicians okay is particularly important with this one. That's right. So the ketogenic or keto diet aims to force your body to use a different type of fuel. Instead of getting energy from sugar, from carbohydrates, it pivots your body to using ketone bodies, which deliver makes from stored fat in a process known as ketosis. What that means is that you're encouraged to eat foods high in protein and high in fat, but you must severely limit your carbs. That means that fruits and vegetables are heavily restricted. And one of the biggest issues with the keto diet is that it's high in saturated fats, which is a major risk factor for heart disease. Restricting fruits and vegetables also means that it's difficult to get all the nutrients you need. And because protein is metabolized in the kidneys and fat metabolized in the liver, these organs can be overwhelmed by a heavy protein and fat intake. Ultimately, the keto diet may result in weight loss in the short term, but as with all restricted diets, they're tough to keep up in the long term and the weight eventually comes back. Alright, so our next one, the whole 30 diet. So this is an elimination diet. The idea is that for 30 days, you cut out a number of foods that are common allergens or could trigger inflammation. After the 30 days, you slowly reintroduce these forbidden foods and watch your body's reaction. So grains, beans, legumes, and dairy are cut out as well as sugar, artificial sweeteners, alcohol, MSG, and any baked goods or junk food. Fruit is also limited because it contains natural sugars. And while the goal of this diet is not weight loss per se, and it's not intended to be a long term way of eating, there are many people who claim that they've lost weight on this diet. However, this diet plan was not created by a medical or dietary expert, and there isn't significant scientific evidence to back it up. And it eliminates healthy foods like whole grains and dairy that are important for bone and gut health. Also, like the keto diet, it's very restrictive and may not be realistic even in the short term, which means that weight loss usually isn't permanent with the whole 30 diet. Next up is the paleo diet. Now, paleo is a diet that's based on foods that might have been eaten during the paleolithic era, about 2.5 million to 10,000 years BC. It includes foods that would have been accessible through hunting and gathering, things like lean meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds. And it also allows oils from fruits and seeds such as olive oil or almond oil. It limits foods that are believed to have become more available through farming after the year 10,000 BC. Foods like grains, dairy, legumes, refined sugar, potatoes, and highly processed foods. This is because the paleo diet is based on the hypothesis that the human body is genetically programmed to work best with a prehistoric diet rather than our modern one. There have been some clinical trials on the paleo diet, and it may lead to weight loss, better glucose control, and better blood pressure control. But there have not been any long-term studies to date, which would give us better data. And some concerns are the fact that, again, it cuts out healthy foods such as whole grains and dairy. Another concern is that the paleo diet is expensive because it promotes wild game and grass-fed animal meat, so it may not be attainable for everyone. There are also concerns that the hypothesis that paleo is based on is itself incorrect, that geography and climate also affect genetic variability, not just the transition to farming, and that wild grains may actually have already been around prior to the rise of farming. I'm getting the impression that I would not have done well in the paleolithic era. Did they have kindles then? All right, so next is the Atkins diet. This is a diet started by Robert Atkins, a cardiologist in the 1960s. This diet launched a low carb trend because it emphasizes limiting carbs and increasing your intake of protein and fat. Sugar, white flour, and some fruits and vegetables are limited. It has four phases, starting with very strict restriction of carbs, then gradually introducing some carbs back in, and the final phase is lifetime maintenance. So this is intended to be a life-long way of eating. Now, this diet, although it first came about in the 60s, has evolved with the times, and so it now does recommend eating high fiber vegetables. And while it does result in weight loss, it appears to be due to a decrease in overall calories, rather than a decrease specifically in carbohydrate intake. Its proponents claim that the Atkins diet can decrease your risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic syndrome. But again, there are no long-term studies, and eating large amounts of animal fats is known to increase your risk of heart disease and some cancers. Similar to keto, there is some risk of kidney and liver dysfunction because you're asking those organs to process more and more protein and fat. So proceed with caution. Next up is the Mediterranean diet. Now, the Mediterranean diet also started getting attention in the 60s, when researchers began noticing that heart disease was less common in Greece and Italy than in the US and other parts of Europe. This diet is a way of eating that's based on the cuisines of countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea. It's defined by eating fruits, veggies, healthy fats such as olive oil, and whole grains daily. Fish such as sardines, macarole, and salmon, poultry, beans, and eggs are a little less often, dairy products, and moderation, and limiting red meat. Herbs and spices are used more commonly than salt, and red wine and eating meals with family and friends are also part of that Mediterranean experience. So good news. This diet is actually recognized by the World Health Organization as a healthy and sustainable way of eating for the long term. And in our experience, the Mediterranean diet has absolutely been a positive because it's more of a way of life, as they've said, than a strict diet. In my family, we've been veering more Mediterranean over the last few years, and I love it. I'd probably love it more if it came with a trip to Greece, but you know, baby steps. And piggybacking on the Mediterranean diet, we wanted to touch on intermittent fasting. The idea behind this eating plan is that you only eat during a specific time. It may be that you only eat during an eight hour range of the day, and don't eat for the rest of the day. other 16 hours or maybe you eat normally for five days a week and only eat one meal on the other two. The reasoning behind this is the idea of metabolic switching so that after hours without eating, our bodies run out of sugar stores and start burning fat. If we eat constantly during the day, our bodies always have calories for energy and never need to burn our existing fat stores. You may feel tired or cranky for two to four weeks while your body adjusts. And it's also not recommended to fast for longer periods as that could trigger your body to start storing more fat as a normal response to starvation. And it's important that during the periods when you are eating, you're eating reasonably and not like binging on twinkies. The Mediterranean diet is a good guideline to follow for when you are eating. So there's some studies that show that intermittent fasting may help with memory, heart health, diabetes and physical endurance. There are people that shouldn't try this, including kids, pregnant women, and people with the history of eating disorders. So always, you know, important again to follow your own doctor's advice. And then there's the dash diet, dash, D-A-S-H, which stands for dietary approaches to stop hypertension. The goal of this diet is to lower blood pressure without medication by making changes in your diet, including reducing sodium and increasing potassium, calcium and magnesium intake. On this diet, you eat fruits, veggies and low fat dairy, as well as moderate amounts of whole grains, fish, poultry and nuts. Sweet, fats, alcohol and red meat are not forbidden, but are limited. There's a standard dash diet, which limits sodium to 2300 milligrams a day, and a lower sodium dash diet, which has a limit of 1,500 milligrams of sodium a day. The typical American diet includes about 3400 milligrams of sodium a day. You know, because we're all so used to salt being everything, even in foods that we might consider healthy, like low fat soups or sliced deli turkey, it can take a while for your palate to adjust to low sodium foods. But you know, the upside of this is, my husband and I started trying to switch to some lower sodium foods a few years ago, and it definitely was hard at first. But now some processed foods kind of taste unbearably salty when they never bothered me before. So there's a light at the end of the tunnel. We can't adjust. And it's, honestly, it's hard to argue with the sensableness of this eating plan. Right, and that leads us to the mind diet, mind M-I-N-D, which stands for Mediterranean Dash Intervention for Neurodegenerative Delay. And it's a combination of the Mediterranean and Dash diets. So this diet was developed by researchers to promote foods that improve brain health, and therefore decrease the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease. The mind plan includes at least one serving a day of leafy green vegetables like lettuce, kale or spinach, a few servings a week of berries and of nuts, one serving a week of fish, and less than four servings a week of meat. Light alcohol consumption and the use of extra virgin olive oil are also encouraged with this diet. There are obviously some risks to alcohol intake, as we all know. So it's not recommended to start drinking alcohol for the brain benefits, but if you already enjoy red wine occasionally, you can continue. Overall, there is some scientific evidence that the mind diet can slow cognitive decline. I think that's really cool. Yeah. And ultimately, drastic diets are much less likely to work over a lifetime than realistic lifestyle changes. Some good parameters to follow are, you know, don't cut out entire food groups, decrease portion sizes, eat larger amounts of lower calorie dense food, such as fruits and vegetables. Yeah, I mean, that's actually the basis of another diet plan, called volumetrics. But it's a good philosophy to have in general. I mean, you can eat a lot more celery and be healthy than you can in french fries. But you know, also avoid habits or diet plans that make you overly focused on food or body image and encourage an unhealthy rigidity. You know, there's more to life than eating and weight. And finally, always make any diet changes under the guidance of your physician. And that brings us to our physician mom, hack of the week. If you're busy with work, raising kids or both, and you're trying to change your eating habits, it can be really hard to find the time to cook healthy meals according to your new guidelines every day of the week. So here's a really cool way to share the load. Find a local friend who wants to make the same changes that you do. One night a week, you cook twice as much for dinner and then drop half of it off for their family. Another night they cook twice as much and drop off half for you. So cooking twice as much of something, you know, rarely takes much more work, but it does give each of you a whole night off from cooking. And you can even do that several nights a week if you wanted. And it just might be enough of a break to make you both more likely to stick with healthy eating for the longer run and gives you a little bit more time during the weeks that you're not making a new plate of dinner every single night. I love that. Me too. And that brings us to the end of our show. Thanks so much everyone for joining us. We really appreciate it. Love having these conversations with you. We would be forever grateful if you would follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. If you would subscribe in your favorite podcast platform and review us and Apple podcasts. And if you'd tell a friend about the show, thanks everyone. Talk to you again soon. Thanks for listening to Health and Home with the Hippocratic Hosts. Remember that all of these expressed here are our own, not our employers. And all content is for informational purposes only and should not be construed as medical advice, nor the establishment of a doctor-patient relationship. Always consult your own physician or health care team for any medical issues. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate us, subscribe, and tell a friend. And check out our website at www.hypocratichosts.com for show notes on this and all our episodes. Can't wait to chat with you next time.