You’re having lunch with your friend Suzie, who orders a bacon cheeseburger “without the bun.” She explains that she’s found a great diet that lets her eat as much as she wants of everything but carbohydrates. Suzie adds that she lost 10 pounds in the first two weeks. Should you go the low-carb route, too?
You could do worse. For example, you could eat that bacon cheeseburger with a bun, “biggie” fries, and a large soft drink. But you could also do a lot better.
"All of these diets are successful if they get people to cut down on how much they eat,” says Lisa Hark, PhD, a Registered Dietician from Philadelphia. “If you cut your calories, you’re going to lose weight. But the question is, “‘Does a diet teach you how to eat healthily in the long run?’”
The problem with fad diets
Because obesity is a major health problem in the United States—and getting worse—Hark ticks off problems with what she calls “fad” diets.
- A drastic cutback in carbohydrates means no fruits, no potatoes, and little or no bread. Your body will miss out on both fiber and nutrients.
- As you get more calories from meat proteins, you’re almost sure to overload on saturated fats, increasing your risk of heart disease.
- Many low-carb diets specify no milk or dairy products, increasing the long-term risk of osteoporosis.
- High-protein diets force the kidneys to work extra-hard to excrete uric acid.
Hark points out that the food pyramid recommended by the US Surgeon General, the American Cancer Society, and the American Heart Association, includes six to 11 servings of carbohydrates.
“Go with the lower number on that,” she says. “If you have six servings, that’s two at each meal. You need the carbohydrates for the fiber, the vitamins, and the energy. You really can’t live on a low-carbohydrate diet forever. You just have to learn how to eat smaller amounts.”