The Fad Diet Strikes Again!

Even though Americans should react to the news of another diet fad the same way they do to the news of an epidemic of shark attacks, they don’t. Instead of fleeing, enough fall in line to merit an article on the Huffington Post site.

This time the gimmick to lose weight is intermittent fasting. The piece begins, “For years, we’ve been told it’s important to eat breakfast within an hour of waking up, to rev up our metabolism and get our day started right.” So apparently the writer has not been reading the Huffington Post for years because, as I wrote in February 2017, they reported that breakfast had been declared optional. But by May of this year, “experts” had once again reversed course on that decision.

Intermittent fasting is the newest answer to our prayers. “The technique relies on restricting your eating to set times and alternating between feasting and fasting” and is considered by its proponents as more of a lifestyle than a diet. It’s more about when you eat than what you eat, although to be successful it still requires healthy food choices. (Aren’t those ideas of lifestyle and food choices essential for any successful weight-loss program?)

There are several flavors of intermittent fasting. The 16:8 plan is most common and most reported on. Eat meals “within an eight-hour window” and then fast (and sleep) for the rest of the day. The 5:2 plan involves restricting calories to 500 on two nonconsecutive days each week. Alternate day fasting involves fasting every other day (500 calories) and eating whatever you want with no calorie restrictions on alternate days.

The first method may present a challenge for “people who have busy family lives or social commitments.” The second “can have an impact on a person’s sleep, mood and energy level.” And the third has been found by a JAMA Internal Medicine study to be no more effective than a restricted-calorie diet. And any one of them “can be particularly dangerous for people with certain health conditions.”

But it’s all for a good cause. How else are we supposed to lose weight if not for the latest fad diet? It’s a hard job made harder by the purveyors of fast food, fancy coffee, streaming entertainment and not enough sidewalks. Then there are all the excuses about genetics.

Consider those excuses and what science (from Harvard) has to say. “In 1990, obese adults made up less than 15 percent of the population in most U.S. states. By 2010, 36 states had obesity rates of 25 percent or higher, and 12 of those had obesity rates of 30 percent or higher. Today, nationwide, roughly two out of three U.S. adults are overweight or obese (69 percent) and one out of three is obese (36 percent).” 

The USDA index of food consumption shows that the per person intake of calories increased by 22% from 1990 to 2006. We have been eating more (and moving less). What do we expect? 

Consider also the cost, as presented by the Business Insider. “According to a 2010 study, direct obesity related medical expenses in America are $160 billion per year. The estimated indirect costs? $450 billion." Costs include more food, larger clothing, increased energy consumption (fuel and electricity), weight loss programs, and obesity related medical care. Medical problems lead to missed work, decreased productivity and short-term disability expenses, which we all pay for when we buy goods or services from the businesses that have to cover those costs.

This is a problem, but it’s one people can solve on their own a lot faster when they finally stop looking for magic answers. When we hear about the latest diet fad, we should run as if it were a shark attack. And the exercise would be good for the waistline.