How Many Different Diets Have You Read About?

In all probability, the answer to the above question is something along the lines of "too many to count".

Like many people, you may have read endless amounts of detail on:
• Calorie-counting diets
• Low-carbohydrate diets
• Low-fat diets
• Fish diets
• Fruit and veg diets
• Etc.

In fact, you could probably continue the list for several pages because over the last 70 or 80 years, a never-ending supply of new diet regimes has appeared. This was in response to what was, at times in the past, the relatively small number of overweight people. Today though huge numbers of people are struggling to control their weight and therefore the number of diet types has proliferated accordingly.

Progress Over Time

You might be forgiven for thinking that scientific progress over the decades would have revolutionised the approach to losing weight and then controlling it.

To some extent, that may be true because medical science now has a far better understanding of why some people struggle to control their weight than was ever the case say 50 years ago.

Even so, over that time there has been one constant that applies to all diets. That is the broad belief that if you find the right dietary mechanism, it will be able to help all of the people all of the time.

So, the search for the 'magic bullet' diet has usually involved the identification of a new approach and then an attempt to persuade everyone that the new method is somehow better than all those that had gone before it.

Now in the 21st century, the rationale behind the 'one diet concept for all' is being seriously questioned.

New Thinking

It is only in the comparatively recent past that scientists have started to radically revise their ideas about the type of diet that may be the most effective.

No longer are they trying to identify a single approach that will fix everybody's problems but they are now taking into account the genetic, medical, lifestyle and hormonal differences that exist between individuals.

In other words, somebody's genetic makeup and their individual metabolism may make one type of diet far more efficacious for them than another. To put it bluntly, a diet that may be sub-optimal in terms of results for one person, may work very well for another - even if both apply it equally rigorously.

So, there is an increasing number of weight loss programs that are being defined based upon using the most appropriate components from a number of different dieting approaches, specifically those which have been medically identified as being the most likely to be successful for a given individual.

The basic methodology involves analysing various hormonal levels and other markers in the blood then selecting a form of regime that will be the most appropriate based on that person's individual metabolism. That regime might emphasize low-carbohydrate, low-fat or a highly mixed regime but with emphasis on calorie control.

The person's blood levels can then be monitored over time in line with their reducing weight to make any changes that may be required in their diet.

This is a new and radically different approach that is driven by an assessment of the individual's biological function rather than a fervent belief in one type of diet or another. It's gaining in popularity and we can expect to see a lot more emphasis on this approach in future.