Diets

Encyclopedia of Alternative Medicine by David Helwig

Humans may alter their usual eating habits for many reasons, including weight loss, disease prevention or treatment, removing toxins from the body, or to achieve a general improvement in physical and mental health. Others adopt special diets for religious reasons. In the case of some vegetarians and vegans, dietary changes are made out of ethical concerns for the rights of animals.

The practice of altering diet for special reasons has existed since antiquity. For example, Judaism has included numerous dietary restrictions for thousands of years. One ancient Jewish sect, the Essenes, is said to have developed a primitive detoxification diet aimed at preparing the bodies, minds, and spirits of its members for the coming of a "messiah" who would deliver them from their Roman captors. Preventative and therapeutic diets became quite popular during the late twentieth century. Books promoting the latest dietary plan continue to make the bestseller lists, although not all of the information given is considered authoritative.

People who are moderately to severely overweight can derive substantial health benefits from a weight-loss diet. A weight reduction of just 10 to 20 pounds can result in reduced cholesterol levels and lower blood pressure. Weight-related health problems include heart disease , diabetes, high blood pressure, and high levels of blood sugar and cholesterol.

In individuals who are not overweight, dietary changes may also be useful in the prevention or treatment of a range of ailments including acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), cancer, osteoporosis, inflammatory bowel disease , chronic pulmonary disease, renal disease, Parkinson's disease , seizure disorders, and food allergies and intolerances.

The idea of a healthful diet is to provide all of the calories and nutrients needed by the body for optimal performance, at the same time ensuring that neither nutritional deficiencies nor excesses occur. Diet plans that claim to accomplish those objectives are so numerous they are virtually uncountable. These diets employ a variety of approaches, including the following:

• Fixed-menu: Offers little choice to the dieter. Specifies exactly which foods will be consumed. Easy to follow, but may be considered "boring" to some dieters.
• Formula: Replaces some or all meals with a nutritionally balanced liquid formula or powder.
• Exchange-type: Allows the dieter to choose between selected foods from each food group.
• Flexible: Doesn't concern itself with the overall diet, simply with one aspect such as fat or energy.

Diets may also be classified according to the types of foods they allow. For example, an omnivorous diet consists of both animal and plant foods, whereas a lacto-ovo-vegetarian diet permits no animal flesh, but does include eggs, milk, and dairy products. A vegan diet is a stricter form of vegetarianism in which eggs, cheese, and other milk products are prohibited.

A third way of classifying diets is according to their purpose: religious, weight-loss, detoxification, lifestyle-related, or aimed at prevention or treatment of a specific disease.

Dieters should be cautious about plans that severely restrict the size of food portions, or that eliminate entire food groups from the diet. It is highly probable that they will become discouraged and drop out of such programs. The best diet is one that can be maintained indefinitely without ill effects, that offers sufficient variety and balance to provide everything needed for good health, and that is considerate of personal food preferences.

Low-fat diets are not recommended for children under the age of two. Young children need extra fat to maintain their active, growing bodies. Fat intake may be gradually reduced between the ages of two and five, after which it should be limited to a maximum of 30% of total calories through adulthood. Saturated fat should be restricted to no more than 10% of total calories.

Weight-loss dieters should be wary of the "yo-yo" effect that occurs when numerous attempts are made to reduce weight using high-risk, quick-fix diets. This continued "cycling" between weight loss and weight gain can slow the basal metabolic rate and can sometimes lead to eating disorders. The dieter may become discouraged and frustrated by this success/failure cycle. The end result of "yo-yo" dieting is that it becomes more difficult to maintain a healthy weight.

Caution should also be exercised about weight-loss diets that require continued purchases of special prepackaged foods. Not only do these tend to be costly and over-processed, they may also prevent dieters from learning the food-selection and preparation skills essential to maintenance of weight loss. Further, dieters should consider whether they want to carry these special foods to work, restaurants, or homes of friends.

Concern has been expressed about weight-loss diet plans that do not include exercise, considered essential to long-term weight management. Some diets and supplements may be inadvisable for patients with special conditions or situations.