There are hundreds of different diets and eating regimes that folk start getting into because a pal has had success on it, or they see something on social media that strikes them as relevant to their needs. It’s all so different from a few years ago when a diet literally meant cutting out half the food we ate and missing the cakes, bread and sweet stuff. When you look at the fundamental reasons for eating, the latter would make sense for any generation, but it doesn’t create a lot of interest or sell products for the millions of online influencers out there. Having checked some of the mainstream diet and lifestyle sites on the major video channel, the one that makes most sense seems to be the low carb system. Keeping the carbohydrate intake as low as possible ensures the body doesn’t store unused bulk – the body goes into a state of ketosis, which is effectively when it starts using up fat built up in the body, naturally. It’s obviously more invlved than that but the essential point is that careful observation of the main rules allows the body to function on far less foods with insulin levels being kept in check and not spiking, thus creating a calm regular pattern of eating certain foods and building in fasting that ensures the body kicks in and uses up the stores fats as it goes, without storing new suppkies.
One major change that might affect someone’s ability to stick to the regime is havng to lose half the store cupboard and quite a few fruits and vegetables which contain huge amounts of carbohydrates and/or calories. Some of the most popular foods have to be put in the ‘ignore’ box i.e. potatoes, especially those wonderful waxy ones that cook so well; yorkshire pudding; all cake and biscuits; all desserts except a selection of berries covered with strained greek yogurt. There’s no doubt that although it seems limited, the low carb sstem does generally produce startling results in those candidates who stick to the rules and don’t ‘cheat’.