Trends go in and out of style. What is popular and important one month can be completely forgotten the next. Diets and weight loss programs are no different. Ever since the Atkins Diet was introduced, there have been a number of diets that supposedly will make you lose weight and feel healthier in no time. The reality is that most of these diets are pseudoscience, meaning that they have no scientific background and are created solely for monetary gain. Since the media is constantly portraying what ‘perfect’ body image should be, weight loss programs and diets are in high demand, and there is a lot of money to be made in this industry. People are so hell-bent on losing weight fast and easily, without working out too strenuously or eating too many veggies, that they will literally believe anything that diet companies sell them.
Take Robert Atkins, for example. He is the founder of the Atkins diet, which was supposedly an amazing diet plan that produced phenomenal results. The truth of the matter is that Atkins had many health issues himself, including heart problems such as heart attacks and heart failure. It’s safe to say that, despite his ‘healthy’ diet, Atkins was not a healthy man, and his diet was not really improving his health, rather it was degrading his health. Nevertheless, Atkins continued to sell his diet to unsuspecting people until the very end.
People need to work out their priorities and realize that diets may make them lose weight, but can bring so many negative side effects to their bodies and minds that it just isn’t worth it anymore. High-protein diets have been all the rage as of late, and they have been somewhat effective in the weight loss department. However, there are also strong links declaring that high-protein diets, much like the Atkins diet, can cause cancer and heart attacks, particularly if the person consumes mainly animal proteins. The facts are undeniable, and the evidence against diets is scientific while the evidence for the majority of diets is pseudoscientific.
With this being said, eating high-protein diets when you’re young can cause the above-mentioned side effects, however eating them when you’re over 65 years old is beneficial to your health. Nowadays, everything has the potential to be bad for you. People simply need to assess what is good for them and make responsible choices about their diet and exercise plans if they want to lose weight. Make a reasonable goal, expend more energy than you ingest, and eat healthy. Losing weight is not about eating less, it’s about eating what’s healthy for you and getting a good balanced diet, as well as having a healthy exercise plan to accompany this diet.