How Not to Diet

by Michael Greger

In fact, if anything, the level of physical activity over the last few decades has gone up slightly in both Europe and North America, rather than declined.45 Ironically, this bump may be a result of the extra energy it takes to haul around our heavier bodies, making changes in energy expenditure a consequence of the obesity problem rather than the cause.

People don’t tend to lust for lettuce. We have a natural, inborn preference for sweet, starchy, fatty foods, because that’s where the calories are concentrated.

If you study the fruit and vegetable preferences of four- and five-year-old children, what they like correlates with calorie density. They prefer bananas over berries and carrots over cucumbers. Isn’t that just a preference for sweetness? No, they also prefer potatoes over peaches and green beans over melon,92 just like monkeys prefer avocados over bananas.93 We appear to have an inborn drive to maximize calories per mouthful.

Can you think of a single major industry that would benefit from people eating less junk? “Certainly not the agriculture, food product, grocery, restaurant, diet, or drug industries,” emeritus professor Marion Nestle wrote in a Science editorial when she was chair of nutrition at New York University. “All flourish when people eat more, and all employ armies of lobbyists to discourage governments from doing anything” about it.262

There is a diet that has been shown to reverse diabetic eye disease: Dr. Kempner’s rice and fruit diet.

One of the most important medical discoveries in recent years was the realization that inflammation appears to play a role in many of our chronic diseases, including at least eight of our top ten leading causes of death.

Broadly speaking, components of processed foods and animal products, such as saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol, were found to be pro-inflammatory, while constituents of whole plant foods, such as fiber and phytonutrients, were strongly anti-inflammatory.

Researchers put people on a high-fat, ketogenic diet and confirmed a blunting of cognition, including impaired reaction times and attention, within seven days.

In the Dietary Inflammatory Index, the single most anti-inflammatory food is the spice turmeric, followed by ginger and garlic, and the most anti-inflammatory beverage is green or black tea.

One clue that pollutants may be playing some role is that our pets are also getting fatter.1044

Turns out our gut can be sedentary too. But if you eat lots of fiber-rich foods, your gut could be exercising all night long while you sleep.

Critics suggested the adoption of the Dietary Goals would be costly for taxpayers too. Because of more expensive groceries? No. Because “health care expenditures increase if the lifespan is prolonged.”

Remarkably, the cost of packaging may outweigh the cost of ingredients in a cereal box by more than ten to one.

The benefits of plant-based eating need not be all or nothing, though. Those highly adherent to a Mediterranean diet filled with fruits, vegetables, and beans, while averaging no meat (including fish), eggs,2100 or dairy on a day-to-day basis, had comparable short-chain fatty acid levels to vegans, even though the Mediterranean diet adherents weren’t completely plant-based all the time.

There is a natural circadian rhythm to hunger that peaks at about 8:00 p.m. and drops to its lowest level at around 8:00 a.m.

Researchers have calculated an average difference of 222 calories per day between caloric intake in the fall versus spring, and this isn’t just because it’s colder, since we eat more in the fall than the winter.2928 It appears we are just genetically programmed to prep for the deprivation of winter that no longer comes.

For significant weight loss, however, the committee recommends closer to a minimum of 450 minutes a week, or more than an hour a day. Note that these times are for moderate-intensity activity, such as walking. For vigorous activity like running or rapid cycling, exercise duration can be cut by more than half.

But ethical issues? We’re just talking about feeding people some ginger. Maybe they think it would be unethical to deprive the people in the control group of ginger yumminess.