Is weight loss always healthy?

The latest diet might sound like it’s found the secret, and may have worked great for your friend.  But there have been all kinds of ‘successful’ diets over the years that have fallen out of favour. 

Heard of the cabbage soup diet, the tapeworm diet, or the baby food diet?  They all gained popularity and sold books because people lost weight on them.   

But fast forward in time, and these diets have fallen by the wayside. Why? Because all the weight, plus a bit more, went back on.  No one wants to live on cabbage soup for the rest of their lives, right? And therein lies the secret. The most important part isn’t losing excess weight but keeping it off. 

Keeping weight off means making lifestyle changes you can stick with for life, not just the 12 weeks of the diet. The quick fix is enticing, but it creates greater problems long term.  So if your friend says how great their diet is and how much weight they’ve lost, don’t try it unless you’re willing to make permanent changes.  That also means that, unless you’re happy to die early, it should be a diet that supports good health.

Yes, they can help people lose weight in the short term, but over a couple of years they don’t do any better than other diets they’ve been compared to. Longer than that, and there just isn’t any good data to go on.

Compare that to the Mediterranean dietary pattern (plenty of plant-based foods including lots of vegetables, legumes, fruit and nuts and some olive oil, whole grains, fish, and herbs and spices).

Missed Delvina Gorton's previous post on fat? Read it here.

There’s good evidence this diet can work for weight loss, but there’s also a wealth of data that says it promotes a long and healthy life. If you’re looking for a healthy way of eating to model your diet on, the Mediterranean diet is a great place to start.  

So for weight loss, and healthy eating in general, try to keep your focus on your whole diet and don’t get too hung up on one particular part of it or any one nutrient. Think long term and steer clear of quick fixes.

Delvina Gorton is a registered dietitian and nutritionist who specialises in population and heart health. She has worked in public health and in the healthcare system, and is the National Nutrition Advisor for the New Zealand Heart Foundation. Delvina believes that enjoying healthy, nutritious food can greatly benefit people’s quality of life and wellbeing.