Why diets don’t work

Diets are frequently promoted as the solution to people's issues, promising rapid weight loss, acceptance of one's body, physical health (such as detoxifying), and beauty. But why do we need so many diets if they actually do work? In actuality, the multi-billion dollar dieting industry thrives on making individuals feel self-conscious. Diets soon create a vicious cycle for people, which increases profits for the diet industry.

Search engines on the internet will immediately return up to 200 million results if you type in the phrase "diet."

What is a diet?

Diets often demand that a person adhere to a rigorous eating schedule for a set amount of time.

The duration may be brief (e.g., 8 hours, 1 week) or extensive (e.g., 6 months). Diets specify when, what, and how much food should be consumed. But every diet is unique! And if we tried to abide by every rule outlined in the diets that are currently available, we would soon discover that there is absolutely nothing left to eat! Diets are typically followed by people in order to lose weight, prevent weight gain, or cleanse their bodies. However, in reality, diets have a very low success rate, and long-term persistent dieting can actually cause significant weight gain.

Physical and Psychological Deprivation

The majority of diets suggest way too little food. Our bodies enter a state of semi-starvation when we do not consume enough food from all food groups, which results in physical deprivation. If we do not eat in response to this hunger, the physiological demand to eat increases until it becomes overwhelming. Patients with eating disorders frequently claim that they are not hungry, which is sometimes accurate because the body quits sensing hunger when it is ignored for an extended period of time. Even yet, the body still yearns for and requires sufficient nutrients.

Consequences of Deprivation

A person frequently overeats, eats items they had previously tried to avoid, or loses control to the point of binge eating when they are physically and psychologically pushed to eat. When this occurs, people frequently worry about how their weight will be affected by this eating. Such concerns can cause someone to diet more rigidly than ever in an effort to "make up" for breaching their diet's guidelines, which can lead to a vicious cycle where they end up overeating or bingeing again.

Rigid Rules

Diet terminology frequently uses terms like "good," "bad," "cheat," and "guilt," which can cause people to create severe, rigorous restrictions about what they can and cannot consume and when. Guidelines differ from strict regulations. It can be easier to maintain a healthy diet if we have certain rules regarding what we can consume. As an illustration, a person might have the rule, "I try not to eat too many sugary foods." A rigorous rule, such "I must never eat any sugar," is distinct since it is absolute and 'all or nothing' in nature. Our acts can only be "right" or "wrong" since the rule is either followed or broken; thus, we judge our own performance as either "successful" or "failure."

This is an issue because if we strive to adhere to strict standards, psychological and physical urges to eat will increase until we eventually are unable to resist "breaking" these rules in some way.

People will consequently believe that they "failed" their diet, which can worsen negative emotions and low self-esteem. Additionally, after breaking a diet rule, a person might think, "I've blown it now, I might as well eat the whole bag," or "I've ruined today, I'll start again tomorrow," which can cause them to progress from a minor eating "slip" to overeating or a binge eating episode, re-enforcing the cycle of dieting.

Escaping the vicious cycle of dieting

The likelihood of binge eating or overeating as a result of physical and psychological deprivation increases with dieting behaviour. We must eat frequently throughout the day and consume enough of each food type to lower this risk (see our handouts, Regular Eating for Recovery and Normal Eating versus Disordered Eating). A person's metabolism can actually slow down due to undereating and irregular eating, which causes the body to burn dietary energy more slowly and store it as fat as a means of energy conservation. In addition, we need to shift away from any stringent or rigorous regulations regarding when, what, and how much to eat in favour of more lenient recommendations.

Daily consumption of foods from all food groups, including "occasional foods" like ice cream and chocolates, is part of a normal healthy diet. Keep in mind that dieting just serves to perpetuate the disordered eating cycle!

If you’d like to discuss any elements of the above article or need some help with your own healthy balanced approach to eating, please do get in touch.