There are so many diets out there that many people become confused and it really is no surprise. Too many choices can make our heads spin, and cause us to be indecisive.
If you don’t know where to start, don’t worry we can help. Here are the most trendy diets out there today, and the pros and cons of each.
1. The Ketogenic Diet
The ketogenic or keto diet is one that is designed around getting your body in to a state of ketosis. Ketosis is the process where your body switches from carbohydrates or glucose as an energy source and switches to fats and ketones.
The ketogenic diets main purpose is to lose fat, and it is very effective in doing so. Your body only has a limited store of glucose, and once you burn through that your body switches to fat and the pounds melt off!
The biggest pros to this diet are the weight loss and the lower cholesterol and triglyceride levels that come along with it. This means a healthier cardiovascular health and better circulation as well.
The biggest negative when it comes to the keto diet is getting used to it. The keto diet relies mainly on fats as an energy source, and about 70-75% of the calories you get from your food should come from fats.
This huge switch from carbohydrates to fats is difficult for people to get by and as a result mainly people fail to keep up with this diet.
2. The Paleo Diet
The concept behind the paleo diet is to take us back to our roots and to eat what our ancient ancestors ate because that is what is natural. The paleo diet is high in protein and fat, but you don’t have to eliminate carbs here like you would in the keto diet.
The main sources of food for the paleo diet is meat, preferably organic meats like grass fed beef, poultry, pork, fish and organ meat.
People who are really serious about this diet don’t drink milk or consume any products made from milk either. The reasoning for this is that our ancestors didn’t drink milk after infancy or eat cheese millions of years ago, so neither should we.
As far as carbohydrates are concerned, the paleo diet is restricted to fruits, vegetables and root tubers like your potatoes. Whole grains, beans and legumes are not allowed because they are considered to be processed.
Most of the fat in the paleo diet comes from the meat as well as nuts, seeds and natural oils like oil, butter and coconut.
The most difficult aspect to the paleo diet is the limited amount of carbs you will be eating each day, which usually only amounts to 300 or so calories. If you are training heavy at all doing so on the paleo diet is extremely difficult when it comes to maintaining energy levels.
3. Intermittent Fasting Diet
The intermittent fasting diet uses the idea of fasting for a set amount of time, at least 10 hours at a time. Fasting this way is a powerful method in losing fat in that it increases the body’s ability to break down fat which reduces body weight and increases weight loss.
Fasting can help to reduce bad cholesterol, decrease body fat and reduces stress.
The negative aspect to intermittent fasting is that if the individual cannot control their hunger and urges to eat, it could lead to binging. Intermittent fasting is also not great when you are on a weight training program looking to gain muscle, as this diet will put you at a protein deficit.
4. Whole 30 Diet
The idea behind the Whole 30 Diet is to eat whole foods for 30 days while eliminating things like processed sugar, grains, dairy, alcohol and legumes as well.
The diet consists of organic meats, seafood, eggs, vegetables, fruit, nuts and seed. Avoid foods with preservatives and artificial ingredients, basically stay away from anything with ingredients you can’t pronounce.
The benefit to this diet is that you will be eating healthy nutritious foods that will help fight off against diseases like obesity, diabetes, and strokes.
The negatives to this diet is that after 30 days there is no plan, so it isn’t exactly something you can use for the long term. This is basically a really healthy version of your typical 30 day challenge.
