Medical Reviewed by Shanmukha Priya, M.Phil and Ph.D. in Food Science and Nutrition
Obesity is a common health problem today; but do you know what is even worse? It is choosing the right types of diet for weight loss.
With millions of blogs and websites encouraging you to choose this diet or that diet, what do you think is the best for you? Who do you think decides which is the best type of diet for you?
Introduction
Obesity is evidently a major problem in the current period. Even with incredible advances in the medical industry, obesity hasn’t gone down for even 1 percent.
Major diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure and many such chronic issues is a gift from obesity to younger and older generations today.
With million problems comes billion solutions. Weight loss is more of a business than a solution today. Everyday you come across these gimmicks about weight loss and the right type of diets. In fact, there are a lot of people who even fall for them.
It is true that with days the list of different diets to lose weight are increasing rapidly. And so are the fast food centres.
With this manipulative environment, how can one choose the right type of diet and find the best results on them?
It has become hard to figure out the best approach one can go with regard to diet. Especially as a long term solution.
Today, in this article we bring to you a list of 7 different types of diet that are mainly focused on weight loss and healthy living.
Types of Diet
1. Vegan Diet
Lately, one of the most popular diets that you will come across is vegan diet. As the name says it all, it is a type of vegetarian diet.
In fact, it is an extreme level of vegetarian diet. Not just fish and meat, all the animal products like milk and milk products, and eggs are also excluded in this diet.
Generally, this particular diet is followed for ethical or environmental reasons. It is intended towards restraining animal exploitation or cruelty and not just for health reasons. As right the reason sounds, following this sort of diet, especially for non-vegetarians is a hard task.
As said before, following a vegan diet not only excludes fish and meat but also animal products like milk, egg, honey, casein, whey etc. This in fact is not even a diet, more like change in the way of life and philosophy.
If you are willing to follow this diet, then your staple foods are mostly plant based.
For example: fruits, vegetables, leafy greens, seeds, nuts, legumes, whole grains etc. Since you are excluded from having meat, for protein and vitamin content you need to find alternative products.
Vegan diet not only benefits you in losing weight but also helps your body fight other health conditions. Conditions like diabetes, heart related issues, digestion problems etc can be managed with this particular diet. [1]
Also Read: 7 Main Reasons Why Vegan Diet is Healthy
2. Ketogenic Diet
One of the crash diets for rapid weight loss is low-carbohydrate and high-fat keto diet. A ketogenic diet comprises low-carbohydrates, moderate-proteins and high-fat divided in certain ratios in the meal.
Ketogenic diet is one of the types of diet that is majorly focussed on weight loss. It is also known to manage medical conditions like epilepsy.
This diet is one of the ways to lose weight rapidly in a few months. It is also recommended for people fighting acne.
Although most effective in terms of losing weight, keto diet cannot be a long term plan. Especially, it is not the right way for healthy living which is a sustainable way for losing weight.
Before you go ahead with this particular diet, it is necessary that you consult your doctor and nutritionist. This is an extreme type of diet which requires strict vigilance.[2]
Also Read: Keto Diet: Not An Ideal Diet For Good Health
3. Mediterranean Diet
One of the topmost in the list of different diets to lose weight is Mediterranean diet. This diet here includes consumption of foods that are available in your region. Mostly plant based but does not completely eliminate meat.
Mediterranean diet also fosters the importance of physical activity and meditation. This diet enables you to replace junk foods with alternative options as per your particular cravings.
As it promotes healthy eating, it becomes inexpensive and also content as you tend to consume the right amount of food.
For a long term healthy living, this can be your go to diet. It is highly beneficial for the ones suffering from mental health like depression and anxiety.
It is also recommended as it is beneficial in reducing the risks of Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. As a result of healthy eating, your longevity also increases.
With facts, comes the myths. One such myth about Mediterranean diet is that it is expensive. Well! This is definitely untrue. Because, opting for maximum plant based food and especially regional food is always cost effective.
Another such myth is that Mediterranean diet is mostly just food based. As clearly mentioned above, this particular diet also promotes the importance of physical activity and mental health.[3]
Also Read: Why Mediterranean Diet Is One Of The Healthiest In The World
4. Raw Food Diet
Raw Food Diet is a diet regime which predominantly includes consumption of uncooked or raw foods in your daily meals. It does not include anything that is processed.
It is ideally recommended to consume plant based foods in this diet. The maximum number of people following this particular diet are generally vegan.
Raw food diet majorly includes vegetables, legumes and fruits. By nature, this diet includes less trans fats and avoids foods that are pasteurized or processed with additives. Raw food diet is less calorific and hence one of the best for rapid weight loss.
Raw food diet helps in managing blood sugar levels, reduces the risks of heart disease, cancer, diabetes and also improves your skin health.
In this type of weight loss diet, since no cooking is allowed, you can go for sprouting of seeds or grains. Juicing of veggies and fruits is also a great approach. Dried fruits that are dehydrated and even blending your foods can be a better way to go with this diet.
Raw food diet may sound easy in terms of food preparation time. But, it is one of the difficult diets in terms of overcoming the cravings and the need for consuming tasty food.
This particular diet is hard to follow for a long term. It can be beneficial for people who want to lose weight quickly.[4]
5. Paleo Diet
In the list of different diets to lose weight, paleo diet is the most ancient one. It is hardly in human practice currently. Paleo Diet is from an era wherein eating foods that came from hunting was the right way of life.
It is believed that with time, the modern practice of eating food has changed so much that the body is unable to adapt to the current food chain.
Paleo diet includes foods such as fish, meat, eggs, vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts, spices etc. Foods that have to be completely avoided in this diet are sugary foods, processed foods, soft drinks, dairy products, grains, legumes, and salt.
Just like Mediterranean diet, the paleo diet also aims at healthy eating for weight loss. Its benefits revolve around weight loss, managing diabetes, heart health and also better appetite management.[5]
Also Read: Paleo Diet for Weight Loss|Work for Indians?
6. Low-Carb Diet
As the name gives it all away, low-carb diet limits the amount of carbohydrates consumption. It mainly encourages high protein and fat in foods. The primary motive of Low-Carb diet is losing weight.
This type of diet may also come with health benefits like reducing risks of diabetes and metabolic syndrome. Today, there are multiple alternatives for low-carb food products that may aid you to be consistent with the diet.
Generally, carbohydrates are the macronutrients that provide calories in a diet. Certain fruits, veggies, grains, seeds etc are a natural source of carbohydrates. The limit in consumption of these foods is essential in this type of weight loss diet.
Many food manufacturers add refined carbohydrates like sugar and white flour in processed foods. These foods have to be consumed in limit or even avoided.
Low-carb diets not just help lose weight but also find its place in benefiting your health by reducing the risks of heart related issues.[6]
Also Read: 5 Great Tips for Following the Low Carb Diet
7. Intermittent Fasting
Don’t go by its name. It is definitely not a starving diet! Intermittent fasting diet involves fasting for some period of time in a day.
For example, the time between your dinner and breakfast. You generally do not consume anything between that period and hence that is a fasting.
Performing fasting for some period in a day, helps in digestion of food. It also helps burn a lot more calories when compared to that of other diets. This diet has to be done starting with fasting for a lesser duration. Going overboard at the very first time might harm your health.
How do you think intermittent fasting works? So, for starters, let’s say you get all your energy from the food consumed between morning 9 to evening 6. After 6 in the evening you do not eat anything until the next day 9 in the morning.
The food you consume from 9-6 provides you with energy to spend the next 15 hours. Once all that energy is spent, to stay active for the rest of the time, your body utilizes the energy from the fat stored in your body. Hence results in weight loss.
With a number of diets in the list of different diets to lose weight, there are some which not only concentrate on losing weight but also on your health. It is important to know and understand what works best for you.[7]
Also Read: All What You Should Know About Intermittent Fasting
How to Decide Which is the Best Type of Diet For Weight Loss?
When it comes to weight loss, you have a lot of advice and information coming around. May it be from millions of websites, blogs or even magazines and books. But do not fall for all that comes your way. Most of these diets are false approved and are not a long term solution.
We understand your confusions and concerns. But the question is, do you understand that? Weight loss is an art. It requires strict vigilance and collective support from your surroundings. Most importantly, you need to understand your own body.
What you like/dislike? What makes you feel full? And many such questions have to be answered.
Here is what you can do for starters:
- Consult a nutritionist: First and foremost, involve your nutritionist in all your discussions and researches. They can give you proper guidance on what is right for you and what is not.
- Find alternatives: Consider your needs. Do not restrict yourself from having certain food that is your favorite. Instead, find an alternative. Restricting or forcing yourself could worsen mentally causing more harm to your body.
- Affordable: Always look at how much you can afford them financially. Looking at your pockets when it comes to health is wrong, they say. But it is important to understand that not everyone is in place to afford everything. Make your budget beforehand.
- Go for locally available and seasonal foods: Make sure to try diets that go with your locally available foods. This way you are not importing anything from outside which saves you from unwanted expense. Also, you are already aware of these foods around you everyday.
- Physical Activity: Always include physical activity with your diet. It is important to understand that diet alone cannot help you lose weight or live healthy. Balance in diet and exercise is utmost important.
- Supplements: Overweight could be the result of deficiency of certain nutrients . Addition of supplements checking with your nutritionist will support your weight loss journey along with the diet.
- Do not stress: Do not go overboard. Dieting is tricky! If you follow a diet so much so that, if found cheated you might end up feeling guilty. This leads to unwanted stress. So, it is important to take it lite and also enjoy what you like (or find better alternatives).
Facts and myths are always heard and said about. But the man who finds the reason and explanation behind it, makes the best of life.[8]
Conclusion
While we have given 7 types of diets, let us also remind you that these are just a few of the many fishes in the ocean of diets. At the end, what is best for you is to be decided by none other than yourself.
Always remember, a man is his own best friend and so is his adviser. Decide what is important to you and discuss with the ones who know you. Patience is a key to losing weight and in general to all your problems.
At Possible, we provide you with FREE diet consultation! If you have any confusion on what type of diet best suits or any kind of doubts and questions regarding diets for weight loss, we are just one click away. You have got us!
Frequently Asked Questions
Let’s go through some frequently asked questions from below:
Q. Which type of diet is best for weight loss?
A. With so many weight loss diets available just a few clicks away, it is natural to be confused. But weight loss does not require a fancy and tasteless diet. In fact, you can eat your favourite food while being on a weight loss diet. The crux of a healthy diet lies in whether it has enough nutrients to fill your body’s needs. Possible’s weight loss formula focuses on nutrition intake, that can be broken down into 50% vegetables, 25% carbohydrate, 25% protein with 3 litres of water everyday.
Q.Which diet burns fat the fastest?
A. One of the fastest ways to burn fat is through a detox diet as it cuts out gluten, sugar, or any other high-fat content food and encourages more water intake, and consumption of unprocessed gluten-free grains, fresh herbs and vegetables etc to activate the fat-burning hormones.
Q. What diet is best for belly fat loss?
A. The belly fat phase of Possible’s weight loss program is especially focused on reducing belly fat by detoxifying the body with the help of a clean detox diet and Possible’s natural detoxifiers like Trudrink, Hibiscus Tea, Triphala, TruGreen, Apple Cider Vinegar, and homemade drinks with natural herbs.
Q. What foods burn fat while sleeping?
A. Although it sounds clickbaity, the fact is that your body constantly burns calories, even when you’re asleep. Some foods help the body to carry out all essential and metabolic functions which require calorie burning. Following are a few such foods:
- Chocolate milk
- Banana
- Yoghurt
- Paneer
- Avocados
- Oats
- Legumes
- Lemon
- Green tea
- Flaxseeds
Q. What drinks burn fat?
A. Here are some of Possible’s natural fat-burning drinks without the side effects:
- Trudrink
- Amla drink
- Apple cider vinegar
- Aloe vera Garcinia drink
- Noni Kokum drink