E' il momento dei buoni propositi del 2012 e con questi di nuove diete. Non potevo non postare uno degli ultimi articoli di Dr Katz sul report delle diete migliori.
Preventive Medicine
Column
January
6, 2012
Chewing
on the Best Diets
As you may
know, US News & World Report released a list of “best diets” (http://health.usnews.com/best-diet)
to coincide with the annual bumper crop of weight loss resolutions as the New
Year begins. I was privileged to
be one of the 22 judges.
I get the sense we agreed more than we
disagreed, and am fairly comfortable with most of the outcomes. We based our judgments of each of 25
diets in 7 different categories on published papers, on-line materials, and
personal clinical experience.
The
results were an endorsement of balanced, sensible approaches to weight
control. No diet based on a
gimmick, or on wild distortions of a healthful dietary pattern scored
well. Those diets that did score
well were generally conducive both to losing weight, and finding health. Big winners included Weight Watches, which
came in first for both weight loss and ease; and DASH, a diet developed at the
NIH for blood pressure control and since shown to confer other health
benefits. The Mediterranean diet,
and the low-fat, plant-based diet developed by my friend Dean Ornish, placed
highly as well.
However,
different diets did come in first for health, weight loss, diabetes, and heart
disease- and personally, I find that a bit silly. Weight loss, by healthy
means, is among the most important ways of reducing risk for diabetes and heart
disease. A diet that reduces
diabetes risk reduces heart disease risk.
A diet that reduces risk of heart disease and/or diabetes, two of the
leading public health perils of our time, is obviously good for health. A diet cannot be good for health unless
it reduces the risk of heart disease and diabetes.
I trust you see where this logic leads. A good diet is a good diet, period.
But is there a ‘best’ diet?
I have weighed in on that topic (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/david-katz-md/best-diets_b_950672.html),
and basically said- no. We have abundant evidence to support a basic theme of
healthful eating, and almost none to say which of the several reasonable
contenders (Asian, vegan, Mediterranean, etc.) is truly best.
That’s good, because it means we do have an
evidence-based theme of healthful eating- conducive to weight control- and
variations on that theme allowing for customization and the indulgence of your
personal preferences and priorities.
But let’s be clear, there IS a theme- and though
you are the boss, you abandon the theme at your potential peril. The fundamentals of the theme were
pithily captured by Michael Pollan with: “eat food, not too much, mostly
plants.”
Eating food means real food. Pronounceable food. If it glows in the dark, you probably
shouldn’t eat it. The longer the
shelf life of the product, the shorter the shelf life of the person eating the
product.
“Not too much” might seem like hard advice to
take, but quality control provides for quantity control. Many processed foods are of the
“betcha’ can’t eat just one” variety.
Wholesome foods- an apple, for instance- are of the “betcha’ won’t eat
than one” variety. In fact, I’ve
recently learned of a Mom who lost 115 lbs due almost entirely to use of the
NuVal (www.nuval.com) system in her
supermarket, and simply trading up to
more nutritious choices in each aisle. By addressing quality, quantity and weight mostly took care
of themselves.
Mostly plants is pretty straight-forward. An emphasis on plant foods is evident
in almost diets associated with both weight control and health, and is, into
the bargain, important for the health of the planet.
I
am a proponent of Weight Watchers; their programming clearly works for weight loss,
is sensibly aligned with healthful eating, and provides the structural support
many people need. I believe,
however, we can do even better- building skill power systematically to
facilitate lifelong health and weight control, while addressing the needs of
all family members at once. A program I have helped develop, Weigh Forward, is an
example. I also see opportunities
for customizing variations on the theme of weight control based on genetic
testing.
As
we size up best diets at the start of a new year, we can celebrate the winners-
but note that too many of us are still losing. A majority of adults in the US are overweight or obese. Our best efforts to date are not yet
good enough.
What
would truly be best is modifying the world- so that eating well and being
active simply prevailed. While
waiting for that change- or better, while working for it- the best diet is
bounded by considerations of not just losing weight, but finding health; not
just you, but your family; not just now, but lifelong. Stay within the bounds of the theme, and
shop the variations to find your best way forward in the New Year.
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