Why Dieting Often Does More Harm Than Good

[Adina P]

Even if you lose weight and keep it off for SEVEN years, your brain is STILL going to be trying to make you regain it. 

http://www.ted.com/talks/sandra_aamodt_why_dieting_doesn_t_usually_...

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Okay, I may be a little jaded, and I should watch the video before commenting, but I feel like I already know what she's going to say. I guess it depends on your definition of "diet". There are some people who seem to feel that any type of control over what or how much you eat is a "diet", i.e. if I would really like to eat a gallon of Haagen Daz at one sitting but "restrict" myself to three scoops, I am "dieting" and using "will power", and "depriving" myself, and that is a bad thing. Obviously, I disagree. 

I could easily eat a whole family size bag of Lays potato chips in one sitting...every night. And because they taste delicious to me. Because they give me extreme pleasure. Not because I am genetically programmed to eat 4000 calories in one sitting, or because of any other biological need. I eat them way past the point of satisfaction. So I rarely have them in the house, and when I do, I take a small portion and then will myself not to take more. Yes, I use willpower not to oversnack on chips, even though I want to.  Is that a "diet"? Am I "depriving" myself? Some of these people seem to be saying that everyone should eat anything that tastes good any time they want to, and as much as they want to, and that not to do so is somehow harmful.

I know, I should really watch the video before commenting. 

BUT....

"Even if you lose weight and keep it off for SEVEN years, your brain is STILL going to be trying to make you regain it."

So what???????

You can say the same thing about smoking. "Even if you quit smoking and don't touch a cigarette for 7 years, your brain is STILL going to be trying to make you smoke again."

I know that to be true. People crave cigarettes years after they quit smoking. The smell of someone else's smoke is intoxicating and very, very tempting.

Does that mean people shouldn't even try to quit?

[Adina P]

You present a false dichotomy.  It is not either or.  It is not either you are meticulous and count calories or limit yourself to a certain portion... OR ... binge and eat boatloads of food all the time.  I LOVE ice cream and eat more than people on a diet would, but I certainly would NOT want to eat a whole half gallon.  Ever.  But if I feel guilt over it, if I have a fear I will overdo it and that I am untrustworthy with ice cream...OUT goes my ability to internally regulate and actually savor it and it becomes a binge or at least because it's so 'special' and I'm so 'powerless'. 

"Will power" from everything I've read is a bit of a myth.  Will power takes enough brain power it can't be counted on when motivation is low, when stress is high, when other things are on the mind.  There are sooo many people out there who are highly motivated, very successful, have great self-control in many areas of life.  But food is a different beast and eating, depending on how they grew up, their diet history, their relationship with food, etc...is hardly something they can 'will power' into submission.

Research and my experience demonstrate that restriction leads to overdoing it later.  Bypassing natural hunger and satiety signals and the natural inclination to variety by dieting (external restriction) only ruins ones ability to use those natural physiological signals.  You get sick of dieting and restriction and foods you 'shouldn't' have and guilt and then overdo it.  Grazing, coping with difficult emotions by using food, ignoring appetite and hunger -- all of these can be worked on without following some external portion control/diet/restrictive way of eating.  And yup, it might not make someone thin or have a 6 pack, but why does that matter?  Health is about habits: relationship habits, taking care of yourself nutritionally, getting enough sleep, keeping active, doing fun things, etc. 

Plus, Karen, you're quite the outlier when it comes to how you eat.  The vast majority of people just don't work like you do.

Eating is a biological need and drive.  Smoking is not.  It's not like smoking in that smokers, once they quit, don't 'dabble' in it if they have quit.  You can more/less avoid being around smokers, but food?  It's always there.  Humans still have to 'dabble' in eating no matter what.  Smoking is pretty black/white and demonstrably harmful.  Eating is not wholly bad.  It is a necessity.  No doubt smokers may forever be tempted by cigarettes or have a craving for them, but I don't buy the food as addiction model so it is hard to compare the two.  So I think because of these differences, years of the brain working to get one back to a higher weight -- with 90% and more people regaining their loss and then some...well to me it validates the idea of saying "screw it" to diets and just being pragmatic: have regular meals, choose food that you enjoy, pay attention, stop when you are full and repeat at the next meal.  Easier to stop when you are full if you expect to eat food you love regularly than when that food you love only comes along now and then.  For most people restriction of something you NEED and think you're untrustworthy around...it leads to preoccupation.  At the extreme, girls with anorexia nervosa think about food all the time.  I know when I was most preoccupied with perfecting my diet in college I gained the most weight.  The more I tried to get it just right and perfect, the more I was obsessed with it and the more out of control I got.  It is a vicious cycle for most people.  When people believe they are untrustworthy eating certain 'forbidden foods' it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.  That forbidden food gains power. 

Fore me it's simple.  Dieting doesn't work. It has been around in many forms for eons and yet...no major thinness of the population.  But physical activity, healthy relationships, sleep, good food (taste, enjoyment and nutrition) all work toward overall health.  So focusing on weight is useless for the most part and tends to backfire for most people. 

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

It's not a diet per se but I've started a gluten free trial at my doctor's recommendation and I have to say I am miserable. No energy at all but my gut feels better (maybe it's all in my head).  Apparently I'm in detox. Is it really true that people get 'addicted' to certain foods like wheat, gluten, sugar, just like it's a drug? Maybe that's why we can't seem to use 'will power' because it is beyond us. There should be a rehab program for this stuff lol.

[Adina P]

I don't believe in food addiction.  I think the research on food addiction fails to address the effect of repeated restriction and the effects of dieting.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I think a lot of this stuffi is nonsense too. Right now I have the grandmother I of all colds and I fear that if I listened to this lady I would throw my iPad at something. But one of these days I will hear what she has to say. I am a believer in set points and I do think the body tries to maintain certain weights.

[Adina P]

F, Wait, the concept of "food addiction" is nonsense or the concept of giving up dieting is nonsense?

[F, Calla & Luca]

I was referring to food addiction. I do think we can train ourselves to eat better and eat more reasonable portions whatever you want to call it. If you continue that you maintain your weight but of course if you go back to former habits of too much food consumption you gain weight back.

[Kyoko]

Few thoughts about the food addiction....

1) One of my legally blind client told me that she thinks she over eats because she has no enjoyment. She was not born blind so blindness is harder on her. She said that she can no longer watch TV, get on the computer, etc... and lost enjoyment in her life. And the food is the only thing she enjoys.... To think about this, it makes sense to me. Because the enjoyment produce dopamine which makes you feel good. So if eating is your source of enjoyment which produce dopamine, people can become addicted to food  seeking dopamine production..?

2) In my world, they say that sugar, salt and fat are addictive, creating food addiction, like seen in "Supersize me". They say fast food restaurants are successful because most of their menu contains sugar, salt and /or fat...?

[Adina P]

Eating is a source of pleasure and it makes sense that people who are otherwise pleasure-deprived would find solace in eating.  Without finding something else to give her pleasure and meaning, taking away her comfort-eating would be cruel and wouldn't work for 'weight loss' or 'health' because her stopping wouldn't last long.  Eating produces dopamine I think regardless of whether it is the only thing that produces it.  But if that is the only thing, then it is easy to continue eating beyond fullness or without hunger simply for getting the ONLY pleasure left. I don't consider that 'addiction' though.  I think fast food is successful because it is A) Fast, convenient, easily accessible, B) It is relatively 'cheap', C) It is tasty to a wide variety of eaters.  We live in a 'fast' society. But if you have experience with more variety than fast food and can access other foods and have time and inclination to cook...I think most people would prefer home cooked food. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

I do know that if you can manage to go without foods that contain added sugar for two weeks, your cravings for it lessen greatly. And if you eliminate high fat foods from your diet for a period of time, say a month or two, your body will let you know it is not happy with you if you binge on a bunch of fatty greasy stuff. 

I would say it's homeostasis more than an addiction. Your body adjusts to what becomes "normal" for you, and then when you make a big change, it has to make an adjustment.

 

[Adina P]

I would agree with the homeostasis vs. addiction.  Habits.  Why I could not be happy eating in Japan or certain other countries.  I like the food I like.  I would probably become emaciated because their food is not what makes me happy.

[Sherri, Sophie, Winston, & Kitty]

I lived in japan for a year and I strongly dislike seaweed, seafood, most fish, and especially sushi. I managed to find plenty of things I liked, although it was a little harder. They had most of the same fast food chains that we do and plenty of pizza and italian restaurants. I lived around the corner from a mcdonalds which was dangerous but I didn't need to rely on it. I just cooked for myself a lot and relied on Japanese curry and sandwiches for the local coffee shop when in a pinch. I found some yummy traditional dishes that satisfied my taste buds and didn't contain seaweed and fish. Gyoza, Teryaki, Vegetable Tempura, Okonomiyaki... it's really not that hard :o)

They vegetables and fruits we are used to are much more expensive there. $35 watermelons and cantelope for one. Apples and oranges were more than a dollar each...