The Pros And Cons of Modern Diets That People Are Sold Into, Part 2

In this second part of the article, we continue to investigate the philosophy behind the diets that people adhere to and the advantages and disadvantages of them.

5) Balanced Macronutrient Ratios Diet (the zone)

The promoters of this diet claim that it helps in losing weight, extend ones life as well as lowering the risk of a heart attack. The diet advocates eating carbohydrates, protein, and fat (macronutrients) in the ratio of 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein, and 30% fat. The diet was created and promoted by Dr Barry Sears in the zone books. His goal is to produce a more balanced biochemical state in the body by reducing the carbohydrate intake while increasing the protein intake.

Pros: This diet is an improvement over the high Carb, low fat diet. It has the potential of reducing weight and leads to a more balanced blood sugar levels as well as a reduction in inflammation.

Cons: The downside of this diet is that it fails to address the quality of food eaten. There is also a shortage of fat-soluble vitamins A and D in this diet. Dr Sears endorses Soy Protein isolates which is an inferior source of protein containing high levels of Pytic acid. Soy protein has also been found to be highly allergenic and estrogenic which can be problematic in men and certain women.

6) The Ketogenic Low Carb Diet.

This include Dr Atkins New Diet Revolution, protein power, and the South Beach Diet. This diet was popularized because of studies acknowledging the diets effectiveness as a weight loss program. Diets under this category call for eating large servings of proteins and small amounts of carbohydrates. The low -carb diets mimic fasting or starvation because as the body is denied carbohydrates its metabolism speeds up and hunger urges are suppressed. When the body is denied glucose from the carbohydrate, it resorts to burning ketones, chemicals that the body produces from fat.

Pros: The benefit of the diet is of course the ability to lose weight. Under medical supervision, this diet can be used to manage certain illnesses including obesity, GI disorders, childhood epilepsy and certain brain tumors.

Cons: The downside of this diet is that most people end up eating high fat diets as opposed to low -carb diets. Some of the recommended foods can also be dangerous to the health of a human being. For example pork rinds which according to Dr Atkins are the zero carbohydrates consolation price for corn or potato chip addicts are an unhealthy alternative to a carb. Some of the diets recommend artificial sweetener such as aspartame and sucralose, which have been shown to be dangerous for human consumption.

7) The Food-Combining and Acid/Alkaline Diets

Many advocates of this diet believe that alkaline forming foods are essential because human kind evolved from an environment of the ocean. The problem with this diet is that it is based on a presumption which is not backed by scientific facts or Historical evidence. There is still no empirical evidence to show that the body is affected negatively by digesting certain foods when eaten in combination. This diet divides foods into the acid forming type and the alkaline forming type. The goal is to eat 80% alkaline forming foods and 20% acid forming foods.

Pros: There is evidence that many people experience improved digestion by avoiding combination of certain foods. This diet is particularly beneficial for those switching from junk foods to a more healthy diet. For majority of people however, most healthy foods eaten in combination have no negative effects just as it has been for generations.

Cons: The downsize of this diet is that people hooked to it run the risk of nutrients deficit similar to those found with those on vegetarian diets.

8) The Blood type Diet

The proponents of this diet believe that our food requirements evolved with mankind over 40 million years since prehistoric times in essentially four flavors corresponding conveniently with the blood types-O, A, B, or AB. This diet was popularized by Peter D Adamo, ND, in his best selling book, Eat Right for your type (Putnam, 1997).

According to Adamo, modern people with blood type O are descended from the earliest humans, who were physically active and ate a diet composed mostly of meat of large herbivorous mammals, with little or no grain. Therefore if you are type O, you also require a large amount of meat and lots of exercise.

Type A, according to Adamo are descendants of modern day agrarian humans and are more docile, and thrive on vegetables and fruits. This type should therefore avoid meat and dairy products. Type B are descendants of nomadic herders and thrive on dairy products and require moderate exercise. Type AB do not handle meat well and they should instead eat grains, fish, and soy based foods. The proponents of this diet argue that certain blood types are incompatible with specialized proteins in foods like cereals and beans. Because of this incompatibility, diseases like kidney failure and food allergies are caused.

Pros: The beauty of this diet is that it is a low calorie diet and therefore someone who has fed on junk food before turning to this diet will reap the benefits of losing weight naturally.

Cons: The problem with the diet is that it is unproven and is deemed more of a fad by the Scientific and nutritional community. It also has no anthropological backing and neither is it biblical.

Read part 1 at /articles/406317_the-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-modern-diets-that-people-buy-into-part-1

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