Dieting is the practice of eating food in a regulated and supervised fashion to decrease, maintain, or increase body weight. Dieting is often used in combination with physical exercise to lose weight, commonly in those who are overweight or obese. Some people, however, follow a diet to gain weight (usually in the form of muscle). Diets can also be used to maintain a stable body weight.
Diets to promote weight loss are generally divided into four categories: low-fat, low-carbohydrate, low-calorie, and very low calorie.[1] A meta-analysis of six randomized controlled trials found no difference between the main diet types (low calorie, low carbohydrate, and low fat), with a 24 kilogram weight loss in all studies.[1] At two years, all calorie-reduced diet types cause equal weight loss irrespective of the macronutrients emphasized.[2] In general, the best diet is one where you find a way to eat fewer calories in any way that you can.[3]
A study published in the APA's journal American Psychologist found that dieting does "not lead to sustained weight loss or health benefits for the majority of people."[4] However, other studies have found that the average individual maintains some weight loss after dieting.[5] Weight loss by dieting, while of benefit to those classified as unhealthy, may slightly increase the mortality rate for individuals who are otherwise healthy.[6][7][8]
The first popular diet was "Banting", named after William Banting. In his 1863 pamphlet, Letter on Corpulence, Addressed to the Public, he outlined the details of a particular low-carbohydrate, low-calorie diet that had led to his own dramatic weight loss.[9]
One of the first dietitians was the English doctor George Cheyne. He himself was tremendously overweight and would constantly eat large quantities of rich food and drink. He began a meatless diet, taking only milk and vegetables, and soon regained his health. He began publicly recommending his diet for everyone suffering from obesity. In 1724, he wrote An Essay of Health and Long Life, in which he advises exercise and fresh air and avoiding luxury foods.[10]
The Scottish military surgeon, John Rollo, published Notes of a Diabetic Case in 1797. It described the benefits of a meat diet for those suffering from diabetes, basing this recommendation on Matthew Dobson's discovery of glycosuria in diabetes mellitus.[11] By means of Dobson's testing procedure (for glucose in the urine) Rollo worked out a diet that had success for what is now called type 2 diabetes.[12]
The first popular diet was "Banting", named after the English undertaker William Banting. In 1863, he wrote a booklet called Letter on Corpulence, Addressed to the Public, which contained the particular plan for the diet he had successfully followed. His own diet was four meals per day, consisting of meat, greens, fruits, and dry wine. The emphasis was on avoiding sugar, sweet foods, starch, beer, milk and butter. Bantings pamphlet was popular for years to come, and would be used as a model for modern diets.[13][14] The pamphlet's popularity was such that the question "Do you bant?" referred to his method, and eventually to dieting in general.[15] His booklet remains in print as of 2007.[9][16][17]
The first weight-loss book to promote calorie counting, and the first weight-loss book to become a bestseller, was the 1918 Diet and Health: With Key to the Calories by American physician and columnist Lulu Hunt Peters.[18]
The Atkins Diet was suggested by the American nutritionist Robert Atkins in 1958, in a research paper titled "Weight Reduction". Atkins used the study to resolve his own overweight condition and went on to popularize the method in a series of books, starting with Dr. Atkins' Diet Revolution in 1972. In his second book, Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution (1992), he modified parts of the diet but did not alter the original concepts.
Low-fat diets involve the reduction of the percentage of fat in one's diet. Calorie consumption is reduced because less fat is consumed. Diets of this type include NCEP Step I and II. A meta-analysis of 16 trials of 212months' duration found that low-fat diets (without intentional restriction of caloric intake) resulted in average weight loss of 3.2kg (7.1lb) over habitual eating.[1]
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Dieting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
