We all wish there was a bulletproof answer on how to lose weight. Every day, another celebrity is enthusing about the increase in energy and glowing skin they got simply by switching to X or Y diet. There's no magic bullet, this we know. But there are types of diets out there that can help you lose weight, in combination with other healthy lifestyle choices. There are also fad diets that will do nothing for youand possibly even endanger your health.

So we set out to gather all the info for you on all different types of dietslow-carb diets, keto diets, fasting diets, diets that work and diets that don't. We list the pros and cons and other key facts to know when you're searching for how to lose weight. Read on for the real skinny on diets.

The basics: A four-phase plan, the diet starts out severely restricting carb consumption and gradually increases the amount allowed.

Positives: Stresses nutrient-rich foods. Effective for weight loss. The original plan from Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution by Dr. Robert Atkins has been updated to offer variations that meet individual needs and preferences.

Drawbacks: Requires tracking carbs. Fairly restrictive, especially in the first phases. Some may find the diet difficult to follow long-term and may gain back lost weight as they reintroduce carbs, meaning this diet won't work for everyone.

Worth noting: Rob Lowe follows the Atkins Diet.

The basics: Eat whole foods onlyfoods that are not processed or refined for 30 days. Check out this list of Whole30-approved foods.

Positives: Encourages followers to connect food choice to how they feel, so that even after the 30 days they may continue to focus on nutrient-rich, non-processed foods.

Drawbacks: Restrictive, so it may be difficult to stick with, even for 30 days.

Worth noting: While many diet plans offer substitutes for sweets or crunchy/salty snacks, Whole30 discourages faux treats even if they are made with approved ingredients.

Related: Whole30 vs KetoWhich Diet Is Better for Losing Weight?

The basics: Eat like a caveman, focusing on lean meats and fish, nuts and seeds, fruits and vegetables. Avoid dairy, sugar, legumes and grains.

Positives: Effective for weight loss, appetite control, lowering blood pressure.

Drawbacks and concerns: Eliminating dairy, grains and legumes can reduce the amount of calcium, fiber and other nutrients that are considered vital to a healthy diet.

The basics: High protein, extremely low carb

Positives: Meals leave you feeling full. No calorie tracking. Quick weight loss.

Drawbacks and concerns: The emphasis on protein may come at the expense of important nutrients. Restrictive.

Worth noting: The Dukan Dietby Pierre Dukan is basically an extreme ketogenic diet, split into four phases. The plan is extremely structured, so it works best for people who want a long list of rules to follow.

The basics: Low carb and intermittent fasting

Positives: Stresses nutrient-rich foods. Discourages processed foods.

Drawbacks and concerns: The Dubrow Dietby Heather and Terry Dubrowfocuses on appearance over health as the motivating force for the diet. The calorie counts for some forms of the diet may be too low for health improvement or weight loss.

The basics: Eat more carbs on days when you are physically active, fewer on rest days.

The theory: Eat carbs when you need them for fuel and your body will burn them up. Otherwise, all you are doing is storing up extra calories.

Positives: It includes complex carbswhole grains, fruits and vegetablesthat most dietitians consider vital.

Drawbacks and concerns: Consider that carb cycling usually gets associated with serious athletes. This approach to diet works best for people who engage in high intensity workouts regularly.

The basics: Moderate carb, high fat, discouraging processed and refined foods. Urges you to eat like your grandparents did, focusing on simple fresh foods. The Wild Dietby Abel James was introduced in 2015.

Positives: Effective for weight loss. Includes one weekly cheat meal to prevent feeling deprived and binging. No calorie counting.

Drawbacks and concerns: Restricts some complex carbohydrates, such as grains and beans, that provide important nutrients and fiber. The recommendation to stay with grass-fed beef, pork and chicken, wild caught fish and wild game may be costly.

The basics: 10-day high protein, low carb, low dairy.

Positives: Plant-forward. Eliminates processed foods and added sugars. Full plan addresses your relationship to food with the intent to instill a healthier approach to food choices.

Drawbacks and concerns: Restrictive. May be costly.

Worth noting: Creator Amelia Freer has written a number of follow up books since the original Eat. Nourish. Glow.

The basics: Consume lean proteins and low glycemic-index fruits and vegetables

Positives: Flexible. Balanced. Effective for weight loss. Includes regular exercise as part of the plan.

Drawbacks and concerns: Meal prep may be time-consuming.

The basics: A Weight Watchers membership program offers personalized meal plans, community support and accountability combine to encourage balanced eating and portion control.

Positives: Some form of WW (formerly Weight Watchers) has been around for decades, and long-term studies show that it is effective for weight loss. It doesnt restrict specific foods.

Drawbacks and concerns: Can be costly. There is a tiered membership fee, with prices rising to gain access to additional benefits such as workshops and personal coaching.

Related: I Lost 195 Pounds and Quit Emotional Eating: A WW Success Story

The basics: Limit red meat, increase consumption of fish, use healthy fats like olive oil.

Positives: Proven effective for heart health. No calorie counting or food tracking. Few restrictions.

Drawbacks and concerns: This is not actually a diet for weight loss, though many can drop extra pounds if they focus on the foods emphasized on the diet over empty-calorie processed foods and sugary drinks.

Related: 25 Facts About the Mediterranean Diet You Need to Know

The basics: Low sodium, nutrient conscious

Positives: Though designed specifically to prevent high blood pressure, DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) emphasizes healthy choices in all food groups (yes, even carbs!) and can have a positive effect on people with other health conditions.

Drawbacks and concerns: Eliminates beef and bacon, which may be hard for some people to give up completely.

Worth noting: DASH was created by the National Institutes of Health, is recommended by numerous national health organizations and consistently ranks high among dietitians and physicians because it's a diet that works for many.

The basics: Its all in the name. Consume no more than 1200 calories a day

Positives: Effective for weight loss. No restricted foods.

Drawbacks and concerns: Focusing on calories alone may encourage unhealthy eating habits. Many people will feel hungry on a 1200 calorie diet.

The basics: USDA-approved plan that recommends portions in the five food groups, based on your weight and health goals.

Positives: No food is restricted, but nutrient-rich foods are emphasized. Encourages gradual change to diet, making it easy to adopt. The MyPlate graphic that divides a plate into healthy portions of food groups is helpful for people learning how to create a balanced diet,

Drawbacks and concerns: Taking the next step, with the more personalized MyPlate plan, requires tracking your food and calculating calories. The plan does not address sweets, alcohol or fats in its food groups.

The basics: Tune in to true hunger, recognize fullness and eat whatever you like.

Positives: Removes the diet mentality that categorizes food as good or bad. Puts you in tune with your body.

Drawbacks and concerns: Long and difficult learning process. Vague guidelines for achieving success.

The basics: Pay close attention to every aspect of eating and your bodys response to food. Eat slowly and deliberately.

Positives: Causes you to think before you eat andto recognize hunger and fullness. Eating slowly allows your brain to catch up with your bodys signals of fullness. Helps to identify emotional eating triggers.

Drawbacks and concerns: Long and difficult learning process with few guidelines.

Worth noting: It sounds like the opposite of intuitive eating, but mindfulness shares the same basic goal of understanding your body when it comes to hunger and fullness.

The basics: Avoid all foods with artificial ingredients. Stick to whole, natural foods only.

Positives: Eliminates processed foods that can cause weight gain and health issues. Lowers consumption of sugar and salt.

Drawbacks and concerns: This diet can be costly and time-consuming. Restrictive.

The basics: Low sugar, nutrient-dense foods.

Positives: Emphasis on adding fruits and vegetables to meals. No calorie counting. Effective for weight loss.

Drawbacks and concerns: After the initial phase, which restricts certain foods for two weeks; followers are expected to stick to eating healthy foods but have few restrictions. Some people may overdo it when reintroducing off-diet foods.

The basics: Balance protein (40%), complex carbs( 30%)and fat (30%) in every meal and snack

Positives: Eliminates processed foods (called carbage by diet creator Bob Harper.) Emphasizes fiber-rich carbohydrates as part of a balanced diet. Effective for weight loss.

Drawbacks and concerns: Specifies times of day when you can eat certain foods.

Worth noting: Bob Harper wrote a book touting this diet after he suffered a heart attack.

The basics: Low sugar, emphasis on fish over meat, healthy oils and fats. Focused on reducing inflammation that may cause weight gain and health problems.

Positives: Eliminates processed foods. Not too restrictive.

Drawbacks and concerns: Some of the restricted foods may be difficult to give up. Goodbye coffee!

Related: Dr. Travis Stork Reveals His Secret Battle With Chronic Painand Which Diet Helps

The basics: Similar to paleo and anti-inflammatory diets, with additional restrictions.

Positives: Encourages eating more vegetables. Eliminates processed foods. May help people with chronic digestive issues such as irritable bowel syndrome and autoimmune diseases such as lupus and psoriasis, though there are no conclusive studies.

Drawbacks and concerns: Extremely restrictive and so difficult to stick with long term.

Worth noting: This diet was designed specifically to combat autoimmune disease symptoms.

The basics: Prepackaged meals delivered to your home, supplemented with fresh produce that

Positives: Focused on portion control and foods low on the glycemic index. Easy to follow since meals are delivered right to you and you dont have to track calories or macronutrients. Personalized meal plans based on answers to a quiz. Effective for weight loss.

Drawbacks and concerns: Difficulty navigating meals away from home. Can be costly.

The basics: Prepackaged meals and weekly diet coaching

Positives: Easy to follow. Effective for weight loss. Encourages exercise as part of the plan. Help in transitioning to a healthy meal planning once you near your goal weight.

Drawbacks: Difficulty navigating meals away from home. Can be costly.

The basics: Lean meats, low-glycemic carbs, unsaturated fats.

Positives: Effective for long-term weight loss. No counting calories or macros. Offers a transition plan for healthy eating after reaching goal weight. A prepackaged meal delivery plan is available. Considered heart healthy.

Drawbacks and concerns: Some may find the diet too restrictive.

Worth noting: First published in 2005 , The South Beach Dietby Dr. Arthur Agatson has an update, The New Keto-Friendly South Beach Diet.

The basics: Make healthy food choices 80% of the time, indulge 20% of the time

Positives: No food is completely restricted. Counteracts feelings of guilt about food, so tendency toward binging is reduced.

Drawbacks and concerns: Without keeping track of food, most people underestimate what they eat in a day. Easy to overdo the junk food.

The basics: A combination of the Mediterranean and DASH diets designed to improve brain health and reduce the risk of Alzheimers. This is not intended as a weight-loss diet.

Positives: This diet focuses on incorporating foods related to brain health, including leafy greens and berries. Easy to follow. Wine is part of the diet!

Drawbacks and concerns: Vague guidelines and little research about its effectiveness.

The basics: Low glycemic index foods balanced with lean proteins, preferably locally produced and organic.

Positives: Focuses on nutrient-dense whole foods. Environmentally friendly. No calorie counting. Effective for weight loss.

Drawbacks and concerns: Can be costly. Shopping for local foods may be time consuming in some areas. Meal preparation can take an hour or more.

The basics: Five prepackaged meals/snacks a day, delivered to your home.

Positives: Offers different plan options to suit personal preferences. Includes diet coaching to encourage long-term healthy food choices. Easy to follow.

Drawbacks and concerns: Costly. Difficult to follow away from home.

Follow this link:
100 Types of Diets: Which Diet Plans Work, Rules, Pros & Cons - Parade ...

For many decades now, health authorities have recommended a low-fat diet.

This recommendation has been widely accepted in the mainstream medical community.

Although recent studies have raised some questions about the validity of these guidelines, most health authorities have not changed their position.

The issue is still controversial and the guidelines remain largely unchanged, even though their scientific foundation has weakened (1, 2).

So are low-fat diets truly effective at preventing heart disease or promoting weight loss? This article sums up the evidence.

The standard low-fat diet recommended by health authorities contains less than 30% of daily calories from fat.

Very low-fat diets generally provide 1015% (or less) of total calories from fat.

Additionally, many health guidelines recommend that the daily calorie contribution of saturated fat should not exceed 710%.

Most studies investigating low-fat diets seem to follow these definitions.

The low-fat diet generally provides less than 30% of total calories from fat, whereas very low-fat diets provide less than 1015%.

Low-fat diets are often recommended for people who need to lose weight.

The main reason behind this recommendation is that fat provides a greater number of calories per gram compared to the other major nutrients, protein and carbs.

Fat provides roughly 9 calories per gram, whereas protein and carbs provide only 4 calories per gram.

Studies show that people who reduce their calorie intake by eating less fat lose weight. Although the weight loss is small, on average, it is considered relevant for health (3).

But how effective is a low-fat diet compared to a low-carb diet?

Low-carb diets are usually high in both protein and fat.

When food intake is closely monitored and controlled, low-fat diets seem equally as effective for weight loss as low-carb diets.

At least, these were the results of a small study in 19 obese adults who spent two weeks in a metabolic ward, which is a highly controlled lab environment (4).

However, the study period was short and the environment didnt reflect a real-life situation.

Studies in free-living people generally agree that low-fat diets are not as effective as low-carb diets (5, 6, 7).

The reason for this inconsistency is unclear, but the most likely explanation is that low-carb diets are usually associated with greater dietary quality.

They tend to focus on whole foods, such as vegetables, eggs, meat and fish. They also encourage skipping most junk foods, which are usually high in refined carbs or added sugar.

Additionally, low-carb diets based on whole foods tend to be higher in both fiber and protein than low-fat diets.

A successful low-carb diet may promote weight loss in the following ways:

Simply put, low-carb diets work because they promote a healthier diet.

In contrast, going on a low-fat diet without emphasizing food quality may lead to an increased intake of junk foods high in added sugar and refined carbs.

Low-fat and low-carb diets are equally effective for weight loss in highly controlled situations. However, in free-living obese people, low-fat diets tend to be less effective than low-carb diets.

The low-fat guidelines were first published in 1977. Since then, many of the major health organizations have not changed their position.

The introduction of the low-fat guidelines seems to have marked the beginning of the obesity epidemic. The following picture speaks more than a thousand words:

Of course, many things were changing in society at the time and this graph does not prove that the guidelines caused the obesity epidemic.

However, I personally find it plausible that demonizing fat and giving refined carbs and sugar the green light may have contributed to it.

When consumers started believing that fat was the root of all evil, all kinds of low-fat junk foods flooded the market.

Many of these foods were loaded with refined carbs, sugar and trans fats, which are associated with heart disease, diabetes, obesity and all those diseases the low-fat diet was meant to treat (11, 12, 13).

The low-fat guidelines were first published in 1977. The obesity epidemic started around the same time, but its unclear whether the two are connected.

When the low-fat guidelines were conceived, scientists believed that saturated fat was a significant cause of heart disease.

This idea shaped the dietary recommendations of the following decades. It explains why health organizations started discouraging people from eating foods high in saturated fat, such as eggs, fatty meat and full-fat dairy.

The guidelines were based on weak evidence at the time and not all scientists agreed. They warned that advocating for a low-fat diet could have unforeseen consequences.

Today, high-quality research suggests that saturated fat is not the villain it was made out to be. Several recent studies indicate there is no significant link between saturated fat and heart disease (14, 15).

However, replacing saturated fats with polyunsaturated fats may have benefits for heart health, probably because of their anti-inflammatory effects (16).

But the standard low-fat diet doesnt only recommend reduced saturated fat intake. The guidelines also advise people to restrict their fat intake to less than 30% of their total calorie intake.

A number of studies show that lowering overall fat intake doesnt improve heart health (1, 17, 18, 19).

Eating too little fat may even adversely affect risk factors for heart disease.

LDL cholesterol is often referred to as the bad cholesterol. However, this is only half true. The size of the LDL particles is also important.

The more small particles you have, the greater your risk of heart disease. If the particles are mostly large, then your heart disease risk is low (20, 21, 22, 23, 24).

The thing with low-fat diets is that they can actually change the LDL from the harmless large particles to the harmful, artery-clogging small, dense LDL (24, 25, 26).

Some studies also show that low-fat diets can reduce HDL the good cholesterol and raise blood triglycerides, another important risk factor (27, 28, 29).

Low-fat diets may adversely affect levels of blood lipids, LDL pattern, HDL and triglycerides, potentially raising the risk of heart disease.

The low-fat guidelines introduced in 1977 were not based on solid evidence.

While recent studies have weakened their scientific foundation even further, the debate continues.

One thing is clear. Eating less fat is not always the best way to lose weight. Low-carb diets tend to be more effective for most people.

The association of fat with heart disease is more controversial and complex. Overall, cutting your fat intake is not likely to reduce your risk of heart disease.

Rather than worrying about your total fat intake, focus on improving the quality of your diet. Eating more whole foods and healthy fats is a good way to start.

Link:
Do Low-Fat Diets Really Work? - Healthline

Low-carb diets work.

That is pretty much a scientific fact at this point.

At least 23 high quality studies in humans have shown this to be true.

In many cases, a low-carb diet causes 2-3 times more weight loss as the standard low-fat diet that were still being told to follow (1, 2).

Low-carb diets also appear to have an outstanding safety profile. No serious side effects have been reported.

In fact, the studies show that these diets cause major improvements in many important risk factors (3).

Triglycerides go way down and HDL goes way up. Blood pressure and blood sugar levels also tend to decrease significantly (4, 5, 6, 7).

A high percentage of the fat lost on a low carb diet comes from the belly area and the liver. This is the dangerous visceral fat that builds up in and around the organs, driving inflammation and disease (8, 9, 10).

These diets are particularly effective for people with metabolic syndrome and/or type 2 diabetes. The evidence is overwhelming.

However, there is a lot of controversy about why these diets work.

People like to debate the mechanism, the stuff that is actually going on in our organs and cells that makes the weight go off.

Unfortunately, this is not fully known, and chances are that it is multifactorial as in, there are many different reasons why these diets are so effective (11).

In this article, I take look at some of the most convincing explanations for the effectiveness of low carb diets.

Read more:
Why Do Low Carb Diets Work? The Mechanism Explained - Healthline

Precision nutrition is an emerging field that seeks to better tailor dietary recommendations and ... [+] nutritional guidelines to different peoples characteristics and circumstances. (Image: Getty)

Imagine being told that everyone needs to wear one specific pair of low-riding jeans at all times regardless of their age, body configuration, surroundings, or life situation. This could leave you with some images that you would want Brillo-padded from your mind. Also, youd probably argue that such a one-size-fits-all solution wouldnt work with clothes, that people and their circumstances are different and diverse. So why then would a one-size-fits-all approach work with diets?

Yet, how many times have you seen ads, books, podcasts, social media posts, TV and radio spots, and self-appointed nutrition gurus tell you that they have that one magical diet or that one superfood item that everyone should be consuming? Such folks have essentially been telling you what to eat when they dont even really know that much about you. Instead, wouldnt it make much more sense to take into account the great diversity that exists among different people and their situations? Well, precision nutrition would do precisely that. Precision nutrition is an emerging field that seeks to better tailor dietary recommendations and nutritional guidelines to different peoples characteristics and circumstances in a way that improves health.

Precision nutrition is part of a larger movement towards whats being called precision health. Over ... [+] the past decade, theres been growing acknowledgement that one-size-fits-all approaches dont work for health in general. (Image: Getty)

Precision nutrition is part of a larger movement towards whats being called precision health. Nutrition is certainly closely related to health because as the saying goes, you are what you eat. This doesnt mean that you will suddenly become a long, pink, cylindrical object immediately after consuming a hot dog. However, over time, your diet can greatly affect your health in many different ways. In fact, according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), each year, more than a million Americans die from diet-related diseases like cardiovascular disease, diabetes and certain forms of cancers. And the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicates on its website that A healthy diet helps children grow and develop properly and reduces their risk of chronic diseases. Adults who eat a healthy diet live longer and have a lower risk of obesity, heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers. And even if you already have a chronic medical condition, the CDC emphasizes that healthy eating can still help you manage these conditions and avoid complications.

Over the past decade, theres been growing acknowledgement that one-size-fits-all approaches dont work for health in general. When then-U.S. President Barack Obama announced the launch of the Precision Medicine Initiative in 2015, the White House called precision medicine an innovative approach that takes into account individual differences in peoples genes, environments, and lifestyles. In other words, when people and their surroundings are comprised of complex systems, treatments must account for that complexity. Note that precision is not exactly the same thing as personalized. Precision simply means more accurate or better tailored. This doesnt necessarily mean custom-made for a specific person, such as a custom tailored pink velour track suit, which is implied by the word personalized. Personalized is a subset of precision. For example, personalized medicine would be a super-tailored version of precision medicine.

Precision medicine is part of the broader term precision health, since the latter includes precision medicine but also approaches that occur outside the setting of a doctors office or hospital, such as disease prevention and health promotion activities, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website. Unless you always dine on the examination table in your doctors office, the broader precision health term should include what you eat as well. With such increasing interest in better tailoring different health-related approaches to different people and their circumstances, it certainly makes sense to throw food and drink into this mix, so to speak. And that, kids, is how nutrition met precision health to form precision nutrition.

Your microbiome, that city of bacteria and other microbes in your gastrointestinal tract, changes ... [+] with what you are exposed to over time. (Image: Getty)

Speaking of kids, youd be kidding yourself if you believe that eating the exact same things throughout your entire life would be the way to go. You probably realize that you shouldnt feed a newborn a whole flank steak or expect the person you met on Tinder to be happy with an all-baby food first date dinner. But these are only two examples of how the right diet changes with age. In the words of that Keane song, everybody's changing. So much about your body and surroundings evolve with time. When you are in your 60s, for example, your metabolism is probably not the same as when you were in your early 20s and could eat an entire pizza as an hors d'oeuvre. The rate at which your stomach empties and your ability to recognize hunger or thirst may decrease with age as well. Theres also evidence that the your telomeres get shorter as you age and that your diet can affect this shortening rate. Your telomeres arent something that you can see in the mirror (at least, you shouldnt be able to see them) but are smaller-than-the-eye-can-see sequences of DNA located at the end of your chromosomes, protecting your genetic information (sort of how those plastic tips at the end of shoelaces keep the laces from fraying), facilitating the division of your cells, and potentially affecting your aging and your susceptibility to different diseases.

Then theres that city of bacteria and other microbes in your gastrointestinal tract called your microbiome. This city situation helps you digest, process, and absorb your food. Immediately after you are born, the reason why your poop dont stink is that your intestines havent yet been colonized with the bacteria that ends up giving your poop that oh-so-familiar odor. The composition of your microbiome continues to evolve depending on what you may consume and be exposed to over time.

Plus, your nutritional requirements may change rather substantially with different life events. For example, when you are pregnant, chances are youll eventually notice. Thats because your body and its functioning changes in many different ways. Not only might you start craving certain foods like pickles wrapped in prosciutto and prosciutto wrapped in pickles, you will likely have an increased need for more calories, micronutrients, and macronutrients. You are right when you tell your significant other that you are complex, you are a complex biological system.

Even though some frustrated folks may say that all men are the same or all women are the same after a series of unsuccessful Tinder dates, they really arent. Your digestion, your microbiome, your absorption of nutrients, your processing of these nutrients, your metabolism, and many of your other biological can differ significantly from those of other people. Birth is not like a photocopy machine run. Not everyone starts off the same. And over time, what you do and what you are exposed to can in turn affect whats inside you.

Your sleep patterns can affect what you eat and how your body handles food. (Photo: Getty)

In fact, its a very vicey-versa situation: not only can what you do every day affect your biological systems, your biological systems can affect what you do every day. What you eat can in turn affect how your body handles food. And its not just what you eat but when and how you eat it. For example, eating a pizza at 12 noon may not be quite the same as eating one at 3 am. Eating a pizza over the course of an hour may not be the same as eating it over the course of a couple minutes.

Plus, you presumably do other things besides eat. Your physical activity level, your sleep schedule, your stress level, and the other things that you put into your body such as medications, supplements, and tobacco products can affect how your body works as well. In fact, your eating behaviors and physical activity levels can affect your microbiome and your sleep patterns. Your sleep patterns and physical activity levels can affect your stress levels. Your sleep patterns and eating behaviors can affect your physical activity levels. Your stress levels can affect your eating behaviors. In fact, all of these may affect each other in different ways and can in turn affect your metabolism, which can as a result affect what you do already. Simple, right? Well, this is only the tip of the iceberg lettuce when it comes to the complex systems involved.

People are interconnected with each other in complex systems and affect each others' diets and ... [+] habits in many different ways. (Image: Getty)

And if you think that you arent affected by whats around you, youve got another thing coming, in the words of the hard rock group Judas Priest. Its been said that you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Well, the same thing may apply to your diet. Think of your family, friends, and co-workers as walking, talking, and burping food items as they can influence what you eat. If everyone around you is eating chicken wings, take a wild guess as to what you may be more likely to eat. Its probably not just vegetables unless you bring a fanny pack of kale to wing night. The people around you can affect many other things as well such as your stress levels, your sleep patterns, and your physical activity levels, which in turn can affect your metabolism and so forth.

You are where you eat, meaning that you are more likely to eat what's immediately around you. ... [+] (Photo: Getty)

Then theres your environment and the complex systems that comprise your environment. This includes both the built environment, which is basically every human-made or human-modified structure around you, and the natural environment, which is essentially everything else surrounding you. Both environments can affect what you eat, how much physical activity you get, how much sleep you get, and a whole host of other behaviors. For example, its much harder to eat an all-kale lunch if none of the stores or restaurants even carry kale.

Economics matter too. Its not as if you can walk into the local organic grocery market, grab whatever you want, point to some random dude, and say, put it on that dudes tab, before making off with the food items. What you can afford affects what you eat and do. There are also cultural and political systems at play. Again, its a complex system of systems.

A complex system of factor affect the relationships between nutrition and short-term and long-term ... [+] health outcomes. (Image: Getty)

Ultimately, everything that you consume and how they are processed can affect your health in the short term as well as the long term. What makes it an even more complex system is the delay between your dietary intake and the health consequences. You are not like a giant latte machine where you can put in ingredients and churn out a health outcome relatively quickly. You are also not like a car where gasoline is the food and you can get a certain mileage as a result of guzzling it, meaning the food and not gas. Instead, lots of other things comprising a complex system can affect your health as well such as your genetics, your biology, your surroundings, and your other habits. For example, a smoker may have a greater risk of cardiovascular disease than a non-smoker, even though they have identical diets.

As you can see, things can get freaking complex. Too complex to be figured by just some dude hocking a diet on a YouTube channel by showing some supposed before and after pictures that look suspiciously like pictures of two different people. Or some dudette who happens to have written a book based on what she fed herself and her roommate for 30 days. Even some more established so-called diet gurus out there may not have done the work to elucidate all of the complexities.

In fact, many of the scientific studies to date havent been able to fully separate out the mechanisms involved. For example, theres only so much you can get out of a large observational cohort study, you know the kind that follows thousands of people and compares what happened to people who had regular eaten or drunk something versus people who didnt. Ive covered previously for Forbes such studies that have led some people to prematurely conclude that coffee drinking may help you live longer. Alone such studies can only show some general possible associations and not prove cause-and-effect. And such associations or correlations can instead just be coincidences with many confounding factors. For example, you can draw a correlation between the decreasing number of pirates over the years and increases in global temperatures. But arrghh, that doesnt necessarily mean that training more pirates would be the key to combatting climate change. Therefore, there is a need for more and a greater variety of scientific studies to better guide precision nutrition.

Studies will also need to use more systems approaches that account for and better elucidate the real systems at work. Too many studies to date have been like searching for someone on Tinder, focusing on superficial characteristics such as physical appearance rather than digging deeper to see whats really affecting nutrition and health. For example, two people of different races or ethnicities can in actuality be a lot more similar than two people of the same race or ethnicity.

Nutrition recommendations and dietary guidelines should account for the diversity that exists among ... [+] people. And this doesn't simply mean looking just at superficial characteristics such as appearance. (Photo: Getty)

Thats why the National Institutes of Health (NIH) held a Precision Nutrition: Research Gaps and Opportunities Workshop on January 11 and 12, 2021, to review whats known about the complex system of factors affecting nutrition and health and what the current research gaps are. Thats also why the NIH launched the Nutrition for Precision Health (NPH) research program earlier this year. Its stated goal is to develop algorithms that predict individual responses to food and dietary patterns. The NPH research program is not only using traditional nutrition research methods but also incorporating new ones such as artificial intelligence (AI) and other technology-enabled approaches.

Ultimately, the goal is to generate diets and nutrition recommendations that better fit you and your particular situations. Some day you will be able to get much more precise recommendations regarding what you should eat and when, based on specifics about your biology, your history, your behaviors, your social situation, your environment, your economic situation, and, importantly, your preferences. This could help you better adhere to a healthy diet and manage your health than a situation where people are saying, yeah, were going to ignore all those things and who you are and push this one diet anyway. Precision nutrition can also help decision makers at all levels make changes in the various systems that affect nutrition and health. For example, it can help food manufacturers and retailers offer more appropriate and healthier food. And it can help inform the design of towns and cities to improve access to healthier foods. The positive impact on society could be huge since so many non-communicable diseases, which have become the leading killer around the world, are nutrition-related.

Keep in mind that any precision nutrition research and resulting dietary and policy approaches should take systems approaches to be truly successful. This means that they will have to account for all of the complex systems that affect nutrition and link nutrition with health. With both nutrition and health being affected by and affecting such complex systems, its going to take time and much more research to achieve true precision nutrition rather than well-call-it-precision-nutrition-but-it-will-just-be-more-of-the-same. Trying to rush the work or coming up with some half-baked solutions could do more harm than good. It would result in overly-simplistic approaches to nutrition, which precisely has been the problem all these years.

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What Is Precision Nutrition? How It Can Transform Your Diet And Health - Forbes