Page 82 - EatingWell Special Edition Superfoods 2019

A L I F E S T Y L E T H A T L A S T S

cutting out healthful legumes like lentils and beans, cancer and heart disease. That same year, The
whole grains and dairy. While short-term studies Lancet published a study that found that people
have shown evidence of significant weight loss for who followed low-carb, high-animal-protein diets
those on the paleo diet, research has yet to reveal had a higher risk of early death compared with
the diet’s long-term impact. However, in 2019, re- those who moderately consumed carbs. Many ex-
searchers from Edith Cowan University in Austra- perts, though, believe that long-term research is

lia studied 44 paleo dieters and found that those still needed to determine keto’s full effects, such
participants had twice the amount of a biomarker as sustainable weight loss. While decreasing un-
commonly associated with heart disease than par- healthy carbohydrates, such as white bread and
ticipants who followed a traditional Australian diet. pasta, can lead to an overall healthy diet, keto’s
The keto diet, which, like paleo, is one of the carb-cutting is more extreme and lacks a middle
most widely recognized and fastest- growing ground between high- and low-carb loads. “Peo-
modern diet movements, also touts quick-fix ple think they have to do something really severe,

weight loss, in this case through the process and the ketogenic diet is extremely strict in what
of ketosis. A metabolic state in which the body you can and can’t eat, pushing those carbs way
gets most of its fuel from fat rather than carbo- down,” Weinandy says.
hydrates, ketosis occurs when the body receives Another popularized eating program is
limited amounts of glucose. This means drasti- Whole30, a month-long diet that emphasizes
cally cutting down on carbs whole fruits and vegetables, much like paleo. De-
so that they make up 5% to veloped in 2009 by certified sports nutritionists
Many turn to 10% of your daily nutri- Dallas and Melissa Hartwig with the goal of reset-
diets such as keto ents, while fat constitutes ting metabolism and reshaping participants’ rela-
to keep the 60% to 80%. Therefore, tionship with food, Whole30 does not require you
pounds off the keto eating pattern to track your calories, and stepping on the scale
permanently, but lacks legumes, fruits and is off-limits until the month is over. However, like

these patterns grains while spotlighting paleo, it comes with a strict set of rules that involve
are meant to be red meat, eggs and healthy cutting all alcohol, sugar, grains and dairy. Smoking
followed for only fats, such as olive oil and is also highly discouraged. After 30 days, you can
a few weeks. avocados. Like paleo, keto slowly reintroduce some of your most-missed foods

lacks long-term research with the goal of measuring how they affect your
to prove its effectiveness body, including factors like inflammation, gut dis-
for weight loss and a healthy nutritional profile, turbances and hormone imbalances. Additionally,
but it may control seizures in patients with epi- some people use this diet to identify food aller-
lepsy. “I’ve seen people who could not work, who gies or sensitivities when they begin reintroduc-
could not go to college, any number of things be- ing these items into their eating patterns.
cause their epilepsy was so bad, and when they As with paleo and keto, cutting out entire food
followed the ketogenic diet, it’s almost like they groups could mean cutting several super powered

are given a whole new life,” says Liz Weinandy, staples from your plate. A 2016 study in the British
M.P.H., a registered dietitian at The Ohio State Medical Journal, for example, found that whole
University Wexner Medical Center. grains were linked to a lower risk of heart disease,
Weinandy, however, discourages patients cancer and diabetes. Additionally, a 2015 study in
from adopting keto primarily to lose weight due Scientific Reports found no strong reason to re-
to the diet’s high levels of saturated fat, which duce legume consumption. From a weight-loss
can raise cholesterol and lead to an increased risk perspective, like other elimination-based diets,

of heart disease. In fact, a 2018 study presented experts view Whole30 as a temporary fix rather
at the European Society of Cardiology Congress than a sustainable approach to eating. “Whole30
suggested that people on the lowest-carb diets, is not meant to be done forever; it’s called Whole
such as keto, had the highest risk of death from 30 because it’s 30 days, so there’s really no reason

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