From Carb Cycling to Macro Counting: Do These 4 Diets Live Up to Their Weight Loss Claims?

As the new year approaches, we’ve been sharing roundups of our Diets Decoded series, highlighting the pros and cons of some of the most popular (and not-so-known) diets out there. The thing is, most healthy diets—from paleo to Mediterranean to keto—share many of the same basic principles. All involve eating whole foods (as opposed to packaged and processed ones) and filling your plate with quality sources of protein, healthy fats, complex carbs, and vitamin-, mineral-, and fiber-rich vegetables. However, each proposes a slightly different path that leads to fulfilling those principles. “For each individual, the healthiest diet is an approach to eating that fuels your body and mind and fits into your lifestyle,” says Nutritious Life founder Keri Glassman, MS, RD, CDN. “Eating empowered, one of the eight pillars of a Nutritious Life, means listening to your body and focusing on the diverse, delicious, healthy foods you can have rather than what a hard-to-follow diet says you can’t have.” This week’s Diets Decoded roundup takes a look at diets touted specifically for their weight loss abilities. We digest them for you, highlighting their pros and cons, and offering actionable advice and a bottom line. If one of your New Year’s goals is to find an eating plan that helps you lose weight, read on for a rundown on four of today’s most popular weight-loss diets to see if they fit your life as part of a holistic approach to weight loss. 4 Weight-Loss Diets—and Whether They’re Right For You Carb Cycling Diet Think of carb cycling as keto’s more approachable cousin. Instead of abandoning carbs altogether, (which, let’s be real, can be really hard for most people) this adapted way of eating involves cycling between periods of low-carb and high-carb intake. The diet started years ago in the bodybuilding and fitness communities as a way to burn fat and build muscle more efficiently. But now, an increasing number of athletes and trainers have been following it to induce occasional ketosis, while still feeling properly fueled for heavy days at the gym or endurance activities. Others have been touting its potential weight-loss benefits. Wondering if carb cycling might work for you? Read on for our Carb Cycling Diet decoded. CARB CYCLING DIET Sirtfood Diet The Sirtfood Diet promises to help you lose seven pounds in seven days. It made headlines last year after singer Adele said it was the secret to her weight loss. This diet’s foundation rests on research surrounding sirtuins (SIRTs), a family of proteins found in the body that may play a role in metabolism, inflammation, aging and chronic diseases. Certain polyphenols (plant compounds that act as antioxidants) may increase levels of sirtuins in the body. Diet founders, Aidan Goggins and Glen Matten, say they modeled the diet after the eating patterns of “the slimmest, healthiest and longest-lived populations around the world, known as the Blue Zones.” They refer to SIRTs as your body’s natural “skinny genes” and have have named the foods high in these polyphenols as “sirtfoods,” claiming they will activate mechanisms controlled by your body’s SIRTs to burn fat. When combined with calorie restriction, the founders claim your body will produce higher levels of sirtuins, which will result in greater weight loss. Color us intrigued. But, is it safe—and, more importantly, sustainable? We have the Sirtfood Diet decoded. SIRTFOOD DIET Macro Counting Diet You’ve probably heard fitness influencers or healthy eating enthusiasts talk about “counting their macros.” But what does that really mean? Essentially, they are monitoring how many grams (and calories) they consume from the three macronutrients—carbohydrate, protein and fat. The idea is that if you create a calorie deficit and properly proportion how much of each macronutrient you eat in a day, you’ll achieve your desired weight and, at the same time, reach other health goals—including maintaining or building muscle. To calculate your calorie needs and macro proportions, the specific target numbers will depend on sex, age, physical activity and weight and fitness goals, so there’s no one-size-fits-all formula. Curious about counting macros? Here we have Macro Counting decoded. MACRO COUNTING DIET The Dukan Diet Created by Dr. Pierre Dukan, a French doctor who specializes in weight management, the Dukan Diet promises to help you lose weight quickly and permanently, all while being able to eat as much as you like. The Dukan Diet is a high-protein, low-carb and low-fat diet that is divided into four phases. Two phases to help you shed the weight, and two phases that help you keep it off. The length of each phase depends on how much weight you want to lose in order to reach your “true weight,” which the diet describes as the weight you can reach without struggling or restricted eating. Before you start the diet, you’ll need to calculate this true weight using a variety of factors such as age, gender, weight history, and bone structure. Sounds like a dream? We took a deeper dive to decode the Dukan Diet and its pros and cons. (Images: Shutterstock) THE DUKAN DIET

From Candida to Hashimoto’s: 5 Diets Decoded for Modern Maladies and Pesky Symptoms

If one of your New Year’s goals is to find an eating plan that makes you feel stronger, gives you more energy, helps you with a weight loss goal, or eases digestive concerns, look no further. Our Diets Decoded series takes a look at many of today’s popular healthy diets—from paleo to Mediterranean and vegetarian—and breaks them down for you. We explain the facts about each one and then provide quick, actionable tips on how to follow each diet as part of a Nutritious Life if it is appropriate for you. “For each individual, the healthiest diet is an approach to eating that fuels your body and mind and fits into your lifestyle,” says Nutritious Life founder Keri Glassman, MS, RD, CDN. “Eating empowered, one of the eight pillars of a Nutritious Life, means listening to your body and focusing on the diverse, delicious, healthy foods you can have rather than what a hard-to-follow diet says you can’t have.” In this roundup, we review five eating plans geared toward alleviating the symptoms of many of today’s chronic illnesses—from Hashimoto’s thyroiditis to other autoimmune and blood sugar imbalances. Read on for a rundown on five of today’s most popular diets, which claim to relieve inflammation, heal your gut, or bring balance to your mind, body and spirit. RELATED: From Paleo to Whole30: What a Celebrity RD thinks of Today’s Most Popular Diets 5 Diets for Alleviating Chronic Illness and Pesky Symptoms The Elimination Diet The Elimination Diet is a popular tool used by health professionals like registered dietitians and functional medicine physicians to help people identify foods that may be causing issues such as lack of energy, bloating or acne. As the name suggests, it’s done through a process of elimination. Read on for the details, including what you eat and don’t eat, and the pros and cons of this diagnostic tool. THE ELIMINATION DIET The Gundry Diet You may have seen Dr Steven Gundry, MD, on an infomercial touting his treatment for things like leaky gut or telling you what three healthy foods you should avoid right now. The founder of Gundry MD is a former cardiothoracic surgeon who left that career path in 2002 to start his own wellness clinic, The Center for Restorative Medicine in Palm Springs, Calif. In his new incarnation, he claims to teach people how to avoid surgery by using his “unique vision of human nutrition.” This “unique vision” is the Gundry Diet, an approach to eating that Dr. Gundry claims he’s used to successfully treat “tens of thousands of patients suffering from autoimmune disorders, diabetes, leaky gut syndrome, heart disease, and neurodegenerative diseases.” The diet is focused on one major principle: avoiding lectins, which are found in a variety of foods and can increase inflammation and impact your gut in negative ways, according to Dr. Gundry. Read on for the details and whether this diet stands up to its claims. THE GUNDRY DIET The Candida Diet Candida is a fungus that’s usually harmless. It’s a type of yeast that lives in your body and even helps your gut with digestion. But when it comes to candida, the more is definitely not the merrier. “Yeast can hang out and patiently wait for the environment to become more hospitable so it can multiply and thrive,” says Dr. Anna Cabeca, DO, a triple board-certified osteopathic physician. That’s when it becomes a fungal infection called candidiasis, which is no fun. The Candida Diet was developed in order to starve the candida and prevent it from spreading. If you’re struggling with candida overgrowth, find out if the pros and cons of this diet might be right for you. THE CANDIDA DIET Hashimoto’s Diet Hashimoto’s is an autoimmune disease that leads to damage and inflammation of your thyroid, a small but mighty gland that sits at the base of your neck and secretes important thyroid hormones. These hormones regulate energy metabolism, which means they affect nearly every organ and play a large role in your weight, heart rate, digestion, nervous system and more. Symptoms of Hashimoto’s hypothyroidism can include fatigue, unexplained weight gain, heavy or irregular menstrual periods, hair loss, dry skin, constipation, muscle aches, joint pain and depression. The Hashimoto’s Diet aims to reduce inflammation, alleviate symptoms, and reduce the risk of conditions that are often linked to Hashimoto’s, such as other autoimmune diseases, high cholesterol, obesity and diabetes. Want to put the kibosh on your hypothyroidism? Read on to find out if this diet might do the trick. THE HASHIMOTO’S DIET The Alkaline Diet The pH levels in our bodies, also called the acid-base balance, can impact our health. The human body relies on a healthy balance of acidity and alkalinity to function properly. If this balance is disrupted, it can lead to acidosis (too acidic) or alkalosis (too alkaline), both of which cause their own set of problems. The Alkaline Diet centers on the hypothesis that the foods we eat influence the pH of our bodies and thereby affect our health. It aims to help you strike the right balance, depending on your specific pH level and health concerns. Find out if the Alkaline Diet’s claims are true and whether the foods we eat can actually alter our body’s pH. Read on for more details. (Images: Shutterstock) THE ALKALINE DIET