Skip fad diets, here’s how you can stick to a healthy diet in 2023

Fad diets come and go. By the time we attempt to understand them and implement them, they might change.

In this article, we look at what might be a fad diet, how it can be detrimental, how you can skip the fad diets and stick to a healthy time tested one in 2023!

What is a fad diet?

A fad diet is any diet that bursts forth to popularity suddenly, is intensely shared between people with loud enthusiasm, and may not have sound foundations in terms of balance to body and mind over time. When they come up suddenly and with fervor, they might seem as if the only way forward for us is through using this diet. Everyone can become an expert and the language can be so convincing, that you and I feel that the only way forward for us must be through embracing this new diet fully!

Most fad diets promise rapid results, a quick fix, and immense weight loss, which ultimately can become the only convincing factor. They might not have stood the test of time, yet, new research can offer further convincing, where such research may not be enough to understand repercussions over time.

How might a fad diet be detrimental to you long term?

Fad diets can remove major food groups, and because we look at results in isolation, such as rapid weight loss, we might choose to ignore detrimental side effects.

Common side effects might include mineral depletion due to food group restrictions. These can result in depletion and deficiency of key minerals such as omega-3, iron, choline, calcium, magnesium, and many more, based on the diet itself.

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Over time, other challenges can include dosha imbalance and weakening of agni, the digestive fire, as doshas need a wholesome balanced meal to keep them in a state of harmony. Challenges can also include inadequate fibre, blood sugar dysregulation, restrictive and unhealthy eating patterns, and fear-based eating versus freedom in eating.

Sticking to a healthy diet

Ayurveda has a time-tested foundation for eating to keep ourselves balanced and healthy. Any imbalance to foundational principles leads to imbalance in our doshas. It is a balanced dosha that is at the centre of all our health. When we keep our doshas balanced, we do not need to focus on singular aspects of symptoms and disease. To create this balance, one of the main ways Ayurveda suggests health is to bring the six tastes into our meal.

First, have the sweet taste from whole grains and fleshy vegetables such as sweet potatoes and carrots. Cook your meal with pink salt. Add a few drops of lemon juice or tamarind to bring in the sour. Having some leafy greens and legumes will bring in the aspect of both bitter and astringent, which help the body to detoxify. When we use spices such as turmeric and ginger, we complete the meal with some pungent and bitter. Following this broad framework and getting creative with it is the very best way to stay healthy in 2023!

Secondly, understanding that we can bring these age-old principles to whatever food we have grown up with makes food and eating, unpretentious, simple, and easy to apply. Ultimately, if a diet tells us that we cannot eat an entire food group, or that we must eat our foods only raw, we might enthusiastically embrace it at first, but eventually, we will have diet fatigue.

Expecting us to have raw green salads and raw green smoothies, when we have grown up eating dal and rice, is never going to be sustainable. In fact, Ayurveda provides a very helpful tip for this, which is to eat food, “Ushnam Ashneeyat” which is that we must consume our food warm. This is a very easy rule to follow, versus something like avoiding carbs.

Thirdly, remind yourself that any food or diet is only effective if your body can digest it. I remember a friend who was convinced to try the keto diet by other friends. When he did, he ended up with severe heartburn and GERD. His liver was not in the best shape already, and he had made it worse with this high fat diet. His body was protesting in the only way it knew possible.

So, coming back to how we can stay healthy, it all comes back to eating any food which we are able to digest easily. If we are not hungry at the next meal or have symptoms of digestive distress that then require probiotics and digestive enzymes to breakdown, it clearly indicates that the diet we are trying to follow is not working for us.

Fourthly, when it comes to vegetables, spinach is not always superior to sweet potatoes or carrots. Many fad diets break down vegetables into being superior if they are low glycemic and inferior if they have sugars. This is only valid if someone is trying to reverse diabetes. The rest of the population need not go this route. Ayurveda has a framework for eating vegetables as well. The sweeter vegetables have the earth and water elements which are grounding. The leafy greens have the air element which helps detoxify. When we consume too many leafy greens without this balance, they increase the air element, raising vata dosha and creating imbalance in the nervous system, making us more prone to being anxious. Balance each of your meals with one sweet and one bitter vegetable to stay healthy.

Fifth, vary your whole grains and legumes, but always ensure that you are able to digest them well. Millet has also become a fad diet where the tendency to overdo has taken over. The primary taste in millet is bitter and the element is air. This means that it is not suitable every day, especially for someone who has an imbalance in vata dosha or feels ungrounded. If you feel like your body and mind needs to feel more stability, skip the millets at every single meal and rotate some sweet tasting whole grains such as rice and barley.

Ultimately, all fads will come and go. Embracing them short term for a purpose might be beneficial, but it is only the food principles that have withstood the test of time which can keep us healthy and vibrant, long term.