Which is the best diet for long term use?

Just curious ... I've been on a low-carb, high-fat diet for the last two weeks or so, and so far I feel fine. I've also read almost a dozen books about nutrition over the last few months, and low-carb is which I find most in line with the facts and studies. Of course when it comes to studies you'll always have to ask yourself which ones you really trust ... just because it's labelled "study" doesn't imply that it is scientifically valid.

Edited by Mr ProgFreak - March 22 2010 at 08:08

^ that would be nice ... live on religious energy alone.

No diet has ever "worked" long term without making me feel miserable after a few days (incidentally, the first few days I feel like I could conquer the world).  The most successful diet I went on was the Subway diet a long time ago, but you can imagine how that affects the pocketbook and, face it, you get pretty damn tired of sandwiches. 

The only way I could ever lose weight would be to exercise like I did a few years ago.  That's even harder because I work more hours and now have two children (and simultaneously fritter away the hours here ).

My health issues force me to moderate my birthday party attending rate and that's more diet than I ever wished for. Some diets may have their pros, but all have their cons.

Jim Garten wrote: Eat exactly what you do usually, just a little less of it

That usually doesn't work for obese people though ... weight loss by eating less is possible, but in the long term they quickly regain their former weight (and then some). Studies also show the many obese people don't actually eat that much more than some other lean people, even taking into account factors like exercise. IMO it's much more likely that for some reason their metabolic balance is off, causing the body to store more fat than it actually needs. And I also believe that this imbalance is caused by what you eat rather than by how much you eat.

At least here in America, I think the #1 things to be improved are reducing soda / pop intake to maybe once a week, and preparing your own food. People eat out alot here and just by making your own sandwich out of simple ingredients, you can improve the nutritional value and reduce the calories of your food.

Negoba wrote: At least here in America, I think the #1 things to be improved are reducing soda / pop intake to maybe once a week, and preparing your own food. People eat out alot here and just by making your own sandwich out of simple ingredients, you can improve the nutritional value and reduce the calories of your food.

Agreed. Fructose is one of the biggest threats to health - at least in the amounts (and concentrations) which it is currently being consumed. If you're interested, watch the talk that was posted in the thread in the discussions area yesterday ... fructose is actually a toxin. As with all toxins it's the dosage which decides whether it has toxic effects - but clearly there is a lot of confusion out there. Only earlier today I was reading a best selling book about dieting, and they claimed that fructose is converted to glucose in the liver ... I suppose they either weren't aware of the main side products (fat/VLDL and uric acid), or didn't deem them important.

The point is that maybe the diet that most Americans (and, to a slightly lesser degree, all other civilized countries) eat - which is low-fat, high-carb - is not healthy. Changing it for good (for the rest of your life) might greatly improve your health ... or it might harm you. Regardless, health is an important issue ... and if evidence suggests that changing your diet could improve it, IMO it's always worth to check out the possibilities.

BTW: Low-carb has been around for more than a century - or even longer. Even before sugar (sucrose) became the affordable commodity that it is today, people have occasionally mentioned that it's carbohydrates that are "uniquely fattening". As it happens, Americans are uniquely fat (according to statistics), and they happen to be on a high carbohydrate diet. Does anybody else see a possible relation?

The best diet for long term use is low-calorie, high on fruits/vegetables.  IMO.

Moderate intake of complex carbs/fats/etc.  Avoid the obvious junk.

That said, I don't live by any of this advice. 

Yes, well the beer diet makes total sense except for someone who just doesn't like beer.
As close as I get to beer is ginger beer.  Jamaican baby!!!