Why fad diets work....until they don't
- Rahul Gopal
- Jul 30, 2024
- 1 min read
Why do low-carb, low-fat, keto, vegan, and many other diets work... until they don't?
Many diets succeed at first because they involve restricting certain foods, whether by cutting out whole food groups, reducing macronutrients, or avoiding specific types of food. For example, vegetarian and vegan diets eliminate animal products, while gluten-free diets exclude most grains.
When you remove these foods, you often don't replace the lost calories right away. This leads to a significant reduction in calorie intake, especially right after starting the diet.
For instance, switching to a plant-based diet can result in consuming 500-700 fewer calories a day due to the drastic change in available food choices. The same thing happens when people switch from a standard Western diet to a low-fat diet—they tend to eat 500-700 fewer calories a day simply by cutting out a food group initially.
This initial drop in calorie intake is crucial. However, over time, people find other foods to fill the gap left by the restricted items. Whether it’s a gradual lapse in strict adherence or discovering new foods to compensate, the initial calorie reduction often diminishes within a few months.
This explains why many diets, especially those focused on food restriction (like low-carb diets), seem to work great at first but then lose effectiveness. People often move on to a new diet (like carnivore) and find success again because they’re restarting the cycle of calorie restriction that comes with a significant change in eating habits.
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