Diet Patterns, Weight Loss, and Health

Fad Diets

The fad diet battles continue. Each week it seems, a new diet plan, book, or program is touted as the best way to lose weight. Weight loss diets come and weight loss diets go, but one that seems to have eternal life is the low carbohydrate, high protein diet promoted most notably by Dr. Robert Atkins in his popular book, Dr. Atkins' New Diet Revolution. Several studies have made direct comparisons between the Atkins' diet and various other diet programs such as Weight Watchers; the high carbohydrate, low fat vegetarian diet promoted by Dr. Dean Ornish; and the South Beach diet.

As predicted, the Atkins' diet is as effective as and possibly even more effective than some of these other programs for promoting rapid weight loss. There is no doubt, and research proves, that following the Atkins diet will result in weight loss, but at what cost to your health?

At this point, you probably expect me to begin talking about how all of the early weight loss that occurs with the Atkins' diet is water weight, that the diet is high in cholesterol and saturated fat, and that the weight loss isn't permanent. While these things generally are true, this isn't the main reason why I believe this diet is a bad choice for most people, and in particular, for people who are concerned about cancer. There are two questions I urge anyone who wants to reach a healthy body weight to ask.

"Is weight loss my only goal?"
"Do I want to both lose weight and enhance my health?"

If your answer is "yes" to question 1., then the Atkins' diet is indeed a good choice. It is effective for weight loss and studies show that even after a year of follow up, people who stick with the low carbohydrate eating plan prescribed by Atkins generally keep weight off as well as people following other types of diets. However, if your answer is "no" to question 1. and "yes" to question 2., the Atkins diet is not for you.

You may wonder how it is that a diet that helps you reach a healthy body weight is a bad choice. The answer lies not in what is in the diet, but rather what is not in the diet.

Diet, Nutrition and Cancer Risk

When researchers first began to take a serious look at the connection between what we eat and cancer risk more than 3 decades ago, they often focused on what is in the diet that may be promoting the development of cancer. There was a lot of effort focused on finding the culprit in the diet, be it sugar, fat, meat, or something else, that led to higher cancer risk.

While some of these early studies did yield answers about how a diet with excessive amounts of meat, sugar, and fat can promote cancer, they also pointed the way to a deeper understanding of the connection between diet and cancer. Health experts began to see that what is missing from the diet is as important or even more important than what is in the diet, in terms of cancer risk. So instead of thinking about what foods or types of diet increase cancer risk, health experts began to think about what foods and types of diet can help prevent cancer.

What research is telling us is nothing short of miraculous. There are many, many foods, that when added to the diet, actively protect our bodies against the cellular damage that eventually may lead to cancer, heart disease, stroke, and many other chronic diseases. These foods, when eaten in abundance, form patterns of eating that actively protect us against cancer. Even more exciting is research showing that even after a cancer diagnosis, what you eat can make a difference in your long term health. It is never too late.

No Self Blame

At this point, I do want to stress that you should not focus on the "what ifs" and "If I only I hads". For some people with cancer, learning about the many ways in which good nutrition can help prevent cancer leads to stress and anxiety over what he or she did or didn't do that may have "caused" cancer. It is important to remember that for any one person, we can never know what led to their cancer. Nobody asks for cancer and nobody deserves cancer! No matter what they did or did not do with their health and lifestyle habits.

We only can say that when we consider large groups of people, those who are in the group that eats a better diet will be less likely to be diagnosed with cancer, but the risk still is not zero. Even among people who do everything "right", such as eat a good diet, avoid smoking and excessive alcohol use, exercise regularly, manage stress, limit sun exposure, and all of the other things we know promote good health, some still will be diagnosed with cancer. As well, even for people who don't do everything "right", such as using tobacco, not exercising, and eating a poor diet, some will never get cancer. It is important to remember this and to let go of self blame.

This might lead you to say "why bother?" I think it's worth the bother because even though eating healthfully cannot prevent cancer or any other disease with certainty, which is impossible at any rate, a good diet, along with other healthy lifestyle choices can help you lower risk as much as possible. I believe it is worthwhile to "stack the odds" in your favor. And remember, even after a diagnosis of cancer, a healthy diet can help you stay healthy.

The Power of Plants

So to get back to our discussion, we need to ask, what are these miraculous, super foods? They are plants.

Keeping in mind that when it comes to cancer, what is missing from your diet is as important as what's in your diet, the answer lies in eating more plants. Plants, meaning vegetables, fruit, whole grains, and legumes, contain thousands of nutrients that help protect your body, right down to the cellular level. These nutrients protect us from the every day damage and wear and tear that comes from just plain living. Hundreds of studies support that eating a more "plant-based" diet will improve health. And getting these healthful nutrients from dietary supplements does not have the same benefit. It is the action of all of these thousands of nutrients that are found in endless combinations in plants that provide protection against cancer and other chronic diseases.

More Plants = Better Weight Management

The other benefit of a plant-based diet is that eating more plants can be a great way to reach and maintain a healthy body weight. Plant foods are less calorie dense than many other foods. For example, picture a large fast food burger, which contains about 600 to 800 calories. Now picture 600 to 800 calories worth of fresh fruit, steamed vegetables, or a whole grain cereal such as oatmeal. Immediately, you can see that for the same number of calories, plant foods provide a much bigger volume. You can eat more plant foods and still consume fewer calories.

This is important because one of the ways that your body regulates appetite is to determine the volume of food you've eaten. The larger the volume you eat, regardless of calories, the more full you will feel. So if you eat the same volume of plant food, you will be taking in fewer calories than if you were eating a burger and this can help with weight loss and weight maintenance.

More Plants = Better Health

We know that we need to eat more plants for better health and this is why a high protein, low carbohydrate diet is not a good choice, especially for someone concerned about cancer. Plant foods contain plenty of carbohydrate, so if you follow a low carbohydrate diet, you will not be able to eat enough plants for good health.

But you don't have to take my word for it. A recent, large scale study of over 22,000 European adults looked at the relationship between protein and carbohydrate in the diet and risk of death from chronic diseases such as cancer and heart disease (European Journal of Clinical Nutrition (2007) 61, 575–581). If you do believe what I've said, what the researchers found won't come as a surprise to you. In that large group of people, those who had the most protein and the least carbohydrate in their diet had the highest risk of death (mortality) from both cancer and heart disease. In the words of the study authors, "Prolonged consumption of diets low in carbohydrates and high in protein is associated with an increase in total mortality."

More Information

You may wonder if following a plant-based diet means you'll never eat meat again. A plant-based diet does not have to be a vegetarian diet, although that is a great choice if you want to eliminate meat altogether. However, you do not have to go completely meatless to get the benefits of eating more plants. Instead, you need to shift the proportions of the food you put on your plate, not on serving sizes or number of servings. About three-fourths of a healthy plate will be covered by minimally processed plant food, including fresh fruit, whole grains, and a wide variety of colorful vegetables. The remaining one-quarter of your plate should contain lean protein, such as legumes (beans), fish, or chicken. Every meal and snack should follow the three-fourths/one-fourth principle. Your snacks may not contain the fish or chicken, but they should be made up of at least three-fourths vegetables, fruit, and/or whole grains.