What’s Behind the Newest Anti-Diet Diet

4 minutes

Almond Cow examined what's behind the newest anti-diet diet craze of intuitive eating—and how perspectives among Americans and scientists are changing toward what constitutes a healthy lifestyle.

BMI and weight aren’t always strong health indicators

Despite being proven to be deeply flawed, body mass index is a health metric often used as a way to indicate whether someone is overweight. In fact, the person that invented BMI, Lambert Adolphe Jacques Quetelet, wasn’t even a physician—he was a Belgian astronomer and mathematician. To offer the government an easy solution for calculating obesity, Quetelet created an overly simplistic method: a person’s weight divided by their height squared. As a result, BMI can cause taller people to believe they are more overweight than they are and shorter people to believe they are smaller. Some scientists believe that a waist-to-height ratio is far more accurate in determining obesity..

Traditional diets often produce short-term results

In many cases, diets are simply ineffective when it comes to losing weight. In fact, diets can actually have the opposite effect by slowing the metabolism down on top of causing more hunger. On top of that, diets can do more harm than good. Research shows that dieting can have a negative impact on hormones and memory. Instead, scientists are finding intuitive eating to be a far healthier and more effective approach.

Intuitive eating can promote better relationship with food

Unfortunately, restrictive dieting has harmed many people’s views on food, negatively impacted their health, and even caused eating disorders. Studies on intuitive eating, however, are showing that this method helps people form healthier relationships with food. In one study, subjects showed improvements when it came to blood pressure, glucose regulation, and inflammation. Other studies showed that intuitive eating also led to a more positive outlook when it came to food among women and better control over blood sugar among adolescents with Type-1 diabetes.

Health and wellness have become more intertwined

When it comes to discussions around health these days, the focus isn’t necessarily on going to the gym regularly and restrictive dieting. The definition of health has broadened to include more than just weight.

Instead, things, like getting enough sleep, staying hydrated, managing stress, and working through mental health issues, are starting to take center stage. This may be because traditional measures and approaches to health are found to be limiting and, in some cases, harmful. In many ways, health and wellness are linked together as it can be difficult for individuals to focus on managing their weight if they haven’t been getting enough sleep or their stress levels are high.

Habits beyond food play an important role in overall health

A person’s habits can play one of the biggest roles in improving health. However, changing habits and forming new ones can be challenging. This can be true, especially for building habits. Some people don’t like physical activity or don’t have time to work out, while others might not like healthy foods or have the money to afford them. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases outlines contemplation, preparation, action, and maintenance as the four stages of forming a habit. It can take anywhere from a few weeks to a few months to form a habit.