Have celebrities finally come to terms that diets don’t work?
A SYDNEY doctor has raised the question on whether celebrities have finally come to terms that diets don’t work after he noticed many of Australia’s top gurus shifting their focus from short-term weight loss programs to something much bigger.
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EVERY week we are hit with a new diet. Most come and go in the blink of an eye, but others stick around because they have big TV celebrities behind the brand.
Consequently, people buy into these celebrity promoted diets because they have an element of trust in the person they follow on screen, week in week out. But why do these so-called celebrity diets have any more substance behind them than any other diets? The real truth is there isn’t any difference.
In reality many of these celebrities have had to come to terms with the fact that their diets don’t work, with the ultimate result that their followers or readers lose the weight only to put it back on soon after, often ending up fatter than they were before they started.
There are five main reasons why all diets fail. And it doesn’t matter what diet it is. All diets result in weight regain because every one of them (including the new hype around 5:2 and intermittent fasting) fails to address the defence for our set point.
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Every time you go on a diet, your body will work back to where it started, in order to defend its level of fatness, or set point. And this is why the big celebrities who have dominated the market for many years are now changing their direction to focus on preventing weight regain. They even admit themselves that “…the uncomfortable truth is that, for most of us, the weight eventually creeps back on” — Michelle Bridges from her latest book.
We must pay respect to pioneers like Bridges, who have raised awareness of a significant societal issue, and have done their best to rectify with well-intended solutions, but, back to truth, it hasn’t worked for the vast majority, and people fail on the 12WBT diet, as they do with every other diet that exists.
Ultimately people continue to spend their money on these celebrity diets for lack of any clear and viable alternative. Michelle Bridges’ new book is called “Keeping it off” and Pete Evans latest book is “The simplest way to achieve and maintain a healthy weight”. Even the social media sensation Kayla Itsines has changed her angle to try and shift from a short-term focus: “The bikini body motivation and habits guide”.
And this is just the start of the list — they are all moving away from the short-term fix that just leaves people in a worse position than when they started, as we have recently learnt from the contestants of the “Biggest Loser”. This sounds like good and progressive change, but, again in truth, these only slightly altered diet ideas are yet more marketing spin, and they lack the necessary research to prove their worth and effectiveness.
And it’s not just this change to a focus on preventing weight regain we are seeing. In Pete Evans’ latest book, he has also changed his stance to move away from grazing on 8 small meals per day to a recommendation of “intermittent fasting” and skipping meals (Paleo Pete’s Diet). There are numerous flaws and health concerns with the Paleo diet and it inaccurately conveys what science has disproved.
I have no idea why Pete Evans and other celebrities like Sam Wood are still flogging coconut oil, when national guidelines clearly recommend us to stay away from this stuff.
Would you listen to someone, who is anti-fluoride, anti-sunscreen and pro pork fat? No wonder the general public are confused by all this misleading nutritional and weight loss information written by unqualified celebrities.
Would it not make more sense to hear from professionals who research obesity? Or are they not sexy enough?
Enough is enough — this industry has been in need of disruption for a very long time. World Obesity Day approaches us — a day of awareness and call to action to treat and prevent obesity. The government needs to step in and better regulate this industry and provide clear and effective education to the population, to ensure that the right advice is accessible to all.
Dr Nick Fuller is the author of Interval Weight Loss, which is a scientifically proven way of redefining the weight your body wants to be, to ensure you lose it and keep it off. For more information go to Interval Weight Loss.