5 Diet Rules to Forget

So many different strategies to lose weight overwhelm us at times, it's hard to make the right choices. Make sure no misconceptions take over your diet strategies. Learn the whole truth behind some popular diet advice and improve your approach and your progress.

The ideas on the best ways to achieve your weight loss goals are in constant change. Just when thinking that the options we currently embrace are the most functional, a shift in paradigm comes and changes it all and thus confusion settles in. The so called 'rules' of dieting often prove incomplete or are misused and corrections are often necessary. Here are a few rules you might want to rethink:

Ditch white sugar for natural sugar

The concern with natural foods has also expanded towards sweeteners. The common belief is that because the natural sources have more nutrients they are better for you even when dieting. However, overusing them will have the same diet busting effect. While this doesn't mean that you should go for the artificial kinds which make you crave more sweets, the rule go by is to use as little as possible to feel satisfied regardless of the source you use.

Substitutions will help you lose weight

There's absolutely nothing wrong with making your favorite foods more diet-friendly. In fact, it is one of the best ways to avoid major diet slip offs and avoid losing enthusiasm for the changes you're making. It is important to realize that substitutions make sense only when the diet alternative is equally satisfying. If you're just as happy with frozen yogurt as you are with ice cream, then by all means go for it.

However, if the substitution is unsatisfying, you will end up consuming more calories to fill the craving void and achieve a similar degree of satisfaction which is why a smaller amount of your favorite treat might sometimes prove a better solution.

Go gluten free

The gluten free craze has reached impressive proportions lately as even those without Celiac disease are thinking about making the switch. However, like any hype, it's not all that's cranked up to be. To create a similar taste, ingredients such as sugar and fat are used to make up for the loss in flavor. If you're not having gluten intolerance problems, a better way of adjusting your behavior is to simply fill up on natural wholesome foods and lean protein and of course, reducing empty carbs as much as possible.

Abs are made in the kitchen

A common approach to weight management is to simply opt for dieting or exercise, depending on what the individual prefers. It's become a common belief that when it comes to vanity areas such as abs, the best way is to watch your food choices. However, in order to get lasting change you need to focus on both exercise and diet. Why? Because simply creating a calorie deficit isn't enough. You also need to optimize your hormone level to avoid getting back to where you were and to be able to sustain the change on the long term.

No midnight snacks

Ideally, you should give your digestive system plenty of time to rest. However, life gets in the way and we can't always avoid eating late. The good news is that you don't necessarily jeopardize your efforts if you eat late. However, what you eat definitely counts a lot more than when you do it. Experiment with different-sized meals to see what are the options that satisfy your hunger best.

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Forget diets: Cutting fat keeps you slim

A review of 33 trials involving 73,589 men, women and children in America, Europe and New Zealand found that choosing low fat foods helped people lose around 3.5 pounds, slim their waist-lines and cut bad cholesterol - all without dieting.

Researchers who led the study said its results prove for the first time that people can lose weight without trying to.

"The weight reduction..when people ate less fat was remarkably consistent - we saw it in almost every trial. Those who cut down more on fat lost more weight," said Lee Hooper from the University of East Anglia medical school, who led the work.

"The effect isn't dramatic, like going on a diet," she said, adding that the research specifically looked at people who were cutting down on fat, but didn't aim to lose weight - so were continuing to consume a normal amount of food.

"What surprised us was that they did lose weight, their BMI (body mass index) decreased and their waists became slimmer," Hooper said. The lower fat eaters also kept their weight down over at least seven years.

The review - commissioned by the WHO's Nutrition Guidance Expert Advisory Group (NUGAG) after a request to update their guidelines on fat intake - will now form a crucial part of global recommendations, the researchers said.

Being overweight or obese increases the risk of many illnesses such as cancer, heart disease and stroke. Together, strokes, heart attacks and other cardiovascular diseases are the biggest killers worldwide and claim more than 17 million lives a year, according to the WHO.

More than half of Europeans are obese or overweight, and in America more than 35 percent of adults and almost 17 percent of children qualify as obese.

People are defined as overweight if their body mass index or BMI - a ratio of weight to height - is more than 25 kg per metre squared (kg/m2) and obese if it is more than 30 kg/m2.

Among the 73,500 people taking part in the studies analysed by Hooper's team, there were varying ages and states of health. The researchers compared those eating less fat than usual and those eating their usual amount of fat, and measured the effect on weight and waistline after at least six months.

The results, published in the British Medical Journal, showed that eating less fat reduces body weight by 1.6 kg, cuts BMI by 0.56 kg/m2 and reduces waist circumference by 0.5 cm.

Hooper's team found that reductions in total fat intake were also linked with small but statistically significant reductions in cholesterol and blood pressure, suggesting a lower fat diet could have a beneficial effect on this heart risk factors.

Carolyn Summerbell of Durham University, who co-led the research, said the trick to slimming down and staying that way was to find a way to eat what you can stick to for life.

"Cutting down on fat will help," she said, adding that this meant opting for low-fat yoghurts, skimmed milk and reducing intake of butter, cheese and fatty snacks like crisps and cakes.

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