Health-food fads these days fluctuate more week-to-week than my opinion on Miley Cyrus (which, let me tell you, is an ongoing emotional roller coaster) from green juice to acai berries to Kind Bars. Some trendy foods are little more than well segmented marketing, while others are here to stay for good.
The third week of October is National Health Education Week, so we present to you some of the best ways to stay healthy this fall. When it comes to dieting, or simply staying healthy, there are a few health trends you’re going to want to skip.
The number one food trend that should have died in 2015 was the “juice cleanse.” There is no evidence that your body is remotely affected in any positive way by starving yourself and existing purely off juice for a few days. In fact, not only does this diet not benefit your health, it actually can harm you. If you go on juice cleanses too often, you could permanently lower your metabolism. New York Times writer Judith Newman tried a juice cleanse and wrote about her experience: “This kind of cleansing puts a lot of stress on your body,” she wrote. “Your body wants and expects food. And as with most crash diets… your body thinks it’s starving. It doesn’t know it’s going to get more food. So it lowers your metabolism, and if you do this enough, it can lower your metabolism permanently.” If it isn’t hard enough as it is to lose weight, this lowering of your metabolism will make it even harder.
Beyond losing weight, juice cleanses aren’t a healthier option compared to raw fruits and vegetables. The fiber and antioxidants in fruit come from the skins and seeds that are eliminated in the juicing process. And because these juices don’t contain the fiber in raw fruits and vegetables, the body absorbs fructose sugar more easily, which can affect blood-sugar levels, according to Food Republic.
Alternatives to this fad include soup cleanses, or even simply eating healthily as possible with little to no processed foods. In all respects, these options are more healthy that downing the (green) kool-aid and spending $300 on a pack of pressed glucose.
Another health food trend phenomenon is the fake celiac diet. You know the one: when your friend tells you she cannot eat the pan crust pizza from Domino’s because she is “gluten free.” The trend started when celebs like Gwyneth Paltrow, Ryan Gosling and Jenny McCarthy adopted a gluten-free diet because they deemed it to be healthier, and not because they had intolerance to the protein found in wheat, barley, rye and triticale. According to Medical News Today, around 1.6 million people in the US follow a gluten-free diet with no diagnosis of celiac disease.
The topic of whether or not gluten free is good for you if you aren’t celiac is widely debated. Currently, there is stronger evidence that gluten is only bad for your health if you are indeed celiac.
According to the Mayo Clinic, a gluten-free diet may lead to lower levels of iron, calcium, fiber, folate, thiamin, riboflavin and niacin. These are all helpful bacteria for your gut that needlessly removing from your diet may cause a weakened immune system, says Life Strong
When it comes to losing weight however, many processed gluten-free products can be higher in fat, sugar, and calories than their gluten-free alternatives. Lisa Cimperman, a clinical dietitian at the University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland, OH, and a spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics said, “‘Gluten free’ has achieved health halo status. People believe that this term absolves the food of any other negative characteristics.” She continues to explain that simply going gluten free won’t make you healthier, “The reality is that gluten-free junk food or desserts are certainly no healthier than their gluten-containing counterparts.”
It all depends on how you go “gluten free.” An easy alternative to actually ditching gluten could be to stop eating refined carbs like bagels and pasta (sad face) in favor of whole grains and less processed foods.
Trendy food will forever be a “thing.” We must be conscious to research diets and fads before we began them. Otherwise we may be hurting our bodies’ way more than helping them (unless the new trend for fall 2015 is ice cream, then I’m down).
Remember that whether a health food trend seems like it is the answer to all of your problems, it is best to speak with your doctor before going on a serious medical adventure with food and your diet.
Photos: Getty