What is the Healthiest Way to Eat?

Too often people will assume that the healthiest way to eat is a certain diet.

However, that is not what the science says.

The science indicates that those who eat in a too restrictive manner will miss out on nutrients from all food sources.

Furthermore, you are more likely to rebound and fall off your diet when your diet is too repressive.

Therefore, today’s goal is for me to go over some of the popular diets and show you why they work and some of the limitations with them.

Hint: They all have one reason as to why they work!

Vegan Diet

Is vegan the healthiest way to eat? Not for keeping lean muscle it is

There’s a huge movement around eating plant-based. You have people claiming that it is the healthiest way to eat.

However, how much truth is there to that claim?

When you eat vegan, you get great micronutrient benefits. You will get great vitamin c content, fiber, vitamin a and so on.

But, because you are eating plant-based, you do miss out on nutrients from animal sources.

For example, animal protein is considered the best for muscle protein synthesis aka the building of muscle.

Now, if you do go vegan, there is a high likelihood that you will lose a lot of the muscle you have gained.

This is due to it being hard to eat a high protein diet when you cut out a lot of protein-rich animal sources.

Kyrie's vegan diet has made him lose a lot of muscle mass

An example of this is Kyrie Irving. If you look at the picture above of when he was on the Cleveland Cavaliers Vs. him on the Celtics, you can see a vast difference in muscle definition and overall strength radiating from his body.

Kyrie decided to go Vegan after watching the documentary “What the Health.” This was a propaganda documentary by the Vegan Industry. It used fear to get it’s a point across. There are a ton of fictitious claims in the documentary that Dr. Layne Norton debunks here.

Furthermore, Kyrie struggled significantly in the 2019 playoffs. Not only did he shoot a career playoff worst 39%, but he was also having trouble exploding past his guy and frankly looked dejected energy-wise. Irving has now been consuming a Vegan diet for almost a year in a half now so could it be that?

Concerns of Muscle Loss

Damian Lillard of the Portland Trail Blazers went vegan last year for a bit, however, he started adding meats back because of weight concerns.

“I started to lose a little bit too much weight with all the games and practices and all that.”

What we do know is Lean muscle is super important because it helps you stay strong, prevents you from injuries, you are able to recover quicker, and it makes doing tasks significantly easier!

Getting a high protein diet is challenging when you go vegan because you limit your food sources so much.

Having said all this, the vegan diet is healthy because it puts you in a calorie deficit. It makes it harder to overeat and consume a boatload of calories due to vegan foods being so low in calories.

Moreover, you get great micronutrient benefits, such as vitamin a and c. Also, you get a high level of fiber in too!

However, for overall muscle growth, it may be sub-optimal.

Keto

The healthiest way to eat can't be keto can it?

The keto diet has become very popular over the last few years.

What exactly is the ketogenic diet?

The keto diet is when you eat high fat, very low carb, and moderate protein.

You have people eating in this form because they claim that since you cut carbs out of your diet, you will shed body fat quicker.

However, how much truth is there to this claim?

And is it the cutting of carbs or something else that fuels the weight loss?

Let’s explore

Firstly, when you switch to a ketogenic diet, your body uses ketones as fuel.

ketones happened to be produced in the liver. Usually, your brain and body will use glucose for energy, but once your body is in ketosis you will begin to use ketones.

Now, what are the benefits of eating in this manner?

Benefits

Satiety benefits so you stay full for longer
Blood glucose stays more stable
Aids in Fat Loss because it puts you in a calorie deficit.

Now, there are people out there who claim keto is the best for fat loss, but this simply is not true!

There was a study done in 2007 at Arizona State between two groups. One group was eating high fat, moderate protein and low carb diet (keto.) And the other group was eating moderate fat, high protein, and moderate carb.

What did the study find?

The study found that both BOTH groups lost the same amount of weight and improved their health markers!

What this study shows us it’s not a particular diet or lack of carbs that help us lose weight, but it’s eating in a calorie deficit!

Additionally, it shows us how important it is eating a high protein diet when it comes to weight loss!

Is Eating Keto Sustainable?

The biggest problem that you may have with the keto diet is you won’t find it maintainable.

The reason being is you have to cut out almost all carbs and that can be hard to do!

Also, the likelihood of gaining the weight back you lose from being so restrictive can be extreme! 75% of people who diet and lose weight will gain it back in a year. 95% of people will gain it all back and then some in 3 years.

Therefore, if you are going to diet, do it in a sustainable manner!

If you feel like you can eat a ketogenic diet forever, do it!

However, if you feel like you cannot, eating in a balanced way while in a calorie deficit can be right for you!

Intermittent Fasting (I.F.)

Intermittent fasting is a fasted method of eating. The most common way you will see people do I.F. is the 16:8 approach.

What is the 16:8 approach?

This is where you eat all your meals in an 8 hour period and fast for 16 hours. You will see most people eat from 12-8 pm and then stop eating.

For some people eating this way feels better because they can eat larger meals in a shorter period, which helps them stay in a calorie deficit easier.

However, when it comes to losing weight, it is not superior.

A study was done where two groups ate an equal amount of calories, but one group ate in an I.F. manner, while the other group ate with there meals spread out.

The findings?

Both groups lost the SAME amount of body fat.

What this shows us it’s not fasting or eating a certain amount of meals that help with weight loss, it’s being in a caloric deficit!

For this reason, when it comes to the healthiest way to eat, it’s important for you to eat the way you like to eat.

If you enjoy eating larger meals in a shorter period, you can adhere to it and it fits your lifestyle, then yes, eat in an intermittent fasting way!

However, when it comes to weight loss, it is NOT superior.

Sugar-Free

surprisingly the healthiest way to eat can include sugar in moderation

Surprisingly, the healthiest way to eat can include sugar! You have seen claims that if you cut out sugar, you will lose weight.

However, it is not because you cut out sugar, it is because you’re cutting calories from your diet!

There has been a study done when where one group ate over 120 grams of sugar, while the other group ate 12 grams. The data showed that when calories are equal, both groups improved health markers and lost weight!

Therefore, it’s safe to conclude that eating in a balanced manner is the healthiest way to eat and to lose weight!

The healthiest way to eat is in a caloric deficit

Last Words

All in all, the healthiest way to eat is dependent on what you can make a lifestyle out of.

If you enjoy eating keto, then go for it!

Do you like eating in a fasted manner? Do it!

Like high or low sugar? Make it happen.

The key however to losing weight and being healthy is eating in a caloric deficit. By reducing your body fat and weight you can improve all health markers, regardless of the diet you go on!

And lastly, weight train hard! Proper weight training is absolutely vital when it comes to your overall well being and health!