Which diet is the healthiest long-term?

I wanted to see what people here think is the healthiest diet to follow long-term, and why.

I'm talking about for the "average" adult, not necessarily specific to your situation.

I have an opinion and have looked into this multiple times, but I'll try to keep an open mind.

 

Avoid saturated and trans fats and heavy sugar products and DONT smoke

 

Portion control and exercise.

What you eat is less important than the quantity that you consume versus what you use.

If your normal day burns 2400 calories don't 2500 because then you will eventually gain weight.

We evolved from creatures that spent most of their time obtaining food rather than sitting around doing nothing. Whatever we consume needs to be used up each day it is automatically stored as fat.

So the correct answer is a diet that BALANCES your needs.

 

It's true that gaining a lot of weight and being obese is a big deal for long-term health. But there's a few problems with the calories-in-calories-out approach. Granted, it's true that if you burn less than you eat you will gain weight. However, counting calories is a time-consuming task, and it's also hard to estimate how much you'll burn. Some types of calories you consume, such as oils and simple sugars, will leave you hungrier for more. There's something about the standard American diet that makes you want to eat way more than you need. Most people just aren't willing to spend time weighing food, counting calories, and feeling hungry most of the time, so a diet that better controls appetite is going to be an improvement.

Now, this is what the keto diet does well. Keto helps control appetite and for somebody who is morbidly obese and can stick to a bacon diet more easily than a fish or plant diet, it'll probably still be a net improvement for them. However, meats like bacon are class 1 carcinogens by WHO. This doesn't mean they're as bad as cigarettes, but it does mean the evidence pointing to their carcinogenicity is strong. All meats contain carcinogens, albeit not equally. High-heat cooking methods produce a lot of heterocyclic amines and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Beef has high levels of heme iron, a pro-oxidant carcinogen. On the other hand, high omega-3 fish is a bit ambiguous in terms of whether it's a net positive or negative. Fish has carcinogens at lower levels than beef, and the omega-3 is great, but there are other ways of getting omega-3.

A plant-based diet done well is going to be the healthiest option. Choosing lots of vegetables, fruits and legumes, getting plenty of fiber and antioxidants without meat has been shown to actually reverse atherosclerosis unlike other options and reduce the risk of cancers as well. Weight control is also easier on such a diet.

 

Avoid alcohol and cigarettes. Exercise. Eat plants.

 

I voted Paleo, which shouldn't be lumped with diets like Keto as that is a VERY low carb diet, high fat and moderate protein, where one must track macros religiously and carbs are kept at 5% of calories consumed. Atkins is a high protein very low carb diet. Paleo can be done in a low carb way, moderate or high, it is not a diet but more of a lifestyle.

Paleo is great because it's a very flexible way of eating. Meats (grassfed, organic preferred), veggies (no white potatoes but some in moderation), fruits, nuts and seeds and healthy fats from ghee, coconut oil, advocado oil, olive oil, etc. No grains, oats, legumes, soy, no or limited dairy, "bad" oils like canola, vegetable oil etc.

Paleo is good because you're getting your macronutrients and it can be adjusted to meet an individual's health goals. No need to really count macros as the food is satiating and people generally feel fuller because of more fat in their diet, but not too much saturated fat like in Keto or Atkins. Plus, if you go off Paleo and enjoy yourself on vacation or have a cheat meal, you don't have such harsh side effects like Keto (horrible!!). People visualize eating meat constantly and while some do, others don't eat as much of it.

I workout really hard (sometimes 6-7 days a week TWICE a day) and have an active lifestyle but also I have issues like Fibromyalgia and Chronic Ocular Migraines which can keep me down for awhile. I have found eating this way does help with symptoms and helps my endurance to train properly. Also Paleo has helped people with certain autoimmune diseases, diabetes, and other problems.

It's not just calories in/calories out, certain types of food cause one to be sluggish, fatigued, bloated etc like carbs (even complex carbs) and can effect one's fitness performance terribly. While others THRIVE off carbs and it gives them an energy boost. Every body reacts differently to certain foods, there is no one size fits all approach to diet. It's about finding a way of eating where you feel good and it fits your lifestyle. No matter what you do, CONSISTENCY is what gets results....

So now that I have written a novel on here...have a great day!

 

I follow the keto diet. It has helped me lose weight, get my blood sugar and blood pressure normal. Also---I eat one meal per day.

 

High Protein - Low Carb but not as strict as Keto. IMO.

 

Portion control. I've done every kind of diet imaginable during my life time. Up till about four years ago my life was an on-again-off-again diet. Then I tried 'portion control' and for the first time in my adult life I haven't needed to be concerned about my weight.

 

I'm on the "What's on Sale This Week" diet.

I tend to make sure I have on hand some meat/egg protein, some carbs (rice/potato/pasta/bread), and some "colorful" vegetables. Whatever's on sale.

I agree with portion control.

I've never been on "a diet" in my life. If my pants are too tight, I eat less. If they're too loose, I eat more. My weight varies plus or minus 5 pounds around a set point.

 

I am on the see food diet lol, I am fortunate to not have to worry about it. I think moderation is the key in all aspects of life.

 

All of the above. It all depends on YOUR DNA.

 

I can attest to that. I have a body pic of Mrs SEAL showing her figure, but she doesn’t want me to post it. Trust me, she is very physically fit.

 

It's the low carb group. Granted, it's higher carb than the other ones it is grouped with, but a truly high-carb paleo diet (70%+ of calories from carbs) would be unusual since the high-carb foods are cut out other than fruits. Eating lots of fruits is great for you, but usually people want something more substantial with it.

And I think the data shows that the premise of paleo is wrong. Things like soy and legumes in particular are amongst the healthiest things you can eat, other than other vegetables and fruits. I don't think there's much evidence that it matters whether our ancestors had access to it or not.

Here's a good study: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpub/article/PIIS2468-2667(18)30135-X/fulltext

It's a huge meta-analysis of adults followed for mortality outcomes and nutrition periodically checked. Key findings were: "In the meta-analysis of all cohorts (432,179 participants), both low carbohydrate consumption (<40%) and high carbohydrate consumption (>70%) conferred greater mortality risk than did moderate intake, which was consistent with a U-shaped association (pooled hazard ratio 1.20, 95% CI 1.09–1.32 for low carbohydrate consumption; 1.23, 1.11–1.36 for high carbohydrate consumption). However, results varied by the source of macronutrients: mortality increased when carbohydrates were exchanged for animal-derived fat or protein (1.18, 1.08–1.29) and mortality decreased when the substitutions were plant-based (0.82, 0.78–0.87)." And the substitutions were plant-based fats and proteins (soy, nuts, or legumes instead of e.g. grains which would trade carbs for protein and/or fat along with added fiber).

Another interesting, but small one was: https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/abs/10.1089/rej.2006.0529 (but you might not be able to see full-text if you're not on an academic campus)

Researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine recruited a group of sedentary vegans in their early 50s, and matched them by age, gender and BMI to long-term marathon runners on standard diets, and the control group were non-obese sedentary people on standard diets. A sample of their diets were monitored for a week, but was meant to be the same as what they had always done. The marathon runners had the best bodyfat percentages and HDL, but the sedentary vegans had the best LDL, blood pressure, and lowest carotid artery intima-media thickness. The last measure suggests that the vegans had the lowest risk of cardiovascular disease of the three groups. So eating a vegan diet did more for cardiovascular health than being a regular marathon runner. The marathon runners did better on every measure compared to the control group though. I'm not saying exercise doesn't matter - just less than diet.

Also notable was that the vegans had a high-fat diet (43% of calories from fat) - and so while some controlled trials have shown benefits with a low-fat vegetarian diet, the low-fat part doesn't appear to be critical.

That's great that you work out like that - definitely a benefit for health. As for the other points, people can attribute their feelings to various factors and they may or may not be correct. It's why I prefer to rely on studies.

There's confusion largely because the standard western diet is close to the worst possible diet for obesity, and so almost anything is an improvement over it for cardiovascular health. People who manage to lose weight on any diet will see improvement in their diabetes, for example. As you said, consistency is key there. But if they chose a route that is high in animal protein, there are other hazards in both cancer and cardiovascular risk. Not to mention the environmental issues.

 

Portion control is definitely the key to maintaining a certain weight. Once I switched over to portion control I immediately stopped gaining weight without ever feeling hungry or denying myself anything that I wanted to eat. I just do it all in moderation.

 

It's better vegan but supplement it with dietary iron so that you will not lose hairs, I could say more on tofu, spinach and the likes.

 

Yeah, I discovered you don't have to eat the whole piece of pie to enjoy having a piece of pie.

 

Eat what you love in moderation and don't sit around like a bump on a log.
Cutting out soda is a great idea though.

 

The healthiest diet is one with the correct portion sizes to maintain a lean physique.

 

Avoid trans fats
Don’t ever smoke
Don’t do drugs

 

The Model Diet.

If you can afford it.

 

Avoid corn syrup AKA don't eat anything diet!

 

Balanced diet. Man is omnivorous and does need animal protein.
But if I had to chose, I'd emulate the asian (japanese, korean, vietnam) culinary habits.

 

Portion-control is vital, along with daily exercise! I'll add something else to the discussion -- DRINK A GOOD AMOUNT OF WATER EVERY DAY! An adult male like myself -- about 195 lbs., 6' tall, and a 'senior citizen' -- I drink about a half-gallon of purified, filtered water every single day... sometimes more.

For over 45 years I have used a simple faucet-connected water filter device, because here in the U. S. we do an excellent job of killing viruses, bacteria, microbes, etc. in our public water supply with various poisons -- BUT THEN WE FAIL TO FILTER ALL THIS CRAP OUT BEFORE DELIVERING IT TO THE POPULATION! If you remember nothing else, remember this -- DON'T EVER DRINK CHLORINE!

Mine is a Multipure sink-top model that isn't even sold by Multipure anymore (I think I bought it in 1975...?), but I can still get the carbon-block filters from them! They've been around a LONG time, but there are other excellent water filtration companies, too.

 

It's not just fruits but some people eat sweet potatoes and occasionally even white potatoes depending on health goals and the impact on blood sugar levels. I personally follow a carb cycling approach to my paleo diet, meaning my carbs are based around my workouts and activity level. The combination of carbs from fruits, veggies and starchy vegetables can boost a carb count significantly. However, if my carb count is high my fat count is LOW as carbs and fats mix like oil and water. It's all about approach one can do paleo in a ketogenic form, low carb high protein, balanced or high carb even and also like veganism one can do Paleo all wrong and not reap its indended benefits. I see people eating all meat now (Carnivore Only Paleo) and that is just ridiculous, that's just asking for colon cancer and high cholesterol.

Almost everything else you stated I pretty much am in agreement. I will never bad mouth a plant based diet, I think a lot of people do it incorrectly, but the lifestyle itself is not bad. What I will refute is the key to a successful diet and health lifestyle is CONSISTENCY. Many individuals can't maintain a vegan diet and fail. Also from a personal standpoint as a former vegan of many years, my body fat was low, I did enjoy my diet. I love beans, grains, tempeh, nuts, fruits, etc...but I had many problems in maintaining it. One being, I am incredibly obsessive about my weight and body fat to an unhealthy point. Women with eating disorders typically flock to a vegan diet as an excuse to exclude pertinent food groups, in women who have prior eating disorders veganism can easily cause a relapse, some have the opposite, but others use veganism as an excuse of restriction. Also, I developed food allergies and intolerances to gluten and wheat. Grains like even the gluten free ones hinder my fitness performance and spike bloodsugar and cause me to crash. Not to mention eating a grain rich diet caused problems with other health issues I deal with such as ocular migraines and more. Realizing the negative effects grains and a lot of starches had left me feeling there wasn't enough variety to maintain a vegan diet so it also wasn't easy for me to enjoy as I once did. I share my personal side because it is common in many individuals not just myself.

We can all post scientific studies, but no body is the same. I choose paleo because I still am getting all my nutrition needs met, I don't get as obsessive about my numbers (yes still have an obsession though), I overall feel better, my hormones are in balance, my fitness level is at peak performance therefore it works because I feel good while getting me to my personal goals, and that is something that keeps people on track with whatever diet they choose.

I read studies, and I test them out on MYSELF as again DNA, health issues, lifestyle all play a role. People that react poorly to gluten, soy, dairy or if starchy foods cause you to feel groggy, brain fog, bloated, leaky gut syndrome, candida, etc greatly benefit from a Paleo lifestyle as opposed to the standard vegan diet. I recommend reading articles by Dr. Josh Axe as a lot of his articles and books have helped me tremendously.

**side note: to those that eat whatever you want in a portion control state, I envy your discipline. I am not one that can just eat one doughnut, or half an entree, a small helping of pasta if I eat those foods I only want more and more and I become a bottomless pit of Woman Vs. Food! I could make an all you can eat buffet want to change their policy....which is another reason I try to obstain from carb rich foods and junk...no off switch Lol***