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These days, a new health diet seems to come and go every week. With each new diet, there’s the requisite trashing of the old ones. Should I go vegan? No, carnivore is better! Paleo? Uh, uh, stick with Mediterranean! The litany of advice and proclamations can get a bit tiresome after a while. The sheer number of different dietary plans out there can make this all very overwhelming. It can get to the point where changing your diet seems like a pointless exercise - you’re almost certain to get something wrong, according to someone! However, we all know the expression, “You are what you eat”. It’s true that what you put in your body will have a massive impact on your health. So, it’s worth it to review your current food choices and see if there is room for improvement. Sometimes, going with a certain diet protocol can be helpful to guide one’s food choices. As I mentioned, there is no shortage of diet plans to choose from. But which diet is the right one? Let’s look at some of the most well-known diets and determine which of them would be best for your health. Before we get to that, I’d like to answer the question: “Why follow a diet in the first place?” Why Follow A Diet? There are many reasons to find a pre-existing diet program and stick to it. A few of these reasons include: Weight loss Detoxification To identify food sensitivities or food allergies To combat chronic inflammatory and auto-immune conditions To manage other medical conditions Some health issues, like weight loss and detox, may require a relatively short stint on the diet protocol to achieve your goals. For other conditions, you might need to make long-term or even life-long dietary adjustments. Celiac Disease (an inflammatory bowel condition that is triggered by gluten-containing foods) usually requires long-term or life-long avoidance of gluten. Someone diagnosed with diabetes may need to restrict sugar and carbohydrate intake for some time to restore blood sugar balance. So, which diet is best for you will depend on what your goals are and whether you are managing a serious health condition. Some Popular Diets 1. Paleolithic (Paleo) Diet The idea of this dietary method is to mimic the pre-agricultural, hunter-gatherer diets of the Paleolithic period. The reasoning with Paleo is that it gets us close to our “original diet” which consisted of whole, unprocessed foods. The Paleo Diet eliminates all grains, legumes, dairy products, potatoes, processed sugars, and processed oils. Foods that you are encouraged to eat include whole fruits and vegetables, meat, eggs, nuts, seeds, and healthy fats, like olive oil and coconut oil. Even small amounts of wine and coffee are allowed. The macronutrient breakdown of the Paleo Diet is moderate to high protein, low carbohydrate, high fibre, and moderate to high fat. A sample Paleo meal would look like: grilled chicken with a green salad that includes pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, and a vinaigrette of olive oil and apple cider vinegar. A common pitfall of the Paleo Diet is to overconsume meat and under consume vegetables. As with many restrictive diets, there is also a tendency to not eat enough calories over the course of the day. So, make sure to add healthy oils, nuts, and seeds to maintain your intake of fuel. Paleo can be very helpful for those looking to lose weight, balance blood sugar, and manage chronic inflammation. It is also nutrient rich, making it a good choice for many as a long-term maintenance diet. A version of this diet, the Autoimmune Paleo Diet, is often useful for those dealing with autoimmune conditions. 2. Ketogenic (Keto) Diet The Ketogenic Diet is an updated version of the Low Carb/Atkin’s type diets of the past. In contrast with the previous diets, however, Keto exchanges high protein for high fat. The macronutrient profile looks like this: low carbohydrate (5% of daily calories), moderate protein (15-20% of daily calories), and high fat (75-80% of daily calories). Foods to avoid on the Keto Diet are grains, starchy vegetables, certain fruit, processed oils, and alcohol. Good food choices on Keto include oils (coconut, olive, avocado), butter, non-starchy vegetables, meat, eggs, nuts (pecans, walnuts, macadamia nuts, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts), seeds, some full-fat dairy, some legumes (green beans, snap peas, fermented soy), and berries (blackberries, raspberries, strawberries). The low carb and high fat intake of this diet produces fat breakdown products called ketones, an effect known as “ketosis”. Instead of using primarily sugar (glucose) for fuel, the body can use the ketones, which provide a much more even energy supply. A typical example of a Keto meal would be: avocado and grilled chicken strips with steamed broccoli, garlic, and olive oil on the side. The Ketogenic Diet is great for those looking to lose weight, balance blood sugar and cholesterol levels, improve brain function, and to prevent cancer. If you’re considering the Keto diet, take note that some people can experience what’s called the “keto flu” when starting out. This often involves headaches, fatigue, mood swings, muscle aches, and other flu-like symptoms for up to several days. Making sure to get plenty of water and fibre (like ground flax seed or chia seed) on Keto is critical for avoiding the worst of it. The standard Keto diet is restrictive and is not often recommended as a long-term diet. However, a modified version of it, that allows a bit more daily carbohydrate, may be suitable on an ongoing basis for some. For those who prefer to stick to a vegan or vegetarian diet with the benefits of Keto, there is a “ketotarian” version that substitutes nuts, seeds, legumes, and algae (spirulina, chlorella) for meat, dairy, and eggs1. 3. Acid-Alkaline Diet The purpose of the Acid-Alkaline Diet is to optimize the acidity, or “pH”, of the body. All bodily functions, including energy production, digestion, nerve function, and muscle contraction, depend on biochemical reactions. These reactions require proteins, called enzymes, to facilitate (catalyze) them. An enzyme’s function depends on the surrounding acidity level, or “pH”. If the acidity is too high (low pH) or too low (high pH), the enzyme cannot do its job and the biochemical reaction slows down. Most people who consume a “SAD” (Standard American Diet) are too acidic. So, their enzymes may not be running optimally. With the Acid-Alkaline Diet, foods that promote an acidic environment, like meat, eggs, alcohol, coffee, and grains, are minimized or eliminated. Foods that help create alkalinity, including green vegetables, fruit, lemon and lime juice, nuts, and legumes, are emphasized. Macronutrients are not closely tracked with this diet, but it’s generally a good idea to de-emphasize certain carbs, like grains, and not to overdo protein. A typical alkaline-promoting meal would be: lentil cauliflower curry with green salad and apple cider vinegar vinaigrette. The Acid-Alkaline Diet can sometimes be appropriate on a long-term basis as long as you’re careful to get enough calories and you identify any foods that you may be allergic or sensitive to. Like the previous two diets we covered, Acid-Alkaline can facilitate weight loss. It also may be beneficial to those looking to detox the body and reduce inflammation. 4. Low Histamine Diet For those who are dealing with chronic or recurring allergic symptoms, a Low Histamine Diet may be helpful. This includes people with seasonal allergies, eczema, hives, and even asthma. Allergic-type conditions are characterized by elevated levels of histamine in the body, which is the trigger for allergy symptoms2. People with allergic conditions often have histamine intolerance. So, anything that increases histamine levels in the body may trigger the symptoms. The purpose of the Low Histamine Diet is to eat foods that generate minimal levels of histamine and avoid those that cause elevated histamine. In addition to preventing allergy symptoms, the diet has anti-inflammatory effects and can help with detoxification. There are several categories of foods that can be problematic for allergies: histamine-containing foods, histamine-liberating foods, and histamine-breakdown blocking food. It’s important to severely limit or avoid all three of these categories if you want to minimize histamine-triggered symptoms. Histamine-containing foods include alcohol, pickled or canned foods, matured cheeses, smoked meat products, shellfish, beans and pulses, nuts, chocolate and other cocoa based products, vinegar, ready meals, salty snacks, and sweets with preservatives and artificial colourings. Histamine-liberating foods include fruits (kiwi, lemon, lime, pineapple, plums, papaya), cocoa and chocolate, nuts, beans and pulses, tomatoes, wheat germ, and food additives (benzoate, sulphites, nitrites, glutamate, food dye). Foods that can interfere with the breakdown of histamine include alcohol, black tea, green tea, mate tea, and other energy drinks. Does that seem like a lot of foods? If you’re wondering what you can eat on this diet, luckily, that list is pretty long too. Low histamine foods include fresh meat, freshly caught fish, chicken, egg yolk (and white if it’s cooked), most fresh fruits, fresh vegetables, wheat-free grains, cream cheese, butter, leafy herbs, and herbal teas. A good example of a low histamine meal is steamed broccoli and quinoa topped with shredded mozzarella cheese. It’s not crucial to track macronutrients with this diet, but don’t overdo protein and carbs. Provided that you’re eating a wide variety of fresh fruit and vegetables, the Low Histamine Diet may be appropriate on a long-term basis. Keep in mind that histamine is not the only factor that can cause a food to be a problem. Make sure to rule out food sensitivities, like those to gluten and milk proteins. 5. Mediterranean Diet Many of the diets above involve significant restrictions and may not be appropriate as a long-term diet solutions. Fortunately, there is an option for those that don’t have major health issues and just want to eat an overall healthy diet. The Mediterranean Diet is based on the traditional diets of that region, like those of Italy and Greece. It is not a single set of dietary rules but an overall blend of similar eating patterns. You can sum up the Mediterranean Diet in two words: whole foods. That means eating minimally processed, fresh, mostly plant-based foods, in other words: real food. Foods to be eaten daily with this diet include vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and healthy fats (coconut oil, olive oil, and avocado oil). Fish, poultry, legumes, and eggs can be consumed about 1-2 times per week each. Small portions of dairy products are allowed, whereas red meat intake should be limited. Moderate red wine consumption is often permitted. An example of a Mediterranean meal is: grilled salmon with a warm grain salad that includes zucchini, tomato, olive oil, garlic, and oregano. The Mediterranean Diet is great for general health maintenance, but research points to its strong cardiovascular as well. A study performed in 2018 concluded that subjects following a Mediterranean diet that includes nuts and olive oil had a lower risk of a major cardiovascular event (heart attack, stroke) compared to those on a low-fat diet3. This diet is often a good choice for a long-term diet plan since it’s not heavily restrictive and simply encourages the eating of real food. However, don’t overlook the fact that many people can have sensitivities to wheat, dairy, and nightshade vegetables, like tomato, potato, eggplant, and peppers. If you learn that you’re sensitive to one or more of these foods, make sure to adjust the diet accordingly. What To Consider With Diets? This list of diet regimens I have presented above is certainly not exhaustive. Other examples of popular diets include the Blood Type Diet, Low FODMAPs Diet, Dr. Gundry Diet, and the Whole 30 Diet. It’s also possible to follow a more generalized diet, like a vegan and vegetarian one, where you avoid all or some animal products, respectively. As well, some diet plans give the option to adapt it to a vegan or vegetarian lifestyle. A common theme to the diets we’ve covered is the emphasis on whole, natural, and minimally processed foods with a good variety of plant-based options. No diet is right for everyone. Some diets may be good for long-term use and others only for limited periods to achieve short-term goals. It can sometimes be helpful to consult with a qualified health professional for guidance on what diet program is right for you. A practitioner can also help you to discover if you have any food allergies or sensitivities. If you have a health condition or are on any medication, check with your health practitioner before embarking on any major changes to your diet. With a bit of effort, you can find a healthy diet plan that works for you! https://drwillcole.com/ketotarian https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/articles/24854-histamine https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29897866/ Book An Appointment With Nardini Naturopathic Are you interested in finding out if you have a nutrient deficiency? Or perhaps you’d like a review of your overall diet to see where you could be doing better. Maybe you have food allergies or intolerances and worry you aren’t getting enough nutrients because of your restricted diet. I’m Dr. Pat Nardini, a naturopathic doctor who offers nutritional counseling services to help ensure all of those gaps in your diet are filled, and that you’re getting enough of all the important nutrients which your body needs to function at its best. Contact me today for more information, or book a free 15-minute consultation where I will help you understand how naturopathic medicine can help you.