Which should you prioritize, counting calories or macronutrients? Cut carbs or cut fat? Have you tried consuming double the quantity of protein that is recommended? Triple? Or maybe a protein shake?
Finding an eating plan that will set fat on fire and what diet is best for losing fat shouldn’t be too tough. To our relief, the International Society of Sports Nutrition has now published its position paper. This study examines all of the previously conducted scientific research in order to describe how the various diets would influence the body composition of the individual following them. In this article, we have selected five of the most effective diets for weight loss, as well as the reasons why they can be good (or incorrect) for you.
5 Best Diet Plans for Weight Loss
1. Low-fat diet
Calorie Consumption: Getting 70-80% calories from protein and carbs and 20-30% from fat.
A low-fat diet is centered on the premise that cutting down on the calorie-dense macro will aid you to eat less calories overall. This theory is supported by the Institute of Medicine and has been advocated for by the organization. Studies have shown that moving to a diet low in fat will help you reduce body fat more rapidly, but this does not always mean that it will help you lose fat over the long run.
Consuming food in this manner encourages the perpetuation of an outmoded notion that the enemy of body fat is dietary fat. In addition to this, it is not always superior to other diets. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition did a comparison of diets that were high in protein, normal in protein, high in fat, and low in fat. The researchers discovered that there was no significant difference in the amount of fat loss experienced by any of the groups after either 6 months or 2 years. In addition, the low-fat group was expected to restrict its consumption of the macro at 20 percent, but their actual intake was near to 26-28 percent, which suggests that adhering to a rigorous low-fat diet is fairly challenging and may be impractical for the majority of people.
2. Low-calorie Diet
Calorie Consumption: 800 to 1,200 calories per day
The only reason to drastically reduce the number of calories you consume on a daily basis (and go beyond what most people would consider reasonable) is to lose weight as quickly as possible. According to the analysis of the study, this method is effective, and it does so while preserving lean muscle mass as much as possible.
However, in our experience, limiting the number of calories you consume will likely result in a great deal of internal stress and strife. In addition, we believe that eating should be enjoyed rather than feared, and a diet of 800 calories does not allow much space for the satisfaction of the taste sensations. Lastly, if you are currently eating two to three times more than this amount, reducing your daily caloric intake to this low can damage your metabolism and slow weight loss. This is because dropping to such a low caloric intake can cause your body to store more fat.
3. Low-carb Diet
Calorie Consumption: 15-40% calories from carbs, 60-85% from fat and protein
Studies have shown that switching to a diet with low carbohydrates from a regular diet may considerably lower the amount of body fat a person has when compared to eating a typical diet. If you limit your consumption of carbohydrates to no more than 20 percent of your total daily calorie intake, you will not only get improved weight reduction outcomes, but you will also lower your chance of developing cardiovascular disease and stroke.
According to the findings of several studies, low-carb diets may be even more beneficial than low-fat diets. One research that was published in the Annals of Internal Medicine indicated that participants who restricted the number of carbohydrates they consumed lost an additional eight pounds compared to those who reduced the amount of fat they consumed.
If you reduce the number of carbohydrates you eat by a certain amount, your body will begin to use fat for fuel instead. Although studies on the effects of low-carb diets on performance have produced conflicting results, there is some evidence to indicate that endurance performance may actually increase in persons whose bodies can adapt to fat-burning rather rapidly.
Making your body learn to burn fat instead of carbohydrates takes time, you will feel sluggish during the time it takes to adapt to fat, and you will need to have patience with yourself during this period. And since not all bodies oxidize fat in the same manner that they do carbohydrates, your endurance may never catch up to theirs.
If you want to maintain your body’s capacity to create energy, you need to take carbohydrates; thus, if you like sprinting or high-intensity interval training, you may need to consume more carbohydrates than those who are following a low-fat diet. Studies have shown that the increased protein content of a low-carb diet is more effective in promoting weight reduction than the lower carbohydrate count.
4. Ketogenic Diet
Calorie Consumption: Less than 10% from carbs, 10-30% calories from protein, and 60-80% from fat.
The ketogenic diet is distinct but it is technically a subtype of the low-carb diet. You can raise your levels of ketone bodies, which is basically a sign that your body is running on fat, by depriving the body of carbohydrates. This will not only force the body to be fat-adapted, but it will also raise your ketone body levels if you keep your protein intake low at the same time.
Following a ketogenic diet will put your body into a special metabolic state known as ketosis. During this condition, your brain will burn ketones rather than glucose, which is claimed to contribute to improved mental clarity. According to the analysis of the research, consuming such a big quantity of fat considerably boosts the body’s capacity to burn body fat. This finding applies to the physical body. According to research, athletes who follow the keto diet have a greater VO2 max and they are also able to reduce their body fat without sacrificing their strength or power.
The same research that discovered the positive aspects of being a keto diet athlete found that dieters who followed the ketogenic diet had a poorer exercise economy (efficient use of oxygen while you are moving). Eating too many grams of protein or carbohydrates will knock the body out of ketosis, so one has to remain committed to see the benefits of this one.
And while pretty much every other diet offers flexibility in the macro range, eating a few too many grams of either will knock your body out of ketosis. Last but not least, the very low amount of protein that must be consumed each day in order to maintain ketosis may be a factor here. According to the findings of research on Nutrition, Metabolism, and cardiovascular diseases, increasing the amount of protein consumed on a keto diet only by five percent resulted in a threefold increase in the loss of fat.
5. High-protein Diet
Calorie Consumption: 25% percent of calories from protein.
Increases in protein consumption have been shown in research to be one of the most consistently helpful of all the diets discussed here. These diets assist participants considerably to decrease body fat and develop lean muscle. A study that was published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that in just four weeks, men who did resistance training ran sprint intervals, and consumed a diet that contained 2.4 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight per day (roughly 1 gram per pound of bodyweight) gained 1.2 kilograms of lean muscle while losing almost five kilograms of fat.
If you reduce the number of calories, you consume but maintain a high protein intake, this macronutrient may help prevent your metabolism from slowing down and help keep the hunger at bay. Protein is very satiating. In contrast to popular belief, the results of the research proved that consuming a lot of protein-rich foods did not result in weight gain or damage to any of the body’s internal systems.
Because of the emphasis placed on protein, it is easy to forget that you also need to consume sufficient amounts of fat and carbohydrates in order to fuel your exercises. Because of this, it is important to monitor both your energy levels and the other macronutrients. That is a significant drawback. The only other potential drawback that emerged from the research was that consuming a diet high in protein may hinder your attempts to put on weight because of how well it suppresses appetite.
Takeaway
When it comes to knowing what diet is best for losing fat, it is essential to keep in mind that there are no easy shortcuts. Consuming a diet that is both nutrient-dense and well-rounded is the most effective strategy for achieving and maintaining a healthy weight.
