Diet Trends: From weight loss to being healthy

By Jennifer Huang and Jessica Tra Nguyen

Diet trends have become very popular throughout the years. With the help of social media, diet trends have been (and still are) a huge driving factor for individuals to live a healthier lifestyle. We begin to explore the evolution of diet trends and how it has affected the mindset of individuals and their views on health and food consumption.

Past

1930s-40s : Smoking and The Master Cleanse

-Models and celebrities have gotten the idea that smoking keeps you thin (ad campaigns supported this)

-The Master Cleanse, developed by Stanley Burroughs, allowed only lemon juice, cayenne pepper and maple syrup.

1960s : Support Groups

-A group of compulsive eaters formed Overeaters Anonymous. In 1961, Jean Nidetch invited her friends over to talk about weight loss. 2 years later, she formed Weight Watchers.

1970s : Diet Pills

-Some claimed to stop the body’s absorption of carbs. In essence, they promised you could stuff your face with pizza and bread without consequences. Appetite suppressant.

1990s : Low Carb Atkins

-The Atkins diet was a reaction against ideas in the 1980s that you need a high-carb diet. People who ballooned from the carbs fell in love with Dr. Atkins.

Present

Organic and Juicing

Diet Delivery

Celebrity Endorsed Diets

Nutritional Phone Apps/Interactive games

Superfood

-It’s a title we used to only hear in relation to red wine and blueberries but now it has been bestowed upon countless fruits, vegetables, legumes and nuts. Superfood antioxidants are fight aging and help the body run optimally.

Paleo Diet

-People are claiming that modern and processed foods are to blame for unhealthy eating habits, insisting that we should instead take an “evolutionary approach” to our diets and turn to foods that were eaten by our Paleolithic ancestors.

— Paleolithic diet menu:

1. meats and eggs are perhaps the most important components come from are fed a natural organic diet.

2. vegetables are encouraged but if it can’t be eaten raw, don’t eat it, potatoes and other starchy tubers is an area of varying opinions

3. fruits, nuts and seeds are generally allowed. but limit the amount and no peanuts.

Future

Back to Basics

-Getting away from highly processed foods and back to whole foods.

-A turn away from the “strictly weight loss diet book” and a move towards what he calls “whole health” eating–diets that not only help us lose weight, but live a healthier lifestyle.

Vegetarianism

-The environmental costs of meat consumption ( Animal protein requires 5 to 10 times water to produce than plant-based foods, the world’s population may have to switch almost completely to a vegetarian diet over the next 40 years to avoid catastrophic shortages)

— protein food other than meat

Protein is a macronutrient, an essential nutrient required in relatively large amounts for human health.

1. eggs, cheese and milk are all protein-rich foods

2. All soy products are excellent food sources of high-quality protein.

3. Some nuts are an excellent source of protein. Almonds are particularly protein-rich

Works Cited

“7 Decades of Wacky Dieting Trends.” Glamour Magazine. 22 March 2009.

http://www.today.com/id/29795998/ns/today-today_health/t/decades-wacky-dieting-trends/#.UX575aPD_cs

Dvorsky, George. “Why Eating Like We Did 20,000 Years Ago May Be the Way of the Future.”

http://io9.com/5917339/why-eating-like-a-caveman-may-be-the-way-of-the-future

Bouchez, Colette. “Diet and Fitness Trends: What the Future Holds for our Eating and Exercising Habits.”

http://www.webmd.com/diet/features/diet-and-fitness-trends