Gluten-free diet
Mapholi’s top diet trends for 2018
Gluten-free diets have emerged in recent years, and this trend is likely to continue in 2018. Gluten-free diets are necessary for people with diagnosed coeliac disease or gluten sensitivity – not necessarily for weight loss purposes.
Gluten is a protein found mostly in wheat, barley, rye and some additives. Eliminating these foods from the diet does not necessarily result in lower calorie intake or induce weight loss. In fact, people who need gluten free diets should be monitored by a registered dietitian, or risk deficiencies.
Intermittent fasting
We can expect to see this trend, too, continue in 2018. Intermittent fasting means not eating anything for certain time intervals to achieve weight loss.
People may lose some weight because of reduced total food intake from skipped meals, but there is no concrete evidence to support this diet trend as an approach to sustained weight loss long-term.
Dietitians recommend three meals a day with snacks only when hungry.
Clean eating
Clean eating began with good intentions. People choose whole foods that are unprocessed, including home-cooked meals.
But for some this trend has developed into an obsession with only eating foods that are pure, and it’s become associated with restricting certain foods – something that can lead to deficiencies.
While cutting back on highly processed foods is a good idea, there is nothing wrong with having some processed foods from time to time.
To maintain a healthy lifestyle for the whole family all year long, Lee says it’s important for parents to take the lead. It involves more than just ensuring healthy eating – they should also include encourage exercise, limit screen time, and give up bad habits such as smoking.
Once these new, healthy practices are ingrained, you can reassess what the next step should be.
Lifestyle changes can include swopping sugary drinks for water, changing to whole grain starches, replacing a couple of weekly meat dishes with legumes, or starting to pack a healthy lunch for work. – Viwe Ndongeni