The Simplicity of Why Diets Work

The Surprising Truth Behind the Science of the Diet

Have you ever wondered why there are so many different diets that work?

Your best friend lost 50 pounds on a low-carb diet, but your cousin lost 50 pounds on a plant-based diet, while your aunt lost 50 pounds following Paleo.

Your dad got off his blood pressure medication following a low-sodium diet but your boss is salting his food like it's going out of stock and claims he has to “replenish his electrolytes”. Your friend's mom is treating her diabetes with a keto diet but you just saw an article on Facebook that says that a vegan diet is the best diet for diabetes.

How is it possible that all of these diets seem to work for so many different people? I think there are actually several reasons why different diets work and I’ve written about them here.

The main reason, I believe, is because of what most diets are not.

That may sound confusing but it’s actually simple. Most diets work because they remove hyper-processed foods from our diets.

While not all diet experts agree on what we should be eating, most will agree that no one should be following the standard American diet consisting of processed carbohydrates, refined grains, pro-inflammatory seed oils, refined sugar, and other toxic fake foods.

Look at the most popular diets. Keto, vegan, carnivore, vegetarian, paleo. The proper version of each of these diets recommended by nutrition experts consists of real whole foods.

If you look at nutrition research demonstrating that X diet led to an improvement in Y and Z, in most cases it is compared to the SAD diet. When you hear your co-worker saying they saw Y and Z benefit from X diet, chances are they were coming from the SAD diet.

It should come as no surprise that switching from eating the SAD diet to any other diet is going to provide some benefit. Broccoli instead of french fries and eggs instead of doughnuts will lead to health improvements in just about anyone.

Now I will say that I do believe some diets are better than others. Some diets add more nutrient-dense foods than others. Some diets induce a shift in metabolism. Some diets lead to better improvements in satiety and energy. This is all true and a big reason why I advocate for keto.

But to be honest, most of the benefits that people are experiencing even on a keto diet come from the transition away from the Standard American Diet to a more whole-food diet, and that’s a okay because it works.

Thanks for reading,

Chris Irvin

P.S. Perfect Keto’s 25% sitewide sale ends today so make sure to take advantage. If you’re new to the newsletter, I worked for PK for 4 years and helped formulate some of their products so I am obviously a big fan. The products I formulated is their Daily Electrolytes and Beauty + Sleep Collagen. I am also a big fan of their Keto Bars and their whey and collagen protein! You can also take advantage of the opportunity to sign up for early access to their new product coming soon: Super Reds.