New Year 2019: THIS is the BIGGEST diet trend of 2018

Ever so often we come across diet trends that promise us to make you lose weight. Hence, it doesn't come as a surprise that the Internet throws up an overwhelming number of fad diets, from low card to liquid diet, from high protein to fat diet.

This year was no different. Fad diets aside, a lot of diet trends made a huge impact this year and it seems like we will be seeing and hearing a lot about them in 2019 too. Clearly four diets that gained the maximum popularity this year in India were Ketogenic diet, vegan or vegetarian diet, low card diet and intermittent fasting.

TOI Health and Fitness conducted a poll across social media to know about the biggest diet trends of 2018 and here are the results

The biggest diet trend of 2018 was clearly Ketogenic diet. With a 45 per cent majority, Keto diet ranked number one in the chart of popularity.

Aim

The goal of the diet is to utilise the fats in the body as energy source instead of glycogen (stored glucose/blood sugar).

How it works

Keto, the super-hot diet for this year basically consists of 75 per cent fats, 20 per cent protein and just 5 per cent carbohydrates.

After four days of low carb consumption, the body shifts to the state of ketosis where it starts burning fat instead of stored glucose. This can be tested easily through a blood or urine test.

Verdict

The weight loss that happens on a ketogenic diet is not sustainable. Keto diet can even lead to multiple nutrient deficiencies. Experts don't recommend keto for long-term weight management.

Dangers

The biggest danger of the keto diet is that it almost eliminates important core food groups by restricting the intake of vegetables, fruits, whole grain and dairy. All these foods are essential for our healthy well being.

24 per cent people voted for vegan diet, making it the second most popular diet of 2018. Vegan diet also created a buzz after the Indian cricket team captain Virat Kohli turned vegan this year in October.

READ HERE: Virat Kohli has turned vegan, should you too?

The diet includes everything vegetarian, minus dairy and eggs.

How it works

Vegan diet has become hugely popular because it benefits both- your body and the environment.

Verdict

There are a huge number of health benefits linked to vegetarian/vegan diet. Some of them include more energy, better skin, healthy weight and reduced risk of many chronic diseases.

Drawbacks

The only health concern about switching to a vegan diet is about creating iron and protein deficit in the body. However, researches have proved that vegan diet includes a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts and seeds that will meet your nutritional requirements and will not make you nutrient deficient.

Similar to keto, low-carb diet also gained huge popularity this year. In the poll, 17 per cent of the people voted for low carb diet.

Aim

Low-carb diet focuses on increased intake of animal protein and limits or prohibits the intake of carbohydrate. Even good carbs like whole grains, legumes, bread and fruits are to be completely avoided. The diet became popular because of the quick weight loss results it gave.

Verdict

Because healthy carbs like whole grains are linked to lower rate of many common diseases, so a diet that excludes these is not recommended for the general population.

Drawbacks

Removing important carbs from the diet may make you miss important nutrients and dietary fibre. Because carbs are present in most of the Indian foods we eat, it becomes tough to maintain the diet for a long time.

A lot of health experts are highly recommending intermittent fasting. Only 14 per cent people voted for Intermittent fasting, which made it rank number four on the list. Fasting has always been said to be beneficial for many things including weight loss, focus, energy and blood sugar.

How it works

Intermittent fasting requires you to fast for 16 hours every day for the same time frame. In most cases, people prefer eating all their meals between 12 pm to 8 pm. Intermittent fasting requires you to skip breakfast. Who says you can’t skip breakfast for a healthy self?

Verdict

Intermittent fasting is beneficial in two ways. It is great for weight loss and also helps in regulating insulin resistance.

Following this diet does not mean you have to cut down on your calorie intake. You can take your regular calories but only in one frame of time.

How to start

You can start by fasting for 12 hours a day and if it suits you, you can go up to 20 hours.

Different people get different results following the same diet. It will work or not, depends a lot on multiple factors. Hence, it is best advised to consult your doctor/dietitian before going on any kind of a diet plan.