Now that summer is over and New Year resolutions of eating well have fallen away, Australia's leading nutrition body is warning against quick-fix diets.

According to a Newspoll survey commissioned by the Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA), almost half of Australian adults (46 per cent) tried to lose weight in the 12 months to November last year.

But only one in five thought they had been 'very successful'.

DAA Spokesperson Dr Trent Watson said fad and detox diets set people up to fail, and are not helpful in tackling Australia's obesity problems.

Dr Watson, an Accredited Practising Dietitian, said: 'These diets are commonly short-term, cut out core food groups resulting in nutritional imbalance, and aren't sustainable. It's simply not an option to eat nothing but cabbage soup, grapefruit or raw foods for any length of time.

'To keep weight off over winter, forget the fad diet and ditch the detox. It's important that efforts to lose weight incorporate healthy lifestyle changes that can be sustained long-term. This way you'll not only look good over winter, but for many summers to come as well.

'Weight loss is not rocket science. You need to reduce your kilojoules (calories) by cutting back the amount you eat and increasing the energy you burn up through exercise. But the truth is changing your eating habits to lose weight is a challenge. Accepting that the long-term approach is needed will stop you getting distracted and confused by the promises of detox and fad diets.

'A good 'diet' has the right amount of energy to keep you at the weight you desire, meets your nutritional needs, is practical and suits your lifestyle, tastes and preferences. And regular physical activity is important if you're trying to lose weight.

'An Accredited Practising Dietitian can help you lose weight and keep it off because our advice is based on fact not fiction. We can tailor a plan you can follow for life.'

Dr Watson's tips to help identify a fad diet:

- It promises you'll lose weight without making any changes to your eating or exercise habits
- It tells you to restrict whole food groups, or to avoid combining certain foods
- It promises fast weight loss (a reasonable amount to lose is 0.5-1kg per week)
- It promotes a special pill, potion or one type of food
- It claims to 'burn fat', 'block fat', 'cleanse', 'detox' or 'melt away fat'
- It makes reference to 'latest breaking research' without any information on how to find this research.

Visit the Smart Eating For You section of the DAA website daa.asn.au for more ideas and tips on healthy eating.

The Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA) is the professional body representing dietitians nationally. Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD) is the only national credential recognised by the Australian Government, Medicare, the Department of Veterans Affairs and most private health funds as the quality standard for nutrition and dietetics services in Australia. For more information visit daa.asn.au

Source
Dietitians Association of Australia