Why Diets don’t Work: The Evidence
Most diets don’t work in the long term due to biological survival mechanisms and the unrealistic demands of diet culture.
Embracing sustainable, weight-neutral approaches can break the cycle.
The diet industry generates billions of dollars each year, promising life-changing transformations through weight loss. Despite these assurances, research and lived experience reveal that dieting rarely delivers sustained results. Here’s why diets don’t work the vast majority of the time.
The Science of Why Diets DOn’t Work
Often diets don’t work due to the body’s biological response to caloric restriction. When you reduce your calorie intake, the body perceives this as a threat to survival. As a result, several physiological mechanisms kick in to preserve energy:
1. Metabolic Adaptation: The basal metabolic rate (BMR) decreases as the body works to conserve energy. This means you burn fewer calories at rest, making it harder to maintain weight loss.
2. Hormonal Changes: Levels of ghrelin (the hunger hormone) increase, while leptin (the hormone that signals fullness) decreases. This hormonal shift intensifies hunger and makes it harder to resist overeating.
3. Set Point Theory: The body has a natural weight range it tries to maintain. When weight drops below this range, the body triggers mechanisms to regain it, including increased hunger and fat storage efficiency.
A 2016 study following participants from The Biggest Loser TV show demonstrated these effects. Even years after significant weight loss, participants' metabolisms remained slower than expected, contributing to weight regain.
The Cycle of Weight Regain
Weight regain is not just common—it’s the norm. Studies show that within two to five years, 80-95% of dieters regain the weight they lost, and up to two-thirds may end up heavier than before. This pattern, known as weight cycling, has physical and psychological repercussions:
1. Physical Health Risks: Weight cycling is associated with increased risks of cardiovascular disease, insulin resistance, and higher blood pressure. It also stresses the body, potentially leading to chronic inflammation.
2. Mental Health Consequences: The repeated failure to maintain weight loss can lead to feelings of inadequacy, low self-esteem, and disordered eating patterns.
The cycle of dieting, regaining, and dieting again creates a relentless loop that benefits the diet industry but harms individuals. When diets don’t work, consumer suffer while the industry prospers.
Diet Culture and Unrealistic Expectations
Diet culture equates thinness with health, beauty, and worthiness, perpetuating harmful stereotypes. These beliefs overshadow the reality that weight is a poor indicator of health:
1. Health is Multifaceted: Factors like genetics, socioeconomic status, access to healthcare, and mental well-being play a more significant role in health outcomes than weight alone.
2. The BMI Myth: Body Mass Index (BMI), often used as a marker of health, is a flawed metric. Originally developed as a population statistic, it doesn’t account for muscle mass, bone density, or fat distribution.
The societal obsession with weight loss reinforces stigma against larger-bodied individuals, making it harder for them to access unbiased healthcare and fostering discrimination in various aspects of life.
A Different Approach: Health at Every Size (HAES)
Health at Every Size is a weight-neutral paradigm that focuses on behaviors, not numbers on a scale. It’s rooted in principles of body respect, intuitive eating, and joyful movement:
1. Intuitive Eating: Instead of following restrictive diets, intuitive eating encourages listening to hunger and fullness cues, leading to a more sustainable and satisfying relationship with food.
2. Movement for Joy: Exercise is reframed as a way to enhance mental and physical well-being, rather than a punishment for eating or a means to control weight.
3. Focus on Holistic Health: HAES promotes overall health improvements—such as better blood pressure, improved mobility, and reduced stress—regardless of changes in weight.
Numerous studies support this approach, showing that HAES interventions improve health outcomes and psychological well-being without the risks associated with weight cycling.
The Takeaway
The diet industry thrives on the promise of transformation, but the reality is starkly different. Dieting is not only ineffective for most people but also potentially harmful. It’s time to shift the focus from weight loss to sustainable health behaviors. Rejecting diet culture and embracing a weight-neutral approach can free individuals from the endless cycle of dieting and self-blame, fostering a more compassionate and realistic path to well-being. By focusing on what truly matters—health, happiness, and self-respect—we can break free from the myths that dieting perpetuates.
