The worst ways to lose weight are unhealthy and bad for the environment, new research has found.
People who are hoping to shed some pounds often turn to keto and paleo diets, but according to a Tulane University study, those weight loss methods rank among the lowest quality of food overall and among the highest in carbon emissions.
“We thought the weather was going to have a negative effect because they were meat, but nobody really compared all these foods — because people chose them, instead of what people said.” expert – to each other using a common method,” said the senior author. Diego Rose said in a statement on Tuesday.
Published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the study examined six popular diets using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Foods were assigned scores based on the Federal Healthy Eating Index and average scores were calculated for 16,000 people eating each type of food.
The keto diet – which counts Gwyneth Paltrow, Halle Berry and Kim Kardashian as famous devotees – is high in fat and low in carbs. The recommended diet produces about 6.6 pounds of carbohydrates for every 1,000 calories consumed.
The paleo diet, which avoids grains and beans in favor of meats, nuts and fruits, has the lowest calorie count and also has the highest carbon footprint, at 5.7 pounds of carbon. carbs per 1,000 calories.
Miley Cyrus and Uma Thurman are among the paleo dieters who focus on eating unprocessed foods that Rock fans can find or gather.
Vegan diets are low carbon, producing 1.5 pounds of carbon dioxide per 1,000 calories consumed – less than 25% of the CO2 produced by the keto diet.
The pescatarian diet (eating fish, but not animal meat) ranked highest in quality of processed foods, followed by vegetarian and vegan diets.
The study found that the omnivore diet (eating meat and vegetables) – the most common diet, eaten by 86% of those surveyed – ranked in the middle for quality and sustainability.
A study released in 2021 sponsored by the United Nations determined that 34% of air emissions come from the food system, namely food. Beef is responsible for eight to 10 times more emissions than poultry and more than 20 times more emissions than poultry. in nuts and legumes.
Researchers have found that if one-third of omnivores started eating vegetarian food, 340 million car miles could be eliminated per day on average.
“Climate change is one of the most pressing issues of our time, and many people want to move to a plant-based diet,” said Rose. “Based on our results, it will reduce your leg size and overall health. Our research also shows that there is a way to improve your health and your leg without giving up muscle.