Categories of diet plans

The goal-oriented type with specific goals as the anchor, the physiological adaptation type with individual physical tolerance as the core, and the cultural preference type with culture and preferences as the yardstick. All the terms you have heard of such as ketogenic, Mediterranean, vegetarian, low GI, etc. are essentially the products of segmentation under the logic of these three categories. Many plans themselves even span two categories of attributes, so there is no need to rigidly apply either/or classification standards.

Let’s first talk about the goal-oriented type that everyone is most exposed to, right? After all, most people take the initiative to find a diet plan with a clear appeal-either they want to lose 10 pounds in 2 months, or they want to gain muscle in preparation for a competition, or they have high uric acid in their physical examination and want to reduce it quickly. Last year, I helped a runner prepare for a half-marathon with dietary planning. What he wanted was to quickly increase glycogen reserves 3 weeks before the race, which corresponded to a high-carbohydrate complex diet. There was no need to consider the need for fat loss at all, and everything revolved around the goal. This type of program is also the most controversial. For example, the ketogenic diet has been popular for almost 10 years. Supporters posted comparison pictures of themselves losing 30 pounds in 3 months and said it is a miracle drug for fat loss. Opponents pointed out cases from the nephrology department of a tertiary hospital, saying that long-term high-fat intake will increase the metabolic burden, and people with renal insufficiency cannot touch it. To be honest, this kind of dispute is essentially meaningless. The goal-oriented plan is a "stage tool". If you use it as a lifelong guideline, it is normal for problems to arise.

But just looking at the goal is not enough. I met a 20-year-old girl before. She followed an online ketogenic tutorial for two months and lost 12 pounds. However, her aunt ran away for three months and went to the hospital to check her hormone levels. She was in a mess. She originally had a body with high cortisol, and long-term lack of carbohydrates directly disrupted her endocrine system. At this time, she had to switch to the logic of physiological adaptation. This type of program does not have so many fancy publicity, and is mostly prescribed by clinical nutrition departments: a low-GI diet for diabetics, a no/low lactose diet for people with lactose intolerance, an allergen avoidance program for people allergic to nuts and seafood, and even a diet for pregnant women during pregnancy and a soft food program for the elderly, all fall into this category. Its core logic has never been "what do I want to get", but "what can my body accept?" There is no universal template, it all depends on the individual's examination report and actual body feeling - the same is drinking milk, others drink calcium supplements, and you drink dilute, then no matter how good nutrition is, it will be a burden to you.

In addition to goals and body, there is also a type of diet plan whose starting point has little to do with health or body shape. It is completely determined by culture and personal preference, which is what we call cultural preference type. For example, I have a friend who is a Buddhist and has been eating lacto-lacto vegetarians for more than ten years, and I have colleagues who insist on doing vegan in order to reduce their carbon footprint. My Hui friends follow a halal diet, and even many Chaoshan people can’t live without porridge and gongfu tea. As long as a long-term and stable dietary structure is formed, they can all be counted in this category. There are a lot of controversies surrounding this type of plan. There are always nutrition bloggers who say that a vegetarian diet will lead to B12 and iron deficiency, and that drinking porridge every day will raise blood sugar and is unhealthy. But if you ask the elderly who have been vegetarians all their lives, they use mushrooms, soy products, and fermented foods, and their physical examination indicators are better than those of young people who eat light meals every day. After all, diet is a part of lifestyle. As long as it is nutritionally balanced, there is no need to use unified standards to criticize different cultural choices.

In fact, if we really want to be honest, there are very few dietary plans that completely belong to a certain category. For example, the Mediterranean diet, which has been popular for many years, is not only recognized by the nutritional community as a physiological adaptation plan suitable for people with high blood pressure, but also a cultural diet that has been followed for thousands of years in southern Europe. It can also be used as a target diet plan for the fat loss period. For ordinary people, there is no need to worry about the classification or the "most scientific" name. Finding the one that can meet your goals, your body can withstand it, and you can still eat it is the most suitable plan for you.