The Problem with the Term “Fad Diet” (When Talking to Me)

Matthew Glover
Jul 10, 2017 · 5 min read

I just want to preface this conversation with the fact that, though I wasn’t directly called out, the criticism of the specific diet I am on has been a few times now. Maybe it’s the attention the diet is getting right now with it’s growing popularity, or maybe I’m just noticing it more because of Facebook algorithms that funnel anything about my specific diet, or diets in general, into my newsfeed. I can’t help but feel, however unjustified it may seem, that the criticisms come from how vocal I am about my specific diet.

Two recent conversations have really sparked this response. I will not name those specific conversations, to be honest, because they are irrelevant. They are irrelevant because they are the same old thing I hear all the time. These conjectures that are spoken on a regular basis are wrong, and by wrong I don’t mean they hurt my feelings and are therefore wrong. I mean to say they are wrong with a lot of the information they are giving out as conjecture against my specific diet. The main problem with the conjecture is thinking that science has settled on dietary guidelines and that there is a right, and a wrong answer. I hate to break it to everyone, but just like philosophy if you put ten dieticians and doctors in a room you’re going to get one hundred different opinions on nutrition. Also, about doctors, to add quickly, a lot of doctors will admit they only have a few hours of training on nutrition.

The other problem with the conjecture is, after slamming specific diets as “fad”, “unsustainable”, and “scientifically incorrect”, these conjecturers will applaud the success the diet has had and then tell individuals, “Whatever works for you.” Hey bro, you, literally, just slammed my diet for half an hour. You called it a fad diet, you said it was unsustainable, and you even mocked the science behind it without actually mentioning the science behind it. Blowing over points with, “it’s simply calories in, calories out,” is not addressing flaws in scientific logic. I’m going to add here that I am no scientist. I was actually pretty terrible at science, but what I am good at is listening to people.

“The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,
but a wise man listens to advice.” — Proverbs 12:15 (ESV)

There’s another problem. Everyone has an opinion, and everyone wants to give you advice. So how does one sift through this? A decision has to be made. Personally, I’ve tried a ton of diets. A lot of those diets included a lot of exercise. I would lose a lot of weight in a short period of time, but they weren’t sustainable, for me. A strictly calorie restricted diet left me really; really hungry, and I would always end up eating more because I was never satiated. This is personal experience, and that is something I had making my decision on the diet I am on now. Another experience I had in my decision was something that I recently took note of a few months ago. Every time I would eat I would be extremely tired. I would fall asleep, not even, ten minutes after consuming a meal. I didn’t know why, but I found the answer in the term insulin resistance.

I don’t want to go too in depth about insulin, what it is and what it does, I will simply tell you insulin plays a major role in metabolism. When blood glucose levels rise after a meal, insulin is released into the bloodstream to help muscle, fat, and liver cells absorb glucose to use as energy. Insulin also stimulates the liver and muscle tissue to store excess glucose as glycogen. Insulin Resistance is when these cells do not respond properly to insulin. Blood glucose, in turn, is not easily absorbed.[1]

So, even though I was consuming carbohydrates that turn into glucose, the energy from those carbohydrates were not getting into my cells. The response from doctors, and even the website I just used as a footnote is that your body needs more insulin to combat higher blood glucose levels. This is how type two diabetes is treated every day. However, if you suffer from insulin resistance, your body is already producing too much insulin! This is called hyperinsulinemia, and most type two diabetics (T2D) suffer from this.[2] Actually, insulin resistance is, by definition, tethered to hyperinsulinemia.[3] Also with higher levels of insulin hunger is increased as well. [4] Another facet of hyperinsulinemia and insulin resistance is that high levels of insulin inhibit your body from accessing your fat stores.[5] So if insulin levels are high your body will not access the fat from your gut, or your butt, or your thighs.

My family has suffered multiple generations of type two diabetes, and though I have not had my blood tested, I can confidently say I was suffering from insulin resistance, and probably pre-diabetes. The problem I have to combat is high levels of insulin. There are multiple ways to combat high levels of insulin, but the most effective is to eliminate foods that cause insulin levels to spike, or insulinogenic foods. I started by intermittent fasting, but then was guided to the Ketogenic diet. Though the primary goal of the Ketogenic diet is to reach a state of nutritional ketosis (using fat for the primary source of energy instead of glucose), the only way to achieve, what is known as, “fat adaption” one must lower insulin levels. This is achieved by reducing the amount of carbohydrates consumed. Also with the Ketogenic diet fat consumption is increased, and protein is consumed at moderate levels. I won’t go into the details of the macro ratios, but I will say that fat is consumed for satiated purposes, not as a goal of consumed calories to be reached. I made my decision based on wise counsel, and not some superfluous reason.

The problem I have with the term “fad diet” is because it is thrown around, especially about the Ketogenic diet. The definition of a fad is an intense and widely shared enthusiasm for something, especially one that is short-lived and without basis in the object’s qualities; a craze.[6] I will admit that the Ketogenic diet is on the rise. I’ve been seeing a lot of books, and hearing a lot of people talk about it. I’ve seen news articles, and segments on television. I am a part of numerous groups dedicated to the Ketogenic lifestyle, however I made my decision on the basis of the quality of the object, and not because it was a fad. If you Google Search the term fad diet you will reach numerous articles that spin negatively toward the term. Therefore, when the Ketogenic diet is lumped in with such a negative connotation it is devalued, my opinion is devalued, and the research I have done is devalued, at least in the view of the conjecturer. Also if you have been a conjecturer, and you have devalued an informed position don’t follow it up that you are happy it is working for me, because you obviously believe it will fail at some point. That I will fail at some point, because I am only following a fad, a trend, a craze.

[1] https://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/diabetes/overview/what-is-diabetes/prediabetes-insulin-resistance

[2] http://www.diabetes.co.uk/hyperinsulinemia.html

[3] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18227495

[4] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7935072

[5] https://intensivedietarymanagement.com/obesity-solving-the-two-compartment-problem/

[6]https://www.google.com/search?q=fad&oq=fad&aqs=chrome..69i57j0l5.1023j0j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

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