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Pindara Private Hospital Magazine - Issue Four

Nutritio n & Fitness Diet Trends for 2015 Tech trends? Please! Who cares about the next phase of smartphone when we could be biting into an exciting new health food or diet trend for 2015? Losing weight and improving wellbeing aren’t new challenges, but each year there are new diets joining the force, with various ingredients and restrictions suited to different individuals. Is kale still the Queen of Green? Can we go back to carbs now? Here is a little taste of the diet direction that healthhunters are taking this year. The Pale o Diet The Paleolithic Diet, often referred to as the Caveman Diet or Hunter-Gatherer Diet, is designed to emulate the eating habits of humans during the Paleolithic era. The diet therefore prohibits any food that wasn’t available to us as cavemen, including breads, grains, dairy and legumes. Vegetables, fruit and meat are encouraged in high doses. The premise is that the human digestive system has not been able to adapt quickly enough to modern agriculture and production methods. Advocates say things like dairy, processed sugar and wheat have caused the spike in obesity, heart disease and diabetes in the 21st century. Despite some criticism, the Paleo Diet is predicted to rise in popularity in 2015, especially with advent of speciality cafés, recipe books and retreats around the country. Pick up The Paleo Chef recipe book by My Kitchen Rules judge and celebrity chef Pete Evans to learn more, or if you to taste the experience, try the Paleo Café in Burleigh Heads or Hunter & Harvest in Surfers Paradise. The 3-1-2-1 Diet When dieting, temptation is the demise of progress. Just one piece of chocolate cake can’t hurt. What about two? The 3-1-2-1 Diet is the counterblow to craving. Designed by US Biggest Loser’s trainer Dolvett Quince, it allows for two ‘naughty’ days per week, which allegedly eliminates junk food cravings for the week’s r emainder. It follows three days of clean eating – lean protein, green vegetables and good, starchy carbs such as sweet potato and wild rice – followed by one ‘cheat’ day of unrestricted eating, then two clean days and one more cheat day. Quince claims that by systematically decreasing and increasing calories, the body responds by maintaining the metabolic rate higher than usual. He claims this isn’t a yoyo diet, but a diet of balance. The Friend ship Diet Nothing says success like double success. Recent studies from Harvard Medical School and the University of California have proved that the Friendship Diet, dieting with a friend, shows significant results. It is said that our friendships dictate our motivation levels and consistency with eating regimes and exercise. This is due to the similar values, beliefs and goals shared within friendship groups. Findings show that we often don’t view our friend’s weight gain negatively and as a result tend to feel more comfortable with our own weight gain. Conversely, if the friends around us begin to lose weight, exercise more frequently and quit smoking, we will likely feel compelled to follow suit. What’s mine is yours, buddy. Good Housekeeping’s The Girlfriend’s Diet is a popular diet guide for friends who want to lose weight together, and there are a number of online clubs and blogs that provide Girlfriend Diet eating and exercise plan ideas. The Mono Meal Diet Based on simplicity and avoiding decision fatigue, the Mono Meal Diet is about choosing one hero ingredient for each meal of the day and nothing else. An example is watermelon for breakfast, mangoes for lunch and spinach for dinner. Simple, a little bland, but effective. The Mono Meal Diet improves digestion by cutting out crazy food combinations that can coagulate in the stomach. Eating one natural food also eliminates the additional, foreign ingredients found in condiments, sauces and extra add-ons. The diet also provides the opportunity to appreciate and reacquaint ourselves with the natural taste of wholefoods. No more “Is it the salad greens or the creamy Caesar dressing that I actually like?” The Vegetar ian Diet Environmental concerns, ethical dilemmas and digestive health are some of the forces behind the dramatic rise in vegetarianism and veganism around the world. In 2013, Roy Morgan Research indicated that around 10 per cent of the Australian population identified themselves as vegetarian, with a rise in people aged 14 and up agreeing 60 Pindara Magazine Autumn 2015


Pindara Private Hospital Magazine - Issue Four
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