The Good:
Vegetarian/Vegan Diet: Catherine Shepherd, registered dietician at the IU Health Center, said participants need to ensure they are consuming enough nutrients, including calcium, vitamin D and iron.
“[It] can be extremely healthful, but you have to make sure you’re getting those key nutrients,” she said.
For vegans, she recommends a calcium and vitamin D-fortified almond milk in place of cow’s milk and getting foods high in iron like oatmeal, quinoa, beans and legumes.
“Someone could come to me and say they’re eating soda and potato chips and that’s a vegan diet, but we all know eating soda and potato chips isn’t healthy,” Shepherd said.
A vegetarian can get protein from dairy and eggs, but vegans rely on protein from other sources like beans, nuts and soy.
“There’s a product called seitan,” Shepherd said of the wheat gluten. “They make a lot of fake meat out of it. That would be a lean protein.”
Gluten-Free Diet: Going gluten-free is a healthier alternative than diets of white, processed breads or high in carbohydrates. However, many gluten-free products, like gluten-free pretzels and muffins, seem healthy but contain added sugar or are not whole grain. Shepherd recommended whole foods that are naturally gluten-free like rice, quinoa or potatoes over a gluten-free bread.
“You can eat a healthy diet and eat 100% whole wheat bread, which is very good for you,” she said of a non-gluten-free diet. “You can eat a very healthy gluten-free diet as well and eat whole grain rice and quinoa and lots of fruits and veggies and lean proteins.”
The Bad:
Paleo Diet: This diet avoids grains, legumes, processed foods and refined sugars. Some paleo users also avoid dairy.
The 130 grams of carbohydrates needed per day come from fruits and nuts instead of grains. Going below the minimum amount of carbohydrates poses health risks.
“It’s a little too restrictive for me,” Shepherd said. “I don’t believe grains are evil.” W
Shepherd said it does not create a healthy mindset to say one food group is bad, especially since her version of a healthy diet includes whole grains.
& The Ugly
Intermittent Fasting switches between phases of fasting and eating. Shepherd said she saw it frequently last spring, sometimes turning into students drinking lemon water with cayenne pepper and honey for a few days instead of eating.
“You really limit your calories on certain days of the week, kind of jump start weight loss, but you can eat more on other days,” Shepherd said. “I’m just not into it.”
Shepherd said she likes to promote generally healthy eating because extremism makes eating complicated and not fun.
The Atkins diet includes foods high in protein and fat but low in carbohydrates, recommending less than 30 grams of carbohydrates a day. When bodies lack carbohydrates needed to burn energy, they will burn fat instead and create ketones. Once built up, ketones turn blood acidic, causing dehydration and comas.
Shepherd said the diet is not sustainable for long periods of time and bodies will eventually crave carbohydrates.
“You don’t want to go lower than 130 grams of carbohydrate just because if you go below that, your body doesn’t have enough blood glucose to operate your brain and everything else,” Shepherd said.
