Katherine Johnson

Brandi Bradley
ENC 2135
February 24, 2016
Dieting: The Good and the Bad
The real question is, what even is dieting? Is it a lifestyle of constantly limiting different
types of food and not eating much or is it a lifestyle that contains variety and balance? There are
many different definitions of what dieting actually is. Johanna T. Dwyer, who wrote The Social
Psychology of Dieting, gives the definition of dieting as the word dieting covers a multitude of
different types of eating behaviors. Some persons believe that they are dieting when they
substitute non-calorie sweeteners for sugar, while others consider they are doing so only when
they are subjecting themselves to a total fast (Dwyer 270). In this day and age dieting has turned
into an industry which will says just about anything to get attention and get money. The problem
with the dieting industry is that there are so many contradicting statements, that make it near
impossible to know what is actually true and what is false. Another problem with dieting is the
different forms out there. There are dieting programs, diet plans, diet pills, etc. An unanswered
question of dieting is whether the different methods of dieting are good or bad and the effects
they have on the body.

Dieting is a big issue within the nutrition community. The nutrition community is made
up of nutritionist, dieticians, doctors, etc., who are there to help guide people to healthy lifestyles
based on different dietary needs. There are individual communities like the NANP, National
Association of Nutritional Professionals, and the ASN, American Society for Nutrition, that

make up the nutrition community. These organizations have websites, newsletters, monthly
emails, seminars, etc., which allow them to get together and talk about the issues within the
community. This community would be considered and informational genre, because when they
get together to talk about these issues they share their knowledge about the subjects and learn
from each other. Then they share their finding with the world via academic journals, articles,
newsletters on certain organizations websites, and seminars, or talks. These forms of
communication use a digital medium which allows easy access for most of the public. All types
of mode are used, the information can be text-based, visual, or audio.

Dieting habits can start at any age and can be potentially harmful to certain people.
Dwyer states that excessive weight deviations tend to be more common and severe among
adults than adolescents, yet adults are much less concerned about their weights and less apt to
take remedial measures than teenagers (271). The stress that society and peers puts on
adolescents drives their need to always be dieting and loosing weight. People who are affected
by the stress that society and peers put on them typically go through a sequence of events that
may result in dieting (1) recognition of a weight problem; (2) decision to remedy it; (3) choice of
source of treatment; and (4) choice of method of treatment (Dwyer 272). A study was done that
compared adolescent non-athletes to adolescent athletes who represent a group that most closely
embodies an ideal of physical perfection (M 70). The study found that an improvement of
appearance was a more common reason for dieting among controls compared with athletes (M
70). This proves that society and peers put pressure on adolescents to look a certain way and
weigh a certain weight which could potentially lead to very harmful measures of dieting. While
society and peers are putting pressure on adolescents, some adolescents get another source of

pressure from coaches. The study found that even though the adolescent athletes are supposed to
represent an ideal of physical perfection that some highly trained elite athletes diet and are
dissatisfied their bodies (M 70).
An idea that has been bouncing around for a few years is that all the dieting can lead to
weight gain later in life. A.G. Dulloo states that there are studies showing that dieting predicts
future weight gain. Dulloo, wrote How dieting makes the lean fatter: from a perspective of body
composition autoregualtion through adipostats and proteinstats awaiting discovery, which
considers the idea of whether dieting is a causative factor for subsequent weight gain and
contributes to current obesity epidemic has been a subject of considerable debate (27). The
habits of dieting formed as and adolescent can severely affect the future, but most have no way
of knowing this. Some things that dieting as an adolescent can lead to are preoccupations with
food and food obsession have often been described long after episodes of food deprivation or
dietary restraint, and the central tenet of proponents for a causative impact of dieting on future
weight gain and obesity centers, upon the notion that dieting and in particular unhealthy dieting
(e.g. use of diuretic, diet pills, or laxatives, vomiting) predisposes to eating disorders,
disinhibition and binge eating (Dulloo 27). While this is just one idea there are many others out
there, others argue that it is not that dieting makes people fat, but that the fear of becoming fat
makes lean people more likely to go on a diet (Dulloo 27). Still the effects of dieting can be
very harmful to not only the body but the mind. Some struggle with weight issues their whole
lives. Dulloo makes a point that individuals predisposed to obesity are more likely to engage in
unsuccessful dieting practices in order to control their proneness towards weight gain, which is
known to be strongly determined by genetic and other environmental influences (e.g. family,
societal, learned behavior) (Dulloo 27). As Dulloo makes the point that dieting causes weight

gain later in life one of the factors that results from dieting that causes weight gain is overeating.
Even if the food that is being eaten is considered healthy too much can be eaten which is
considered unhealthy and overeating. A lot of dieters have one day off a week, or so, to have a
cheat meal which is where they indulge in certain food they are not supposed to eat. These
cheat meals can lead to bad habits. Dax Urbszat, who performed the study; Eat, Drink, and Be
Merry, for Tomorrow We Diet: Effects of Anticipated Deprivation on Food Intake in Restrained
and Unrestrained Eaters, states that Planning to consume a forbidden food later in the day does
lead to overeating in dieters (397). The idea of a planned cheat meal can lead to dieters breaking
their diets and lead to potential weight gain. Urbszat points out something that goes through a lot
of dieters minds, Starting a diet tomorrow is the classic accompaniment of overeating today
(397). When dieters break their diet it is very easy to keep saying tomorrow is the day, this is
another habit that they develop that leads to weight gain. Before the dieters start their diets the
anticipation of future deprivation-usually starting tomorrow- is one of the factors promoting
restrained eaters to overeat after a pre-load (Urbszat 397). A problem that is associated with
overeating (in general) is lack of knowledge of calorie content in food. Dieters who use programs
may not always look at the calorie content which can lead to then overeating and consuming a lot
more calories than they should. Unfortunately, people are not very good at estimating the
calorie content of foods, often underestimating total calories, which could result in consuming to
many calories (Wohldmann 210), states Erica Wohldmann. In a study it was found that trained
nutritionist underestimated the calorie content by 200-600 calories (Wohldmann 210). So its not
just an average person with no knowledge that underestimate calorie content, it is professionals
also which shows how uniformed people are about calories and dieting. In another study it was
found that people overestimated greater for healthful foods, than unhealthful foods

(Wohldmann 210). The solution to this problem is already out there. The FDA, the food and drug
administration, regulates that the nutrition information of all products be put on the product
somewhere. This is called the nutrition label. So the information is out there, its just a matter of
using it.

One form of dieting is the use of medical aids. This includes diet pills, powders, liquids,
etc. Using medical aids to help lose weight does not work for everyone and usually results in
weight gain after the aid has stopped being used. The reason for use can be linked to unhappiness
with body appearance and body weight. Janet Thorlton, a PhD and RN writes in study, Diet
Pills, Powders, and Liquids: Predictors of Use by Healthy Weight Females, that Bodyweight
dissatisfaction is associated with unhealthy weight loss practices such as vomiting and laxative
use, cigarette smoking, fasting and diet PPL (pills, powders, and liquids) use (129). Diet pills
are becoming a bigger issue, they are apart of a growing industry that represents the new face
of abused drugs (Thorlton 129). Many adolescents are wrapped up in what society thinks they
should look like they dont realize the harm they could potentially do to themselves. Thorlton
makes a point that people taking diet pills dont realize the mixing them with their other
medicines (prescribed or over-the-counter) can to lead to severe illnesses. The diet pills are
dangerous enough without mixing them with other drugs. The current trio drugs on the market,
endocrinologist say, is, at best, weak and, at worst, plagued by side effects (Gura 850). Trisha
Gura, who wrote Obesity Drug Pipeline Not So Fat, exposes some of the worst drugs out on the
market. La Roches Xenical, for instance, blocks fat digesting enzymes called lipases. That
prevents the gut from digesting and absorbing fat. But lipids arent the only molecules
malabsorbed; Xenical also causes cramping and severe diarrhea in many obese patients because

water molecules also fail to be taken up by the gut (Gura 850). Malabsorbing lipids is very
dangerous as they provide energy for the body. When working out, lipids are essential (especially
for long distance) because fat is used as an energy source (Thompson 189). Preventing this
process can lead to very harmful effects. Another drug that Gura talks about is Meridia. Meridia
hinders molecules at synapses that pick up the neurotransmitters nonadrenaline and serotonin
after theyve been discharged by a neuron. But because the two chemical signals also control a
myriad of other body processes, side effects ensue (Gura 850). So even though the drug is
helping in one way it is harming the body in another. In February 1998 to September 2001, 150
patients taking meridian world-wide were hospitalized and 29 died, 19 from cardiovascular
problems (Gura 850). The drugs, again, can lead to severe illnesses and in some cases death.
And in the end most people gain the weight back that they lost after getting off the drug.

Another approach to dieting is diet programs. One issue with diet programs is while one
may work for one person it might not work for another, and could take a while to find the right
one, which can be frustrating. Dieting programs can range anywhere from online programs to
face-to-face meetings. Most programs cost money, which puts a portion of the population at a
disadvantage. Muriel Darmon, who wrote A people thinning institution: Changing bodies and
souls in a commercial weight-loss group, attending a weight loss program that meets face to face
and wrote about what goes on in face-to-face diet programs. Darmon said that there were
weekly meetings, accessible to paying members only (379). Members are given various
dieting documents some include a blank food journal to write down daily food intake
(Darmon 380). Darmon then goes on to explain the actual diet that the program follows which
consists in controlling the calories and lipids ingested through the management of a

personalized daily total of points attributed on the basis of a questionnaire filled in by every
member upon joining (380). The reason these programs have more success than diet pills is
because they cater to a persons dietary needs and not harming the body with medical aids. A
program that is so popular around the world is Weight Watchers. Claire Madigan, who wrote
Which weight-loss programs are as effective as Weight Watchers, stated that three RCTs
comparing Weight Watchers with a minimal intervention control each showed significant weight
loss in participants attending Weight Watchers (128). It was also found that participants
attending Weight Watchers lost significantly more weight than those participating in Rosemary
Conley and Slimming World (Madigan 128). Diet programs might not be a bad solution to
preventing dangerous dieting, but it needs to be kept in mind that one program does not work for
everyone. The idea of face-to-face programs allow members that share a common interest and to
communicate and help each other through their weight loss journeys.

Another approach to dieting is fad diets. Fad diets are popular diets promoted all over the
internet with not much research backing them. June Daniels, an RN and MSN, wrote Fad diets:
Slim on good nutrition, which is an enlighten source of information that tells the truth about what
the diets do to the body. The diets that Daniels talks about are the high-protein, low carbohydrate
diets (an example would be the Atkins diet), the Sugar Busters diet, the Eat Right for Your Type
(ERFYT) diet, and the Zone diet. The high-protein, low-carb diet is particularly damaging to the
body. Daniels explains that with this diet ketosis is key to losing weight, but not to healthy
nutrition. When the body is starved of carbohydrates, it burns its fat stores for fuel instead of
burning glucose. And the by-product of fat breakdown is ketosis. When excessive ketones are
produced, the kidneys have to work harder to filter them. The body goes into starvation mode

and metabolism slows down. Then carbohydrates are burned more slowly and stored
carbohydrates that arent burned for fuel and converted to fat (Daniels 22). The body has needs
for every nutrient and when it is deprived of one it will find a way to compensate for that missing
nutrient, which is harming the body somehow. The high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet means
limiting carbohydrates which means fewer calories will be consumed which will lea to
temporary weight loss, but when people stop this diet they tend to gain weight quicker than ever
(Daniels 22). An effect on the body from the diet is too much nitrogen excretion can damage the
kidneys and protein metabolism produces nitrogen (Daniels 22). Another diet is the Sugar
Busters Diet which steers dieters away from refined sugars and other carbs with a high
glycemic index (Daniels 22). The Sugar Busters Diet calls for consuming 30% carbohydrates,
30% protein, and 40% fat (Daniels 22). One of the reasons this diet may seem to work is
because the calories consumed per day is cut down to anywhere between 1,000 and 1,600
calories. One of the main problems with this diet is that it restricts many food containing
essential vitamins and minerals (Daniels 22). A different diet that is more similar to the highprotein, low-carbohydrate diet is the Eat Right for Your Type (ERFYT) diet. The ERFYT diet
believes that substances from the food called lectins circulate in the blood stream and cause
blood cells to agglutinate or clot (Daniels 23). This diet is again calorie restricting which causes
weight loss. It was found that this diet really only works for people with type O blood. The last
diet that Daniels talks about is the Zone diet which is more like the Sugar Busters Diet. The
Zone diet is 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein, and 30% fat (Daniels 23). With this diet the
calorie intake ranges from 1,000 to 1,600 calories a day. One problem with this diet is that since
this low-carb diet puts the body into a state of ketosis it has may of the same draw backs as

other high-protein diets (Daniel 23). These fad diets have not proven any significant and long
term weight loss and are very harmful to the body.

Some dieting habits can be considered safe, while others can be very harmful to the body.
The dangers of dieting need to be more know to the population because modern day society and
mass media equate beauty with extreme thinness, and no racial or ethnic group is immune to
these influences (Thorlton 129). This leads to people taking severe risks and putting themselves
in danger, while not even knowing the extent of the danger.

Works Cited
Daniels, June. "Fad Diets: Slim on Good Nutrition." Nursing 34.12 (2004): 22-3. Print.
Darmon, Muriel. "A People Thinning Institution: Changing Bodies and Souls in a Commercial
Weight-Loss Group." Ethnography 13.3 (2012): 375-98. Print.
Dulloo, A. G., et al. "How Dieting Makes the Lean Fatter: From a Perspective of Body
Composition Autoregulation through Adipostats and Proteinstats Awaiting Discovery."
Obesity Reviews 16 (2015): 25-35. Print.

Dwyer, Johanna T., Jacob J. Feldman, and Jean Mayer. "The Social Psychology of Dieting."
Journal of health and social behavior 11.4 (1970): 269-87. Print.
Freeland-Graves, Jeanne H., Susan Nitzke, and Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. "Position of
the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics: Total Diet Approach to Healthy Eating." Journal of
the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics 113.2 (2013): 307-17. Print.
Gura, Trisha. "Obesity Drug Pipeline Not so Fat." Science 299.5608 (2003): 849-52. Print.
M, Martinsen. "Dieting to Win Or to be Thin? A Study of Dieting and Disordered Eating among
Adolescent Elite Athletes and Non-Athlete Controls." British journal of sports medicine
44.1 (2010): 70-6. Print.
Madigan, Claire D., et al. "Which Weight-Loss Programmes are as Effective as Weight
Watchers(R)?: Non-Inferiority Analysis." The British journal of general practice : the
journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners 64.620 (2014): e128-36. Print.
Thorlton, Janet, Chang Park, and Tonda Hughes. "Diet Pills, Powders, and Liquids: Predictors of
use by Healthy Weight Females." The Journal of school nursing : the official publication of
the National Association of School Nurses 30.2 (2014): 129-35. Print.
Urbszat, Dax, C. P. Herman, and Janet Polivy. "Eat, Drink, and be Merry, for Tomorrow we Diet:
Effects of Anticipated Deprivation on Food Intake in Restrained and Unrestrained Eaters."
Journal of abnormal psychology 111.2 (2002): 396-401. Print.
Wohldmann, Erica L. "Planting a Seed: Applications of Cognitive Principles for Improving Food
Choices." The American Journal of Psychology 128.2 (2015): 209-18. Print.

Yang, Haiyang, et al. "The HotCold Decision Triangle: A Framework for Healthier Choices."
Marketing Letters 23.2 (2012): 457-72. Print.