Keto, Mediterranean, or Zone – Which Is the Best Diet for Weight Loss?
When it comes to health, you cannot just rely on exercise. Your body is in constant need of fuel and without a good diet, your body will not be able to function properly. One of the most common issues that most people report is that they get a diet where the calorie count is almost zero.
They either choose a diet plan that triggers starvation or they choose a diet that helps them reduce weight abnormally. To cater to this issue, various companies are now selling quick fixes, powdered meal plans, and other kinds of artificial meal plans that help you lose weight and get into your desired BMI right away. However, within a few months, your body gains more weight than before.
Experts reveal that when you get on a severe diet you deprive your body of essential nutrients and as a result, the body gets into starvation mode. Your body uses less energy and you even start to feel tired and lethargic. By the end of the diet when you get back to your desired BMI and you decide to start eating properly, your body starts to store all the extra calories in the form of adipose tissues.
This happens more vigorously because your body is in a constant state of starvation and your mind tells your body to store everything in case you never get to eat again. To resolve this issue, medical professionals came up with different kinds of diets. Three of the most common diets that are also known for their effectiveness include Keto Diet, Mediterranean Diet, and Zone Diet.
With the help of this article, we will look at all three diets and we will see why they are becoming relatively popular as compared to other forms of diet. We will also compare all three diets based on their effectiveness.
What Is Keto Diet?
The Keto diet is a high fat and low-carb diet with an adequate amount of protein. It helps in shifting the metabolism from burning carbs to burning fat for extracting energy. There are four different types of Keto diets and each one has its significance.
One of the most commonly used Keto diets is known as the standard Keto diet that has 70% of fat with just 10% of carbs and 20% of protein. Some people even try a cyclical Keto diet that involves the intake of 5 days of carb diet followed by 5 days of Keto diet.
Then comes the targeted Keto diet where you can add carbs just for the workout. The fourth type of Keto diet is also very popular and is called the high protein keto diet. You will have 60% of fat with 35% of protein and 55 of carbs.
What Is a Mediterranean Diet?
The Mediterranean diet is a diet that helps with weight loss but the basic eating pattern for this diet was adopted from Mediterranean countries including Spain, Italy, Greece, and France. Within this diet, you will have a lot of whole-grain foods as well as fresh food variations. Some of them include fruits, vegetables, whole grain, fat, poultry along with seafood, red wine, etc. you can even have different variations of fresh salads with this diet or you can rely on just one food type depending on your taste preference.
What Is a Zone Diet?
Zone diet is a diet that helps you keep your glycemic index in control. They follow a very strict ratio of food. You need to have only 40% carb with 30% of protein and 30% of fat in your diet. This diet was designed by Barry Sears and his main goal was to help people who were prone to health issues and were also struggling with diabetes. He wanted to help with controlling their blood sugar level and marinating blood cholesterol levels as well.
Which Diet Is Better?
If we look at all three diets we will see that the Keto diet is mainly a fat-based diet whereas the Mediterranean diet is mainly plant based diet and the zone diet is a mix of both. With the Mediterranean diet, there are so many variations you can make salads you can mix and match things and still it helps in bringing the same results.
On the contrary, the Keto diet is all poultry which might get a little boring. Another important thing is that the Mediterranean diet is a little expensive because you have so many different food variations. Apart from this, the Mediterranean diet has alcohol which might work as a trigger for people who are already struggling with alcohol-related issues.
Since the zone diet was mainly designed for people who had heart-related issues, it is a very safe and well-balanced diet but you cannot add as many variations in the zone diet as you can in the other two. Zone diet is not a household name which is the reason most people start this diet and leave it, whereas due to so much awareness and food variations people choose keto and the Mediterranean diet.
Bottom Line:
To sum it all up, all these diets have their significance. Since all three diets have been designed by professionals for helping obese and old age people with a high risk of diabetes and cardiac arrest it is very easy to say that all three are pretty healthy.
However, you also need to keep in mind that your overall body weight and your reason for starting this diet should be considered. It is much better to seek health from a medical professional and only after careful assessment of your BMI should you start your diet journey.
Everything that we eat is very important and it impacts our body as well. Most people struggle with the expense of an organic diet which is the reason you should especially keep that in mind. People who opt for quick fixes or synthetic food need to consider these diets because they are much healthier.
However, it is still a better option to consult your doctors and ask for a customized diet that can help you lose weight according to the need of your body. Apart from this, exercise will also help you get better results.
Author Bio:
Ann Edwards is the fully qualified personal trainer from Elite sports. She has been helping people in the field of bodybuilding and fitness from more than a decade. Her career in nutrition and physical therapy has made her a fine addition for our team.
I’ve never tried the Mediterranean diet before, but it looks very interesting. Might give it a try! Thanks for a good read.