The reverse dieter may be a celebrity and the food industry has been doing its best to make him a household name.
But the idea of reversing dieting may not have been so popular.
Reverse dieters may be famous but their diets may not be popular with most people, according to new research published in the British Medical Journal.
The researchers found that while some reverse dieters are popular with celebrities, it’s the opposite for the general public.
In the research, they surveyed 8,000 people aged between 18 and 80 in England and Wales.
A majority (53 per cent) of those who took part in the survey said they had tried the reverse diet, with just over half (49 per cent), or 6.9 million, of those surveyed saying they had not tried it.
The reverse diet is a new method of weight loss.
It involves eating a lot of processed food and drinking a lot more fluids, as well as restricting food intake.
It is also the subject of controversy in the food and drink industry, with experts claiming it’s too low in calories to be a good way to lose weight.
Dr Peter T. Fennell, who chairs the British Dietetic Association’s (BDA) Nutrition Policy Committee, said reverse diet diets were controversial because they are “unproven” and people often believe that their symptoms can be reversed by consuming a healthy diet.
He said: “The reverse-diet approach is often associated with some of the most outlandish claims in the industry and is generally regarded as an effective treatment for those suffering from weight gain or weight control problems.”
However, the evidence for the reverse-drinking model is quite weak.””
There is no conclusive evidence that this model has any benefit at all, and a study of people who drank large amounts of water, alcohol and other calories during a normal diet found no significant change in weight or waist circumference, or both.
“Dr Fennells said it was also not clear whether reverse diet results in the same weight loss or weight loss in the long term as normal dieting.
He added: “While the reverse diets have been around for a long time, we don’t yet have good evidence to support them as a healthy and effective weight loss plan.”
The researchers used data from the Health and Nutrition Survey to find out what percentage of people have tried a reverse diet in the past, how many they have, and how much of their diet they consumed each week.
In all, around 1.4 million people in England have tried the “reverse diet” and 2.1 million have never tried it, with more than half (54 per cent of respondents) saying they have tried it at least once.
Dr Terence McNeill, a dietician and founder of the Body Mind Centre, said that it’s important for people to be able to find the best way to eat as part of their weight loss efforts.
He told The Times: “I think a lot is to do with the fact that we have a general misconception about what reverse diet can achieve, and that we don, in fact, lose weight when we reverse diet.”
It can, however, be a very good way of losing weight, but that is a completely different issue.”
Dr McNeill said it’s often difficult to pinpoint exactly how much weight you lose when you reverse diet because many reverse diet participants will eat more, drink more and have more activity than they did before they started.
“For most people it’s about the same amount of food you would have eaten otherwise, but a few reverse diet subjects may have gained weight and others may have lost weight,” he said.
“A reverse diet for people who are overweight, or obese, may also lead to a reduction in energy intake, although this is less likely to be significant.”
Dr Teddle said reverse diets are not suitable for everyone, and the effects on weight may be similar to regular dieting and the results will vary depending on the person.
“Many reverse diet methods are based around a low-calorie intake and low-fiber, high-fat diet, and this is associated with weight gain,” he added.
“If you’re going to reverse diet and are a healthy weight, then you can expect to lose some weight in the short term, but it won’t be as dramatic a weight loss as normal weight people.”
Dr Niamh Murphy, a nutrition lecturer at the University of Edinburgh, said: ‘People are generally quite keen on the idea, especially with the weight-loss industry’s emphasis on the benefits of reverse diet therapy, but we’re often unaware of the potential long-term effects.
“People should not necessarily assume that reverse diet treatment will lead to the same long-lasting weight loss effects as normal dietary therapy.”
We need to be careful not to generalise and assume that a reverse-diets success will translate to other aspects of dieting like exercising and losing excess weight.””
People are often quite keen to try reverse diet