Mayborg1

Marissa Mayborg

Prof. Kretzer

English 1201

15 April 2020

Literature Review

Throughout history men and women have been changing themselves to look their best

in any way they can. For many, an ideal body weight is a key factor in their appearance goals.

There are so many different plans out there to achieve the goal of losing weight but which one is

the best? What is the most effective way to lose weight? There have been many attempts to

pinpoint an exact diet or workout plan to help lose weight such as the Keto Diet and the

Grapefruit Diet. All of the sources below describe that many diets do not work because we need

many core components in a healthy diet that these famous ones do not include.

All of the sources agree that high sugar, starches and calories is never going to help you

reach your weight loss goal. Most sugars are simple sugars meaning it is easy for them to break

down in your body. This leads to less exertion which leads to less energy your body is using.

Not all sugars are bad and we do need some natural sugars. Starches are similar in that way.

The easier it is for your body to break down the less energy you are using which results in a

harder way to lose weight. This is why complex carbohydrates are a common food component

people try to include in their diet. It is hard to break down meaning more energy being used. A.

De La Hunty from the Nutrition Bulletin says in his article, “A Review of the Affectiveness of

Aspartame In Helping With Weight Control”, that using Aspartame instead of these sugars can

cut down your weight. Aspartame is a very sweet substance with a low calorie count. You

substitute this in your drink and you'll end up using less sweetener while also having fewer

calories. The article seems to be proven by scientific evidence through testing. This is one

option you could try to cut down your sugar intake. Authors Navneet Kumar Kaushik, Anup

Aggarwal, Mohita Singh, Shelja Deswal, and Priyanka Kaushik agree that sugars and starches
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are not something to take in lightly. In their view, a vegetarian diet is most effective. Their

purpose is to eliminate the bad vegetables and include many more of the better ones. Some of

the better vegetables are the green leafy ones; kale, spinach, cabbage, lettuce, cucumber,

broccoli etc. They believe most vegetables are beneficial for a healthy lifestyle and that they can

supplement the need for protein if researched correctly. (“Vegetarian Diets: Health Benefits and

Associated Risks”).

In most weight loss texts that I read it describes how the guidelines for a balanced diet

includes protein, dairy, fruit, vegetables, and grain. Those are the common 5 food groups, but

some argue that one may be more important than the other. For example, Matthew Noll in

“Ketogenic Diet Do’s and Don’ts For Beginners: How to Lose Weight and Feel Amazing” argues

that a “high-fat, adequate-protein, low-carbohydrate” diet is the best way for your body. The

diet's purpose and goal is to force the body to burn fats rather than carbs. Another source

disagrees with eliminating or reducing those key elements in a diet. This may not be the most

reliable source of information as no backup is given for his claims. Author Anna Pointer argues

that you don’t have to be throwing out your favorite foods and restricting components in foods to

lose weight. She believes in fasting. Her method is that if you regularly follow her 16:8 diet that

you will see results. It is 16 hours of fasting, or not eating anything, and 8 hours of eating

portioned meals. Her article mentions medics and scientists are backing up her weight loss plan

and agreeing it to be safe and effective. She even says, “The idea is that you eat normally

during the eight-hour period each day –although this doesn’t mean pigging out on as many

chocolate bars and packets of crisps as you can stuff in your face in that time. As with most

diets, moderation is key – but nothing is banned on the 16:8. This means that carbs, fats and

even booze are all OK. Just not during the fasting time.”(Forget the 5:2 Diet, It's All About The

16:8 Diet Now”). In conclusion there are some different methods for losing weight but I feel most

of them have the core value of eating the right things. It all comes down to the science in what
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you put in your body. I feel I need to do more research on the benefits of physical exercise

within your diet plan so that I can get a full answer on how to lose weight most effectively.

Culpepper, Patricia. “Three Components of a Weight Loss Program.” Healthfully,

December 24, 2019. https://healthfully.com/330567-three-components-of-a-weight-loss-
program.html..

De La Hunty A, Gibson S, Ashwell M. A review of the effectiveness of aspartame

in helping with weight control. Nutrition Bulletin. 2006;31(2):115-128. doi:10.1111/j.1467-
3010.2006.00564.x. Accessed April 15, 2020
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Forget the 5:2 diet - it’s time for the 16:8; Restricting mealtimes to a brief eating
window could be the most effective way to lose weight, says Victoria Lambert. Sunday
Telegraph (London, England), [s. l.], 2019. Disponível em:
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=edsgin&AN=edsgcl.591507389&site=eds-live. Acesso em: 15 abr. 2020.

Kumar Kaushik N, Aggarwal A, Singh M, Deswal S, Kaushik P. Vegetarian Diets:

Health Benefits and Associated Risks. International Archives of Integrated Medicine.
2015;2(3):206. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=edb&AN=101808556&site=eds-live. Accessed April 15, 2020

NOLL, M. Ketogenic diet do’s and don’ts for beginners : how to lose weight and
feel amazing. [s. l.]: Smashwords Edition, 2016. ISBN 9781311656414. Disponível em:
https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=cat01128a&AN=scc.b1842582&site=eds-live. Acesso em: 15 abr. 2020.