A biologist has issued a warning over calorie labels on supermarket foods as he explains why some diets simply “don’t work”. Eran Segal from the Weizman Institute of Science asserts that many people find themselves confused when they hear the word “diet.” He believes individuals often perceive it as a “sprint” to lose weight quickly, neglecting the fact that a diet is about changing one’s lifestyle for the long term.
Segal expounds that many diets tend to concentrate on the wrong aspects, leading to ineffective outcomes. The common practice of checking nutritional labels can mislead dieters into thinking that all individuals will extract energy uniformly from the same foods. “When we put these calorie labels on boxes, we think ‘okay, this is the amount of energy that we will all extract if we ate that same food.’ But of course, that is not true,” he stated.
Supporting this argument, Eran Elinav, a medical doctor from the same institute, added that even identical foods can elicit varied responses in different individuals. He illustrated this point with the example of an apple: If given to three different people, each would show a different reaction to it.
Segal proposes that instead of focusing entirely on calorie counts, individuals should pay more attention to their blood glucose levels after meals, as these levels are directly connected to weight loss and health outcomes. He references a study from Kings College in London, which highlighted that even identical twins can respond differently to the same foods due to variations in individual gut microbiomes.
Ultimately, Segal’s key message is that sustainable weight loss does not stem from temporary diets but rather from a holistic approach to lifestyle and understanding personal dietary needs.
Source: Surrey Live
