Episode 65
Fuel, Don't Fad. Eat for Health, not Hype.
Fuel, Don’t Fad: How to Eat for Health, Not Hype
If you’ve ever fallen for a fad diet, you’re not alone. They promise quick results, make bold claims, and usually leave you hungry, cranky, and disappointed. But here’s the truth: fad diets don’t work in the long run. What does work? Fueling your body with the right foods. In this blog, we’ll break down why fad diets fail, how to rebuild your relationship with food, and the best way to fuel your body for health, happiness, and energy.
Why Fad Diets Fail (Every Single Time)
Fad diets sound tempting. They promise you’ll drop 10 pounds in a week, detox your body, or gain endless energy. But they always have a catch—and that catch is why they fail so miserably.
1. Fad Diets Demonize Food
Carbs are evil. Fats are the enemy. Fruits have too much sugar. If you’ve heard any of these, you’ve encountered a fad diet. These diets love to turn food into the villain, leaving you afraid to eat the things your body actually needs.
2. They Set You Up for Yo-Yo Dieting
You lose weight quickly at first, but as soon as you eat normally, the weight comes rushing back. This cycle is not just frustrating—it’s harmful to your health and metabolism.
3. They Ignore Science
Many fad diets rely on gimmicks instead of facts. For example, “Don’t eat after 7 PM because your metabolism goes to sleep.” Spoiler alert: your metabolism doesn’t have a bedtime.
Unhealthy Relationships with Food
Fad diets don’t just fail—they mess with your mind. They teach you to fear food, label meals as “good” or “bad,” and disconnect you from your body’s natural hunger and fullness cues.
Stop Labeling Food as the Enemy
Food isn’t good or bad. It’s just food. Sure, a salad has more nutrients than a slice of cake, but both can fit into a balanced diet. When you stop assigning moral value to food, you’ll stop feeling guilty about what you eat.
Trust Your Body’s Hunger Signals
Your body knows when it’s hungry and when it’s full. Fad diets train you to ignore these signals, but you can retrain yourself. Start listening to your body—it’s smarter than any diet app.
How to Fuel Your Body the Right Way
Now that we’ve covered what doesn’t work, let’s talk about what does. Fueling your body means giving it the energy and nutrients it needs to thrive. Forget restriction—focus on addition.
Fruits: Nature’s Candy
Aim for 9 ounces of fruit per day or about two servings. Fruits provide vitamins, antioxidants, and natural sweetness. Plus, they’re portable and easy to snack on.
- Snack idea: Slice an apple and pair it with peanut butter.
- Breakfast tip: Add berries to your oatmeal or yogurt.
Vegetables: The Foundation of Your Plate
Like fruits, aim for 9 ounces of vegetables per day. Vegetables are low in calories but high in nutrients, fiber, and flavor.
- Quick tip: Roast a tray of veggies with olive oil, garlic, and herbs.
- Sneaky trick: Add spinach to your smoothies—you won’t taste it, but your body will love it.
Whole Grains: Your Sturdy Sidekick
Whole grains give you the energy that lasts. They’re rich in fiber, which keeps you full and your digestion happy. Aim for 9 ounces of whole grains per day.
- Breakfast idea: Enjoy a bowl of oatmeal with fruit and nuts.
- Dinner option: Serve quinoa, brown rice, or whole-grain pasta as a base for your meals.
Fish: Brain Food
Fish provides protein and omega-3 fatty acids, which support heart and brain health. Try to eat fish twice a week, focusing on fatty fish like salmon or mackerel.
- Easy dinner: Grill salmon with a squeeze of lemon and fresh dill.
- Lunch idea: Make a tuna salad with olive oil, not mayo, and pile it onto whole-grain toast.
Olive Oil: Liquid Gold
Forget butter. Olive oil is your new go-to fat. It’s rich in heart-healthy monounsaturated fats and enhances the flavor of almost anything. Use 2-4 tablespoons per day for cooking, drizzling, or dipping.
- Salad idea: Drizzle olive oil with lemon juice and a pinch of salt for a quick dressing.
- Snack tip: Dip whole-grain bread into olive oil mixed with herbs.
Legumes: The Underrated Powerhouse
Legumes like chickpeas, lentils, and beans are full of fiber, protein, and nutrients. They’re also budget-friendly and incredibly versatile. Best of all, you can enjoy them in unlimited amounts.
- Snack idea: Roast chickpeas with paprika for a crunchy treat.
- Meal tip: Make a hearty chickpea stew with tomatoes and spices.
Why Fad Diets Like the Carnivore Diet Are a Hard No
We can’t talk about fueling your body without addressing the Carnivore Diet. This trendy diet eliminates plant-based foods entirely, focusing only on meat. Here’s why it’s a bad idea:
- They are Nutrient-Deficient: You’re missing out on fiber, vitamins, and antioxidants found in fruits, vegetables, and grains.
- It’s Risky: Diets high in red and processed meats increase the risk of heart disease and cancer.
- Carnivore, like keto, is Unsustainable: Unless you love the idea of a lifetime without bread, this diet won’t last.
In short, the Carnivore Diet is a fad at best and dangerous at worst. Stick to balanced, science-backed eating instead.
Practical Tips to Get Started
Fueling your body doesn’t have to be complicated. Start with these simple steps:
- Focus on what to add, not what to cut out.
- Plan meals around fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.
- Include fish in your weekly routine.
- Stock your pantry with staples like legumes and olive oil.
- Allow yourself treats—balance is key.
Transcript
>> Dr. Terry Simpson: Today's topic is one we all need
Speaker:to fuel.
Speaker:Don't fad. Let's face
Speaker:it. Fad diets are like the one friend who promises
Speaker:to help you move, but ghosts you. When the truck shows
Speaker:up, they make big promises, but the second
Speaker:you try to follow them, they become unsustainable.
Speaker:And you're stressed and you're hungry
Speaker:and you're wondering where you went wrong.
Speaker:We've all been subject to some food fad, whether it be to
Speaker:lose a bit of weight or hearing about some new
Speaker:superfood. Sometimes when you've had
Speaker:success losing weight on a fad diet, you
Speaker:develop the belief that the fad and
Speaker:its strange rules are what helped you
Speaker:lose weight without the basic biology of
Speaker:you are in a calorie deficit, or you'll be
Speaker:getting the belief that some food is evil. I mean, who
Speaker:really, seriously thinks that a, uh, rhesus cup is
Speaker:evil? Today, we will
Speaker:uncover why fueling your body is better
Speaker:than falling for the hype. And how to build a
Speaker:sustainable way of eating. And why
Speaker:chickpeas could be your new best friend.
Speaker:I'm Dr. Terri Simpson, your chief medical
Speaker:explanationist, and this is for
Speaker:Q Fork University, where we
Speaker:bust myths, make sense of the madness, and
Speaker:teach a little bit about food and medicine.
Speaker:You know how those junk emails scream
Speaker:you've won a million dollars? Or here's
Speaker:some new secret to losing weight. And you open
Speaker:it and you find a list of impossible things to jump
Speaker:through. Those are basically like fad
Speaker:diets. They promise a quick fix,
Speaker:losing lots of weight, feeling better,
Speaker:sleeping better, making your
Speaker:genitals work better. But instead,
Speaker:they often leave you hangry,
Speaker:frustrating, and regretting every
Speaker:kale smoothie you've ever tasted.
Speaker:Here's why fad diets fail harder than a
Speaker:souffle in a windstorm. They make you fear
Speaker:food, like carbs are evil or. Or
Speaker:fat is the enemy, or fruits have too much
Speaker:sugar. Fad diets love turning food
Speaker:into the bad guy, the villain in a superhero
Speaker:movie. But food isn't the enemy.
Speaker:It's your hero. Well,
Speaker:maybe, maybe not. Gas station nachos, but
Speaker:that's a whole other story. Fad
Speaker:diets are kind of like Sisyphus trying to push
Speaker:that boulder uphill. You might lose weight
Speaker:at first, but. But as soon as you stop, that
Speaker:boulder comes crashing back down. And no
Speaker:one has time for yo yos unless you're a professional
Speaker:juggler. And most fad diets simply
Speaker:ignore science. It's almost like they were
Speaker:invented by people who failed high school biology.
Speaker:Things like, don't eat after 7pm because your metabolism
Speaker:takes a nap. Please. Your metabolism
Speaker:doesn't even have a bedtime. And the fad
Speaker:diets are the bad influencers of nutrition.
Speaker:We need to stop following
Speaker:them. Instead,
Speaker:let's focus on the good stuff,
Speaker:fueling your body and building a
Speaker:healthy relationship with food.
Speaker:Think of food as a reliable friend. Not one who
Speaker:ditches you, but one who shows up when you need them
Speaker:the most. Food doesn't need to be
Speaker:feared, avoided, or treated like a, uh,
Speaker:guilty pleasure. Every bite you take,
Speaker:even that slice of pizza, can serve a purpose.
Speaker:And your body will make it serve a purpose.
Speaker:It's not about perfection. It's about giving
Speaker:your body the energy and the nutrients it needs to
Speaker:thrive. Fad diets love the
Speaker:extremes. Cut out all the carbs, eat only
Speaker:grapefruit, drink cabbage juice. But
Speaker:truly, what you need in your life is balance.
Speaker:It's okay to have cake at your friend's birthday.
Speaker:It's okay to have a hearty salad. It's
Speaker:about patterns, not individual meals.
Speaker:Life is way too short to skip the cake.
Speaker:Unless it's tres leches. I have tried
Speaker:about 100 tres leches cakes in my life, and I have
Speaker:found two that I love, but I
Speaker:keep trying. So your body does have
Speaker:hunger and fullness cues for a reason.
Speaker:The problem? Well,
Speaker:sometimes we abuse it, and sometimes
Speaker:what happens is we lose the ability to
Speaker:get those cues right.
Speaker:Fad diets are like trying to drive
Speaker:with your gps screaming, recalculating.
Speaker:Instead, we want to start listening to what
Speaker:your body needs from a more
Speaker:healthy perspective. I mean, your
Speaker:body's not going to ask you for a triple cheeseburger every meal.
Speaker:Speaking of fad shaming, let's talk about how
Speaker:to actually fuel your body in a manner that has been
Speaker:based in science, based on years and years
Speaker:of data of science. So I want you to think of
Speaker:these foods as the avengers of nutrition,
Speaker:not the Justice League, each one
Speaker:playing a key role in keeping you strong and
Speaker:healthy. You don't need to take a lot
Speaker:of extra stuff. Let's talk about
Speaker:fruit. Fruits are like the sweet friend that always
Speaker:makes you smile. They're packed with vitamins,
Speaker:antioxidants, fiber,
Speaker:and sugar just to keep you energized.
Speaker:So kind of a minimum amount we like to aim for is about 9
Speaker:ounces or 250 grams. So take a
Speaker:couple ideas here. Pair an apple with
Speaker:nut butter or peanut butter. It's like PB and
Speaker:J. Toss some berries into your oatmeal,
Speaker:and boom, instant upgrade.
Speaker:One of my latest favorites today are
Speaker:figs. They're filled with fiber.
Speaker:They really don't disturb your blood sugar that much, and
Speaker:they are delicious. Eat a couple of those and your
Speaker:sweet tooth is satisfied. Now,
Speaker:vegetables I always have a hard time with because I
Speaker:grew up in an era where the only vegetables we could get
Speaker:in Ketchikan, Alaska, came in a can.
Speaker:You can imagine. In the 1960s, canned vegetables
Speaker:weren't exactly something that you would look forward to.
Speaker:My mother tried hard to hide them in spaghetti sauce
Speaker:or chilies. But vegetables truly are the most
Speaker:valuable player of your plate. They're low in calories, high in
Speaker:nutrients, versus old enough to keep things interesting.
Speaker:One of the things that I have found as someone who doesn't like
Speaker:vegetables is roasting them
Speaker:in olive oil and garlic and sometimes taking
Speaker:those root vegetables and roasting them and then putting
Speaker:them into a sauce.
Speaker:Spinach is one of those funny things that you can add to
Speaker:like a dal, which is a great lentil
Speaker:soup, and you don't know what's there. And it
Speaker:adds that bit of goodness to things.
Speaker:Here's one that's a little easier. It used to
Speaker:be white bread and white pasta were about the
Speaker:only thing you could find. And I
Speaker:remember zoodles and all these people on these low
Speaker:carb diets trying to find some excuse for a
Speaker:noodle or make legume noodles. And they're all out there.
Speaker:But what has happened is whole grains are
Speaker:now available in pastas and breads.
Speaker:And whole grains are like that friend who helps you move.
Speaker:They give you steady, reliable energy. They're full
Speaker:of fiber, they're full of thiamine. They keep you
Speaker:full and your digestion working like a
Speaker:well oiled machine. Maybe I shouldn't say well
Speaker:oiled machine with digestion that just may not work.
Speaker:Well, let me give you an example.
Speaker:A bowl of oatmeal. Remember the oatmeal
Speaker:with the, uh, fruit? Add some
Speaker:nuts. What a great breakfast. How about
Speaker:dinner? You know, the other day there
Speaker:was this quinoa brown rice
Speaker:bowl made with a curry sauce that was
Speaker:absolutely delicious. I am going to try and reproduce
Speaker:that fish twice a week. Now, some
Speaker:of you don't like fish, and I can understand that because most of you
Speaker:have had rotten fish. And once you've had rotten fish, it kind of puts you off.
Speaker:But believe me, fresh fish, there's nothing like it. And
Speaker:fresh fish can be bought today at the grocery store because
Speaker:we have FedEx and UPS and
Speaker:great tracking fish are the undisputed
Speaker:king of Omega 3. Fatty acids, keeping your
Speaker:brain sharp, keeping your kids brain sharp.
Speaker:And it tastes a lot better than any supplement.
Speaker:It's pretty easy. Making a dinner of grilled salmon with a little bit
Speaker:of lemon roasted vegetables. And I like
Speaker:baking my salmon at about 400 degrees.
Speaker:Takes about 10 minutes. And how do I bake it?
Speaker:Salt, pepper. I throw on either
Speaker:maple syrup and, um, olive
Speaker:oil and a squeeze of lemon. Tuna
Speaker:salad is great for lunch. I make it with olive
Speaker:oil instead of mayonnaise, and I pile it on a whole
Speaker:grain toast. Works great. Olive
Speaker:oil, as we said many times, is kind of that liquid
Speaker:gold. It's far better than butter.
Speaker:It's the fat you wanted your life in the
Speaker:old days. And I'm meaning 80,
Speaker:90 years ago, if you
Speaker:had heart disease and lived in the Mediterranean,
Speaker:the pharmacist would give you some olive oil. Why?
Speaker:We don't know. Does it work? We don't know. But
Speaker:clearly people who add olive oil to their
Speaker:diet have less problems with second heart
Speaker:attacks. But olive oil works well. Drizzle
Speaker:on salads, roasted vegetables,
Speaker:even that great whole grain bread. And
Speaker:making your own dressing is easy because once you have your salad
Speaker:assembled, put the olive oil on first. You don't have to try and
Speaker:make up a, uh, vinaigrette. Put the olive oil first,
Speaker:then drizzle on some lemon juice or
Speaker:maybe some balsamic vinegar. And then add
Speaker:something like za'atar, a little bit of salt and
Speaker:mix it up. You can even put a spoonful or two of
Speaker:honey or maple syrup to make it a little bit sweeter.
Speaker:Legumes unlimited and
Speaker:amazing chickpeas.
Speaker:Lentils. They are something that
Speaker:the vegans and the vegetarians found, and I don't know why
Speaker:they kept them a secret for so long. But clearly us
Speaker:omnivores discovered hummus. But roasted
Speaker:chickpeas are probably one of the greatest
Speaker:treats that you can make, whether you air fry them, whether you bake
Speaker:them. You know what, you can even deep fry chickpeas,
Speaker:and they're frigging amazing. Hummus
Speaker:is like the dip that brought
Speaker:America into the world of legumes. Now,
Speaker:legumes are still beans. Typically, my Saturday
Speaker:morning breakfast consists of some beans with
Speaker:a little great hot sauce with it. I
Speaker:find that beans are a wonderful accompaniment. Uh,
Speaker:so you need to sort of
Speaker:put away the fads and start with
Speaker:the fuels.
Speaker:Okay, Speaking of fads, I need
Speaker:to pick on the carnivore diet again. The carnivore
Speaker:diet. Who says? No fruits, no veggies, just meat. That's
Speaker:like trying to survive on coffee and memes. It
Speaker:sounds fun until you crash. Here's why. The carnivore diet is
Speaker:about as sustainable as a paper straw and hot coffee.
Speaker:It lacks the essential nutrients. It lacks fiber. It
Speaker:lacks antioxidants. Diets high in red meat
Speaker:and processed meats increase your risk of heart disease and
Speaker:colon cancer. It's restrictive, it's boring,
Speaker:and let's face it, your colon deserves better.
Speaker:If you're looking for a long term healthy way to eat the
Speaker:Mediterranean diet, the Dash diet, or simply
Speaker:focusing on this, fuel don't
Speaker:fad is the way to go.
Speaker:So here's a few tips to get started.
Speaker:I want you to plan meals around fruits and vegetables and whole
Speaker:grains. I want you to stock up on pantry
Speaker:staples like legumes and olive oil. I want you to
Speaker:think and give fish a try a couple times a week. Even if it's tuna
Speaker:fish or shrimp or lobster, I don't
Speaker:care. And stop stressing about perfection.
Speaker:A slice of pizza isn't going to ruin you.
Speaker:Some might say that pineapple on pizza might ruin
Speaker:you. I say you're adding fruit and how bad is
Speaker:fruit? Eating well doesn't have to be a
Speaker:chore or a punishment.
Speaker:And focusing on refueling your body with nutrient
Speaker:dense foods like fruits and vegetables and whole grains and
Speaker:legumes, you'll feel better, you'll
Speaker:look better, and you're going to laugh about how you
Speaker:used to stress about carbs. Remember
Speaker:fuel? Don't fad. Life's too short
Speaker:to follow a diet that makes you miserable. Instead, focus
Speaker:on balance and variety and food that makes you feel
Speaker:good and happy. Please
Speaker:check out our blog associated with this
Speaker:podcast@yourdoctorsorders.com
Speaker:this podcast was researched and written
Speaker:by me, Dr. Terry Simpson. And while I am a
Speaker:doctor, I am not your
Speaker:doctor. Please consult a board certified doctor
Speaker:and a registered dietitian before making any dietary
Speaker:changes because they know your health conditions best.
Speaker:Please don't go to a life coach or to a
Speaker:chiropractor. Getting advice about nutrition
Speaker:from them is kind of like, oh,
Speaker:I don't even know what it's like. It's terrible.
Speaker:The podcast was produced with Producer Girl
Speaker:Productions and distributed by her friends at Simpler Media
Speaker:and my good friend the pod God, Mr.
Speaker:Evo Terra. Have a good week everybody.
Speaker:Remember fuel don't
Speaker:fad.
Speaker:Hey Evo, what's in your fuel
Speaker:today? I think
Speaker:our fuel is going to be.
Speaker:I don't know. I do miss
Speaker:Tarbels there in Phoenix.
Speaker:Have a good week, buddy. Hi to the missus.
Speaker:Yeesh.
Speaker:>> Speaker B: My fuel. This day is,
Speaker:uh, rough. I've had nothing
Speaker:but coffee. Yeah, coffee. That's
Speaker:not enough. I know, I know, I know. So, uh, I
Speaker:probably should figure out something to do for lunch. And I guess
Speaker:it needs to be healthy or you're gonna yell at me.
