Diet to Lose Weight or to Live Longer?

Dieting has other significant benefits besides improved appearance. If youre like most people, youve probably dieted or at least thought about it on many occasions. We all know the theory behind dieting: Consuming fewer calories decreases body weight, by creating a negative energy balance. People that want to lose weight usually ask themselves, What is the best diet and how long do I have to follow it? The answers, I guess, depend on your weight loss goals. As you probably know, dieting for a short period of time is not a wise or effective way to lose those extra pounds.What happens with dieting in this fashion is that you fall into a vicious cycle of weight loss followed by weight gain followed by weight loss and so on (yo-yo dieting). The resulting fluctuations in body weight have been shown to be very harmful to health in countless of scientific studies - and actually even more harmful than just being overweight and not dieting at all.The healthiest solution would be to permanently reduce your daily calories and choose a healthy, well balanced diet. Many fad diets today are not very healthy according to scientific evidence. And most, if not all are based on calorie restriction regardless of their philosophies. Well get back to this later.First, lets talk about other health benefits associated with reductions in caloric intake. If you are overweight and adopt an improved lifestyle by first eating less food, you are going to lose weight thats fact. The less obese you are the lower the risk of developing chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, cancer among others. This has been well documented as well.A few recent studies have suggested calorie restriction, even at moderate levels may improve your health, slow down the aging process and reduce risks of developing health conditions common with old age.