The dangers of fad diets are real. A person can do lasting harm to their body by continually changing the way they eat and depriving their body of the nutrients and necessary calories it needs to function at peak performance.

In many studies, “yo-yo” dieting (also called weight cycling) has been shown to have numerous negative health effects, including increased risk of heart disease and long-lasting negative impacts on metabolism.

Even if you put aside the dangers, the reality is this type of dieting rarely works as advertised. Between 33% and 66% of dieters regain their lost weight and more within 4-5 years.

Scared off by statistics like these, and by the horrible feeling of being hungry and feeling deprived, many people are looking for a new way to make positive lifestyle and diet changes. Instead of generic diet recommendations, they’re searching out science-based personalized nutrition guidance and expertise from companies like GenoPalate.

So, what should you expect from personalized nutrition? Is this a good idea? In this article, we’ll look at the downsides of restrictive diets and how personalized nutrition could be a good alternative for your needs.

Yo-yo dieting is a dangerous game to play, and one that so rarely offers the results that you’re looking for. In research conducted at UCLA in 2007, scientists found that most people who diet lose 5-10% of their body weight during the initial adjustment period, but only a small minority are able to keep it off long-term.

In fact, in healthy older men, losing weight on a diet was actually a positive indicator of future weight gain. It seems unbelievable, but it’s true. Most of the time, participants who did not diet were better off in the long-term than their peers who followed fad diets.

Yo-yo dieting has also been shown to increase an individual’s risk of developing:  

•  Obesity
• Eating disorders
• Electrolyte imbalances
• Muscle loss
• Nutrient deficiencies
• Impaired bone health
• Heart disease
• Infertility

When you look at the risk factors, it’s easy to see that there’s no shortcut when it comes to making healthy diet and lifestyle choices. There’s no healthy way to lose weight quickly, nor should we seek to make these types of immediate changes unless it’s under a doctor’s orders.

Instead of following generic fad diet information, it’s so much easier to make healthier choices when you’re given personalized nutrition information.

Personalized nutrition is a branch of nutrition that believes that eating and dietary guidance should be developed with an individual’s unique genetic makeup in mind. Instead of offering one-size-fits-all advice, personalized nutrition experts use tools like DNA tests to analyze how a person responds to certain diets and foods. Then they develop guidance (down to something as specific as a recipe) to suit their needs.

At GenoPalate, we use your genetic information to offer you personalized nutrition guidance, which we develop after comparing your DNA to 20+ nutrients and more than 100 different foods. Once you’re aware of how your body reacts to each of these things, it takes away the guesswork of making healthier food and diet choices.

Instead of wondering which macronutrient or micronutrient ranges you should be following, we can tell you exactly. Instead of wondering how your body will react to substances like gluten, lactose, alcohol, and caffeine, we’ll show you. Having this information makes it so much easier to implement positive lifestyle changes and break yourself out of the cycle of yo-yo dieting for good.

Want to try it for yourself? Download our guide today, then explore a sample report to see what you can expect from the personalized nutrition guidance within GenoPalate’s Essential Nutrition Report.