3 Diets You Definitely Shouldn't Try In 2023

3 Diets You Definitely Shouldn’t Try In 2023

With 2023 already here, we know how tempting it is to secure yourself a front row seat on the next dieting bandwagon. It seems like the best thing to do, right?

Wrong, actually. Dieting in the form of restricting your overall food intake or limiting specific food groups and nutrients is something I as a Dietitian, and the team at KOJA would never recommend.

Dieting can be really damaging to your physical and mental health. It can make it challenging to meet your nutritional requirements and may predispose you to a poor relationship with food and a negative body image. 

Whilst we don’t recommend you try any diet in the new year, here are 3 we are adamant you give a miss. 

1. Ketogenic Diet 

Keto-style diets encourage you to greatly minimise your carbohydrate intake (our body and brain's main fuel source) in order to rely on burning fats to produce energy and therefore lose weight. Carbohydrate foods (think fruits, starchy vegetables, wholegrains, dairy foods, legumes, lentils, nuts and seeds) are necessary for energy, sleep quality, mental health, immune support, appetite control and optimal gut function. 

Have you tried our Oat Bars? They are full of energy-boosting carbohydrates from Australian Rolled Oats. 

2. Juice Cleanses 

Juice cleanses have been designed to ‘detox’ and ‘reset’ our digestive system. However, the role of our gut, liver and kidneys is to do exactly that - remove unwanted toxins. 

Exclusively drinking fruits and vegetables means your body is deprived of so many other essential foods and nutrients it needs to function and thrive. Failing to consume adequate amounts of protein, fat, fibre, vitamins and minerals can be very detrimental to your overall health and wellbeing. 

Juice alone may also be high in sugar and can cause your energy, appetite and mood to peak and plummet. 

Our low sugar Peanut Butter Bars wouldn’t do this! 

3. Meal Replacement Shakes 

Meal replacement shakes are heroed for their ability to make people lose weight, quickly (red flag). These products are packed with artificial nutrients and sweeteners and deny our bodies entirely of gut-loving fibre . They also prevent the first (but very important) step in our natural digestive process - chewing. 

Here at KOJA, we are all about eating ‘real food’ and making healthy simple. To us, that means filling our bodies with a balance of wholefoods that make us feel good.

Written by Millie Padula, Dietitian and Nutritionist.