The Healthy Weight Journal presented a series of articles exposing four common beliefs about dieting.  The series was entitled 'Exploding the Myth,' and these are the biggest four myths that top researchers in the field of eating and weight disorders explored:

1.  Dieting makes you healthier

2.  Dieting makes you thinner

3.  Dieting makes you happier

4.  Dieters eat less than non-dieters

Does weight loss really make you healthier?

We often hear from medical professionals that we should lose weight to prevent diabetes, heart attacks, high blood pressure, etc. Many studies have addressed the benefits of weight loss on these types of medical problems.

Research studies usually look at short-term improvement in health while the research participants are still in the restrictive dieting phase.  During this phase, improvements in health are often recognized and this has led to the conclusion that weight loss improves health.

However, many long-term and follow-up studies show that continued dieting and weight loss lead to deterioration in health, detrimental effects on health and no beneficial effect on health even when weight loss is maintained.  Even with these poor results, weight loss is still usually considered the first line of treatment.  Almost 20 years ago, the New England Journal of Medicine noted that "tradition, as opposed to scientific evidence" influences dieting prescriptions.

Does dieting really make you thin?

According to the authors of this article, "unfortunately, dieting is a notoriously ineffective means of permanent weight loss." A recent update by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reports that no major advances in obesity treatment have been found and that dieting and the new weight loss medications continue to produce short-term weight loss and long-term weight gain.

Diets (not the dieters) typically fail for two reasons.  First, the body naturally defends against weight loss because the body naturally defends against starvation (dieting).  Second, diets fail because episodes of starvation lead to episodes of overeating.

Those who are always dieting or feel they should be dieting become highly critical of their own food choices.  If they feel they have eaten something "bad," they often revert to what has been labeled the "what the hell" effect. At this point the dieter believes the diet has been broken, so continues to eat in a rebound fashion to make up tor the period of starvation.  Although calories are restricted temporarily, episodes of overeating sabotage the diet and are likely to contribute to weight gain.

Does dieting really make you happier?

In addition to losing weight and improving health, another typical goal of dieting is to feel better about oneself.  Dieters usually feel bad about their bodies and as a result of this, feel bad about themselves.

When weight loss occurs at the beginning of a diet, the dieter gets excited and feels good, may receive compliments and may have to buy smaller sized clothing.  These results raise the dieter's expectations and reinforce the notion that more improvements in appearance will create more happiness the longer food is restricted.

As the diet continues, weight loss slows down, "cheating" occurs and the initial expectations of what weight loss would bring get dashed.  Failure to lose "enough" weight often leads to loss of hope and then the diet is abandoned.  When a dieter's hopes are dashed and weight gain occurs, self-image declines and leads to the same thing that initiated the diet -- feeling bad about oneself.

Do dieters really eat less than non-dieters?

The intention of dieters is to lose weight and achieving this requires eating less.  This suggests they will then have to eat less than non-dieters.  Many studies have found that dieters typically eat more than non-dieters.  Maintaining complete control over intake appears impossible since the sensation of hunger tends to override the rules of whatever diet a person is on.

When a person is undereating and hungry, it has been shown that minor stressors will trigger overeating.  Dieters are usually able to maintain their diets as long as no stressors are encountered.  But, when faced with stress (and who isn't?)  overeating occurs.  As a result, even though dieting, dieters end up consuming more calories than non-dieters who aren't as likely to turn to food when stressed.

Before you start that diet because you want to be healthier, thinner or happier, or when you wonder why you're gaining weight and your non-dieting friend isn't, consider these myths.  Dieting as we know it really doesn't work.