My wolf pack: Team Support with Different types of diets

While receiving medical nutrition therapy, the type of diet you choose is up to you! 

During your initial one-on-one nutritional assessment, we will help you determine your personalized diet therapy and behavior-related goals necessary to improve your weight, nutritional status and health.  We will also discuss the different types of diets you could follow to help you lose weight - at a healthy rate -  and obtain adequate micro and macro nutrients.

If group sessions are right for you, you will be paired with others on a similar journey. Your supportive Wolf Pack will consist of people like you so that you can learn, collaborate, motivate and support each other. 

Want to shift from one type of diet to another? No problem! The choice is always yours. 

• Researchers in Canada have determined that sequentially following different types of diets may result in more weight loss and increase your ability to lose clinically significant weight (1).  227 patients tried 3 types of diets: reduced calorie, low carb/high-fat, and intermittent fasting. No patients were on weight loss medication or had bariatric surgery at the time of the study.  Patients lost a similar amount of weight (~24 pounds) regardless of the diet with an average of 10% of their initial weight after three sequential diets. This is almost twice as effective as only following one type of diet! (1). 

Flexibility and regular follow up with a Registered Dietitian and your health care team will help pave the way to your success! 

Here are some types of diets you can follow:

This is for supervised, calorie-restricted dietary patterns emphasizing variable macronutrient distribution ranges (lower, moderate, or higher carbohydrate with variable proportions of protein and fat) to achieve body weight reduction over 6–12 months (Level 2a, Grade B) (2). 

This pattern of eating has been demonstrated to improve glycemic control, HDL-cholesterol, and triglycerides (Level 2b, Grade C), reduce cardiovascular events (Level 2b, Grade C), reduce risk of type 2 diabetes; (Level 2b, Grade C) and reversion of metabolic syndrome (Level 2b, Grade C) with little effect on body weight and waist circumference (Level 2b, Grade C) (2).

This pattern has been shown to reduce body weight (Level 2a, Grade B), improve glycemic control, (Level 2a, Grade B), establish better blood lipid targets, including LDL-C (Level 2a, Grade B), and blood pressure (Level 2a, Grade B) and the risk of type 2 diabetes (Level 3, Grade C) and coronary heart disease (Level 3, Grade C) (2). 

Intermittent or continuous calorie restriction is all the rage now. Both have been shown to achieve similar short-term body weight reduction (Level 2a, Grade B) (2).

The Vegetarian dietary pattern has been shown to improve glycemic control, establish blood lipid targets, including LDL-C, and reduce body weight, (Level 2a, Grade B), reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes (Level 3, Grade C) and reduce coronary heart disease incidence and mortality (Level 3, Grade C) (2). 

Your health is not just a number on a scale. A non-dieting approach is recommended to not only reduce your body weight, but to also to improve quality of life, general well-being, body image perceptions, cardiovascular outcomes, and improve your overall eating behaviors. Physical activity should also be incorporated into your daily routine.  Optimal nutrition is key for everyone - regardless of your body size, shape or health.  

1. Christensen RAG, High S, Wharton S, Kamran E, Dehlehhosseinzadeh M, Fung M, Kuk JL. Sequential diets and weight loss: Including a low-carbohydrate high-fat diet with and without time-restricted feeding. Nutrition. 2021 Nov-Dec;91-92:111393. doi: 10.1016/j.nut.2021.111393. Epub 2021 Jun 24. PMID: 34399399.

2. Brown J, Clarke C, Johnson Stoklossa C, Sievenpiper J.: Canadian Adult Obesity Clinical Practice Guidelines: Medical Nutrition Therapy in Obesity Management. Available from: https://obesitycanada.ca/guidelines/nutrition.