New Year’s and January are peak time for #nutribabble:

Fad diets.

“Veganuary”

Detoxes.

Expensive vitamins.

Unnecessary supplements.

“Amazing results” in only days or weeks with zero-effort short-cuts like hypnosis

“personalised” diet plans, especially those targeting women or women in menopause

Best tips:

1. Don’t make changes to your diet you don’t want to do just because of the calendar. It won’t work.

2. If money matters, get impartial advice (from an expert, like your GP or registered dietitian,  who is not selling vitamins or supplements) before purchasing supplements or vitamins.

3. The “best diet” in multiple studies has been healthy changes to diets that patients were happy to stay on. Short term extreme diets just don’t work.

4. While I am an advocate for plant-predominant diets, I’m not necessarily a fan of “Veganuary”: Your diet isn’t necessarily healthier if you are using highly-processed meat/dairy substitutes or skipping protein.  If you want to try it, it is a good time to add more veggies and try a meat-free meal or two a week, if this is new for you.

5. Detoxes are pseudoscience. Your liver and kidneys do all your detoxing every day, all day. No teas, juices, supplements, fastings, shakes, salt therapy… will help them.

6. Get expert advice if you need to make changes to your diet. The recognised qualification to give nutrition advice in Ireland is INDI and CORU registration.

7. Consider the whole household. I encourage my patients to attend appointments with family/partners/household. It is NOT sustainable in most households to prepare multiple different meals, for so many reasons.

Doctors – including certified lifestyle medicine physicians and GPs – as well as INDI and CORU registered dietitians have experience helping families and patients using evidence-based approaches.