You know how skeptical I am of dieting, because the fact of the matter is that diets do not work. I mean, think about it. If diets worked, by this time, at least one of the hundreds of diets that have come out during last 100 years or so would have solved the obesity problem, and by now the whole world would be skinny. On the contrary, the number of overweight and obese people is exploding despite the massive growth in the number of diet books, videos, foods, drinks, pills, etc. In fact, I like to say that diets are what is causing the obesity crisis because we all want a magical diet that will make our weight go away while we do nothing to change our eating habits, exercise routine, and lifestyle. The dieting business thrives because people want the easy way out and these people are happy to provide something that will help you briefly, until the next diet comes along, and then next thing you know Americans blow over $70 billions each year on dieting alone.
So with a lot of skepticism I decided to delve in to The 8-Hour Diet by David Zinczenko, Matt Goulding, and Peter Moore. The premise of this diet is that you only eat during an eight hour window during the day. Rest of the 16 hours you eat absolutely nothing while during this 8 hour period you can eat anything you want.
So will this diet work?
No; actually if you follow it you might even become fat. And this is why:
- Indeed, early men fasted a lot (food was hard to come by, you know) and since there was no way to have plenty of light during the dark hours, most of the activity happened during a short window during the day. Unfortunately, our days are nothing like what they were when we lived in caves, and therefore, it is impractical for us to live or eat like them. The artificial light during the dark hours and the work we do during this time means that our hormones and brain are working a lot differently.
- The rules of science never stop working. Yes, if you eat less calories (because you have only 8 hours to consume all your meals and you also cut back on calories) you will eventually lose weight but you can do that by just eating less calories without starving. The whole idea of eating whatever is dangerous because you could easily end up consuming even more calories than you currently do now and gain weight. Our body is designed to store as fat if we consume more calories than we burn. In other words, you simply cannot afford to eat anything you want, whether in eight hours or 24 hours.
