Why diets don't work:

Research repeatedly tells us that diets don’t work. (1)   Fundamentally there are six main reasons for this.

Body dissatisfaction: Our diet culture perpetuates body image concerns and distress which is the most common pathway to dieting. While there are many pathways to disordered eating and eating disorders, dieting is the most common.

Food preoccupation: Food preoccupation occurs when we are always worried about what we are eating; ‘good’ and ‘bad’ foods. Because dieters frequently feel deprived and hungry, this can lead to obsessive thoughts about food and feelings of guilt for ‘losing control’ or ‘bingeing’, which is a common response.  This frequently leads to low self-esteem and depression among dieters.(2)

Disconnection from natural body signals: Diets require us to follow strict rules which frequently leads to feeling disconnected from our natural ‘hunger’, ‘fullness’ or ‘satisfied’ signals and the sensations that tell us what and how much we want eat. Diets teach us to ignore these body signals which can lead to confusion between emotional needs and hunger.(2)

Reduced metabolism: The restrictive nature of fad diets frequently results in our basal metabolic rate (energy use) slowing down. Through our hormone systems, the body switches on a ‘starvation’ response that reduces metabolism and retains body fat which is the body’s stored energy. (2)

Weight cycles:  This has two contexts.

1. Repeated or ‘yo-yo’ dieting can result in fluctuations in weight which is known as weight cycling. This is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and coronary heart disease, regardless of weight.

2. When we diet we often get stuck in cycles of body dissatisfaction, food preoccupation, restriction, bingeing and guilt.

   
   

Weight regain: Due to this combination of physiological, psychological and emotional factors, research shows that 95% of people who diet regain the weight and more in one to five years after dieting. (1-3)

Understanding that huge profits are made by perpetuating our feelings of self-doubt can help us to buy out of diet culture and tune into and be guided by our body’s wisdom. We can reject these weight-centred messages and come home to our bodies with acceptance, gratitude, love and compassion.  

References:

1. Harrison K, 2019, Anti-Diet. Yellow Kite Books, UK.

2. EDV website, 2025: https://eatingdisorders.org.au/why-every-day-should-be-no-diet-day/

3. Better Health Channel, 2025: https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/body-image-and-diets

4. National Eating Disorders Association (NEDA), 2005. kNOw Dieitng: Risks and Reasons to Stop. 

5. National Eating Disorders Collaboration (NEDC) 2025 https://nedc.com.au/eating-disorders/eating-disorders-explained/disordered-eating-and-dieting