A comparison of dietary quality and nutritional adequacy of popular energy-restricted diets against the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating and the Mediterranean Diet

Abstract

There is limited information regarding the nutrition profile and diet quality of meal plans from currently popular weight loss diets in Australia. This includes the energy content (kilojoules), the macronutrient distribution, and the micronutrient composition. Further, these diets have not been compared with current government guidelines and healthy eating principles for nutritional adequacy. Popular diets were identified through grey literature, trending searches and relative popularity in Australia. Meal plans for each diet were analysed using Foodworks Dietary Software to determine food group intake, micronutrient, and macronutrient distribution. Results indicated that all popular diets assessed deviated from government recommended healthy eating principles such as the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating and the Mediterranean Diet. In most cases both popular diets, and the healthy eating principles had low intakes of multiple food groups, low intakes of essential micronutrients, and a distorted macronutrient distribution. Popular diets may not provide adequate nutrition to meet needs, particularly in the long-term and potentially resulting in micronutrient deficiency. When energy restricting for weight loss, meal plans should be highly individualized in conjunction with a qualified nutrition professional to ensure adequate dietary intake.

Dietary quality and nutrient intake in adults with obsessive–compulsive disorder

“…= 2697.85), which is greater than the recommended 8700 kJ average energy intake level that is commonly displayed on Australian nutrition information panels. 37 Most participants (90.6%) ate the recommended daily serves of unsaturated fat (four serves for men, two serves for women). However, most participants (60%) consumed >10% of saturated fat as part of their total daily energy intake (mean 12.6%).…”

“…time spent on obsessions) on a five-point Likert scale from 0 (none or minimal severity) to 4 (greatest severity). 28 The sum of these ten items allows an individual's OCD to be categorised as either subclinical (0-7), mild (8)(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15), moderate (16)(17)(18)(19)(20)(21)(22)(23), severe (24)(25)(26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31) or extreme (32)(33)(34)(35)(36)(37)(38)(39)(40). The Y-BOCS-SS demonstrates good psychometric properties and is considered to be the gold standard in assessing OCD symptom severity.…”

The health benefits and practical considerations for the adoption of a Mediterranean-style dietary pattern

“…Rodrigues and colleagues (36) sought to develop a Portuguese Mediterranean diet wheel. Three main steps were followed: (1) establishment of the most relevant Mediterranean diet and lifestyle principles to improve this pattern among the Portuguese population; (2) converting those principles into a captivating and easy to understand tool and (3) obtaining experts' opinion. This newly developed Mediterranean food guide is an educational tool that will support health and education professionals to promote healthy food choices.…”

“…Accepted manuscript study population, those individuals with a high adherence to a MDP in non-Mediterranean populations may be classified as poorly adherent in Mediterranean regions (2) , (iii) differences in bioactivate content in foods, (iv) in Mediterranean Countries a MDP score may be capturing a Mediterranean lifestyle, not fully corrected for by statistical approaches, i.e. residuals, and (v) MDP scores may not fully capture a high-quality diet in non-Mediterranean regions.…”

“…Although in many ways analogous to other global healthy plant-based dietary patterns, it is the high intakes of olive oil, nuts and red wine, which make the MDP unique. The MDP has been used as a benchmark for comparison with other dietary patterns (2) and has influenced the dietary guidelines for non-Mediterranean countries like the USA, Canada and Australia.…”