The BBC have an article about dieters types which is quite interesting to read, but I have to confess I didn't really manage to classify myself and work out what type of diet would be best for me.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30709297
A quick summary of it
There are three types of overeaters.
- Feasters who find it hard to stop eating once they start,
- Constant cravers who feel hungry all of the time
- Emotional eaters who turn to food when they get stressed or anxious.
Feasters
Research showed hormones play a big part in their eating habits. In particular, they produce low levels of certain gut hormones that are released when food arrives in the intestines. These chemical signals travel through the blood to the brain and tell the body when it has had enough food and should stop eating.
Feasters need a diet that makes them feel full for as long as possible. Scientists suggested a high protein, low glycaemia index (GI) diet. These are foods that boost gut hormone signals and include fish, chicken, basmati rice, lentils, grains and cereals. No potatoes or bread because they don't make people feel full for very long.
Constant Cravers
Always want to eat and their "hungry brains" often want fatty and sugary foods.
Constant cravers have genes that make them feel hungry most of the time. As a result they struggle to diet for seven days a week. Instead they (human testers) were told to drastically reduce their diet to 800 calories on two days of the week. They ate normally, but healthily, for the other five. This is often called intermittent fasting.
Emotional Eaters
Reach for food when they are stressed or anxious. When the brain perceives a person is in difficulty, it triggers changes to the body, like the heart rate increasing. This stressed state makes it even harder for people to overcome what they are facing. This sort of eater has developed habits that are hard to break and in stressful times their brains seek out a reward.
Emotional eaters have established bad habits that are hard to break... By being part of online support groups and attending weight-loss meetings, they were encouraged to stick to their diets.
To find out more,
What's The Right Diet For You? A Horizon Special is broadcast on BBC Two on 12, 13 and 14 January at 21.00 GMT (non UK residents will need to use an alternative method of connecting to the BBC iPlayer to watch the program
) but it is usually only available to watch for 30 days after the first airing.
There are also android, iTunes and a kindle book which non UK people may or may not be able to access.
Amazon.com app link
Android app link
IPad app link
I don't know if these links will work for people outside of the UK because the BBC can be funny over licencing sometimes! (Hence why I have summarised the article...)