Dump the celebrity diet! Researchers say key to losing weight is to be motivated by successful friends

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Dump the celebrity diet! Researchers say key to losing weight is to be motivated by successful friends

Posted by sciencetech-blog on Tuesday, February 17, 2015 Label:

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There could be a scientific explanation as to why celebrity diets are almost always fads.

A new study claims that people are far more motivated by seeing their friends do well with a diet, than listening to a celebrity endorsement.

The research could help companies spend their marketing money better by targeting social networks, the study authors claim.

A study claims people are more motivated by seeing their friends do well with a diet, than listening to a celebrity such as Miley Cyrus (left) and Matthew McConaughey (right) who both reportedly follow the Paleo diet

'People want to see that positive influence,' said researcher Lora Cavuoto at the University at Buffalo.

'Understanding how social influence affects people's participation in health programs can lead to better-designed wellness interventions.'

The study simulated the behavior of fictional people created using combinations of physical attributes and personality traits, such as the ability to lose weight and a high or low body mass index.

The model distributed traits based on national population averages.

Based on the simulations, people in social networks linked to someone who successfully lost weight or had a high body mass index produced the largest total weight loss among peers.

Professor Cavuoto's results support the new approach many weight-loss programs have taken in attracting new participants.Celebrity endorsers with a large reach have taken a backseat to everyday people

The networks surrounding a person with a high number of friends — those who were more charismatic or popular — produced lower weight-loss totals.

Professor Cavuoto's results support the new approach many weight-loss programs have taken in attracting new participants.

Celebrity endorsers with a large reach have taken a backseat to everyday people who benefit from a new diet or workout.

'Your ties and social contacts may have a bigger effect because you see them every day and you have that close connection,' said Professor Cavuoto.

'If they can be successful, then that's your best way of getting information out that a program is good.'

CELEBRITY DIETS WERE FIRST CREATED BY MONKS IN THE MIDDLE AGES

Fashionable fasting diets used by celebrities were actually invented by monks and hermits in the Middle Ages, it has been revealed.

There is a direct link between the 5:2 and DODO diets followed by stars such as Beyoncé and Benedict Cumberbatch and the spiritual eating habits devised hundreds of years ago to cleanse the mind and body.

Andrew Jotischky, Medieval History Professor at Lancaster University, is the author of 'A Hermit's Cookbook' which has recipes from the Middle Ages including stew and bread soup.

The monks' healthy, simple diet and their fasting habits are almost exactly the same as today's celebrity weight loss plans, says the professor.

The idea behind the 5:2 diet is to eat normally for five days, while fasting on the other two days. It is suggested that the dieter limits themself to 500 calories for two non-consecutive days a week. The DODO - or Day On Day Off diet - follows a similar theory.

Professor Jotischky said: 'Hermits went out and found their food in the wild or grew it themselves.

'In that respect they were very similar to some of today's chefs, like Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, who use the same approach to prepare their dishes.

'And of course, fasting played a major part in their lives. For them it was a spiritual act rather than a way to lose weight, but it made them very aware of the nature of food and eating.'

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