10 Things The 1980s Diet Craze Got All Wrong & 10 Things It Got Right
Remember Sweating In Your Leg Warmers?
The 1980s were a wild time where big hair, neon leotards, Jane Fonda reigned supreme, and yes, low-fat everything reigned supreme. It was the first decade to popularize fitness and nutrition so much that it became mainstream. While some of the diet crazes were silly and even dangerous, others, like actually reading food labels, made a lot of sense and still hold up. Here are 10 things the 1980s diet craze got all wrong and 10 it surprisingly got right.
1. Replacing Fat With Sugar
While it was good that people were leaning away from fatty, greasy foods in the 80s, many of the low-fat diet foods on the market replaced the fat with sugar to make them palatable. Sugar is metabolized as fat in the body and is arguably even less healthy.
2. Villainizing Fat
The 1980s were the "fat is evil" era. However, fat is actually a vital nutrient that plays a role in hormone production, organ protection, and the creation of cell membranes. The emphasis should've been on limiting trans fat as opposed to cutting out all fats.
3. Neglecting Strength Training
The 1980s were all about aerobics, usually featuring some kind of neon-colored leotard. There wasn't as much emphasis on strength training, which is actually even more efficient for slimming down than cardio.
4. Prioritizing Processed Diet Foods
Instead of prioritizing wholesome, fresh foods like veggies and fruits, the 1980s emphasized packaged diet foods. Pre-packaged TV dinners were perceived as healthy when in reality they contained much more sodium and preservatives than a home-cooked meal.
5. Ignoring Macros
Today, fitness junkies are obsessed with macronutrients, but in the 1980s, there was little understanding of this. Fat was the main villain, protein was underappreciated, and carbs were misunderstood.
6. Grapefruit Can Burn Fat
In the 1980s, the grapefruit diet, which replaced most foods with grapefruit and grapefruit juice, was all the rage. It claimed that grapefruit had fat-burning enzymes, but that's completely untrue. The diet just ended up being unsustainable and unbalanced.
7. Meals Should Be Replaced By Shakes
Meal replacement shakes became a huge fad in the 80s. The idea was to cut out one or more meals per day and replace them with a low-calorie shake, but the shake was also void of other nutrients, including fiber and protein.
8. Crash Dieting On Cabbage Soup
Like most fab diets of the 80s, the cabbage soup diet relied on severe calorie restriction that resulted in rapid weight loss but was completely unsustainable. It lacked protein, healthy fats, and other essential nutrients and left people feeling bloated and fatigued.
9. Obsessive Calorie Counting
1980s diets were more about obsessing over calories than focusing on eating a wholesome, balanced diet. The result was plenty of diets that led to unsustainable, short-lived weight loss and nutrient deficiencies instead of a focus on overall health.
10. One-Size-Fits-All
One thing the 1980s got wrong is that everyone's bodies are different, and never will a single program will work for everyone. Cookie-cutter approaches proved to be ineffective and perpetuated harmful messages about body image.
Now that we've covered the things the 1980s diet craze got wrong, let's talk about what it actually got right.
1. Raised Awareness About Nutrition
The 1980s saw a huge pivot towards nutrition. Even if many things were being poorly understood, there was at least a general interest in healthier lifestyles and a greater awareness of health.
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2. Promoted Exercise
Exercise became dramatically more popular in the 1980s compared to previous decades. Home workouts with celebrity endorsements, aerobics classes, and fitness centers made physical activity mainstream and "cool."
3. Promoted High-Fiber Foods
Of all the packaged diet foods available in the 80s, the ones that made the most sense were those that emphasized fiber, like bran cereals and whole-grain bread. They already understood the role of fiber in maintaining a healthy weight, reducing blood sugar, and aiding digestion.
4. Encouraged Portion Control
Although the 1980s may have taken it too far with some of their calorie-restrictive crash diets, the emphasis on portion control was a step in the right direction. Before the 80s, many people wouldn't have considered moderating how much they were eating.
5. Popularized Healthier Convenience Foods
The 1980s saw the rise of granola bars, yogurt, and rice crackers as healthy convenience foods. Although there was still too much emphasis on packaged foods, unhealthy snacks became much less prominent.
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6. Introduced Mindful Eating Concepts
Many diet programs emphasized the adoption of mindful eating concepts like eating slowly and paying attention to hunger cues. Mindful eating improves your relationship with food while aiding weight loss by helping you recognize satiety cues.
7. Focused On Self-Discipline
The 1980s diet craze emphasized self-discipline, which continues to be the backbone of any weight-loss plan or personal growth challenge. No matter the trendy diet, it always entailed commitment and consistency.
8. Healthier Breakfasts
The 1980s saw the rise of healthy, high-fiber breakfasts like granola, yogurt, and fresh fruit. This replaced the classic American breakfasts of previous generations, which were full of trans fat.
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9. Lowering Cholesterol
There may not have been as much understanding around the differences between "good' and "bad" cholesterol, but the low-fat craze of the 80s certainly helped a lot of people reduce their risk of heart disease. People began avoiding red meat, full-fat dairy products, and bacon, which was beneficial as long as they didn't replace them with too many low-fat packaged food products.
10. Introduction To Low-Carb
Some of the most popular diets of the 1980s were the Atkins diet and the caveman diet, a precursor to the modern Paleo diet. Although these were all very extreme, they introduced the idea of limiting carbs, especially refined carbs, and emphasizing high-quality proteins, which proved beneficial.
