IIFYM Sucks & Is Probably Impacting Your Health. This Is Why:

In the crazy world of dieting and nutrition misinformation, there is a prevalent belief that IIFYM is a silver-bullet solution when it comes to dieting.

Just track your macros, and the weight will fall off... right?!

For those who don't know, IIFYM stands for "If it fits your macros" and it's a diet movement that says (in their own words): “No foods are off-limits! As long as it fits your macro requirements, you can eat whatever you like.”

Sounds great right?!

So why do I think this is a problem?

This reductionist approach doesn't focus on healthy eating patterns, a broader view of health, or on the nutritional quality of food.

Here's a few things I've noticed happen when people follow IIFYM-style diets without nutrition education to complement their efforts:

• A false sense of education & knowledge. Just knowing that a certain food has 10g of fat per 100g, unfortunately, doesn't tell you anything about how the particular type of fat is metabolised, what to eat with it, or whether it has positive or negative effects on the body.

• An obsession with MFP or other tracking apps. If you can't log it, you won't eat it. Hello missed dinners, social occasions and increased stress around food.

• A focus on macronutrients and calories alone, rather than food groups and healthy eating patterns. Just because you can have another 100g of carbohydrates for the day, doesn't mean you should be eating ice cream out of the tub at 11pm.

Overall, I think an IIFYM approach reduces the complex interplay of nutrition in food too much, as well as overlooking the longer-term effects on health.

Let's compare two options:

Option 1: A fresh piece of fruit, an orange or an apple.

Option 2: Fruit juice (from that same piece of fruit, just juiced).

• Same calories.

• Same carbohydrate content.

• Same sugar.

• Looks the same when you look at the macros.

So what's the big difference?

Option 1 (fruit) contains a fibre matrix that holds together the fibre, sugar, vitamins and water.

Option 2 (juice) only contains the juice- the sugar and water.

Let's take this a step further...

Digestion differences:

Option 1 takes about 5 minutes to eat. Mechanical chewing and physical digestion will be more difficult than Option 2, increasing the number of calories it takes to process the food. Better if you're dieting.

Hunger/Fullness differences:

Given that it takes longer to eat, as well as activating stretch receptors in the stomach, this will decrease hunger hormones and manage hunger more effectively than drinking a small portion of juice. Better if you're dieting.

Physiological differences: The effect on someone's blood sugar will be lower if the sugar is consumed in whole food form with the fibre, as it's slower to digest and process. Better if dieting & better for health.

Other health benefits: Removing the fibre will decrease the nutritional quality of the food. Fibre is essential to a healthy functioning gut, and eating foods high in fibre is protective against colorectal cancer*. Removing the fibre means that your gut bacteria miss out on all of that good stuff. This protective effect is not found with fruit juice.

Now think of carbohydrates from potato, corn, and wholegrains vs carbohydrates from lollies. Or fat from nuts and avocados, vs fats from deep-fried bakery foods. They might have the same macronutrients in your tracking app, but the choice of food could still be vastly improved.

What's the solution?

You can still use macronutrients as a guide, and I do encourage it, but instead of blindly relying on IIFYM - also do these things:

• Focus on healthy eating patterns and food groups

• Employ good nutrition behaviours

• Incorporate whole foods and less processed foods

• Don't eat junk just because of 'macros'

Shift your mindset to the bigger picture, and move the focus away from tracking each little number.

This will allow you more food freedom when it comes to nutrition.

Next time you see IIFYM advertised as a silver bullet solution, turn a blind eye and just do you.

Less obsession over macros, more whole foods.

Next steps:

DIY: To find out my simple 4-step process for creating flexible nutrition plans for clients (incorporating real foods, as well as macronutrient awareness) you can check out my previous blog

OR, to get me to create a perfectly balanced nutrition plan for you, check out coaching options.

Yours in health,

Dom xx

*Research provided here: https://www.canceraustralia.gov.au/resources/position-statements/lifestyle-risk-factors-and-primary-prevention-cancer/lifestyle-risk-factors/diet

"Foods containing dietary fibre, such as vegetables, fruits, pulses (legumes) and cereals, are identified by the 2007 WCRF and AICR report and updates as having convincing evidence for a protective effect against colorectal cancer, with limited suggestive evidence for oesophageal cancer.8-15 A recent meta-analysis of around 580,000 subjects indicated a protective association between dietary fibre and risk of gastric cancer.59The WCRF and AICR report recommends consuming at least 400 g of a variety of non-starchy vegetables and fruits every day, as well as including relatively unprocessed cereals (grains) and/or pulses (legumes) with each meal to reduce risk of cancer.8"