With the millennial generation getting more and more money each year, they have to start thinking about things like budgeting, saving, investing and most importantly- eating.

This article is going to be a general overview of what “popular millennial diets” are: looking at price, practicality, and healthiness.

The types of diets discussed in this article are:

Ketogenic aka Keto: Keto is a high-fat, low-carb diet that encourages the body to only use fat for energy. The idea behind Ketosis is to take advantage of the “keto flu”, which is the state the body enters when first starting a low-carb diet: sluggish, headache, and irritable. This state is not good for weight loss or health in general.

However, all diets are not created equal: there are more effective and healthy ketogenic diets than others. Low-carb ketogenic diets have been shown to help with weight loss, but the long-term should be monitored to see if there are negative side effects. Some studies show weight loss up to three times faster than traditional low-fat, high-carb diets.

Carbohydrate-restriction diets: Carb-restrictive diets such as Paleo, Atkins, and Sugar Busters enable the eater to eat limited carbohydrate foods such as meat, fruit, vegetables, and dairy. They mention that a lot of these diets avoid grains like wheat, semolina, and rice because they contain high amounts of carbohydrates (which cause blood sugar to spike).

Whole 30: The idea behind the whole 30 is to eat only foods found in nature, with no exceptions. There are restrictions to allow you to buy and consume anything that is not listed as an allowable food. Some examples of things allowed: are butter, oils, and alcohol. The diet is highly divided with some people claiming the diet to be ineffective, while others say it is helpful for weight loss and overall health.

Balanced macros and calorie restriction: Balanced macros and calorie restriction are different from the ones listed above. The idea behind this type of diet is to eat enough protein, healthy fats, and carbohydrates - overall this diet is about finding the right balance for your body type and lifestyle. The foundation for this diet is the input of calories versus the output of calories. The diet suggests that you input the number of calories that you need per day and then decide what ratios work best for your body. For example, if your diet was 2,000 calories per day, then you would distribute the macros into a protein/carbohydrate/fat ratio, the most common ratio being: 40/30/30. Most diets have been created to promote weight loss, but that is not the only reason why people go on a diet. Carbohydrates and protein have 4 calories per gram and fat has 9 calories per gram.

This ratio would equate to 800 calories of protein, 600 calories of carbohydrates, and 600 calories of fat. (40/30/30 of 2,000 calories). Then you would calculate the number of grams for each:

800 / 4 = 200 grams of protein

600 / 4 = 150 grams of carbohydrates

600 / 9 = 66.7 grams of fat

Now, this is a lot of math, but there are many apps that modify and simplify this whole process for the user.

Some people go on diets to improve their health, which is the reason behind most of these diets. However, most of these diets can be healthy and effective for weight loss, so you should find the diet that works for you.

Remember: these types of diets are not going to work for everyone! You need to be committed in order to make a lifestyle change.

I’ll go into more detail of the various diets below.