Finally, it is December; probably the worst month of the year to cover this hot topic. With chocolate Nutcrackers, crunchy peppermint bark, and an endless variety of holiday sweets, a bag of carrots is for Santa’s reindeer, not for you.

Dieting is found all over the world, but it originated with Eastern religious faiths. First, asceticism – a word commonly used to describe the first primitive diets – is defined as self-denial, self-mortification, and extreme abstinence. In ancient orthodox Christian culture, spiritual exercises were used to achieve the ideal body. Additionally, in ancient Greece, Olympic athletes believed in preparing for physical contests by disciplining their bodies; they withdrew from various normal pleasures and endured challenging physical tests.

Multiple diets in the 21st century prove to be operative, but detrimental to the body in ways that should be listed as side effects. Senior Sarah Keiser underscores, “You are replacing that point of eating and living healthfully with boxes of artificial food that isn’t good for you.” Additionally, freshmen Raquel Avidon explains, “Once you go off of it (the diet), you go back to the typical bad food regimen.”

Even the foods used in mistakenly credible diets are harmful. For example, Weight Watchers has noted changes in many of its users; however, the user’s goals are to count calories, not chemicals. Oatmeal is an awesome breakfast – with a little maple syrup and walnuts – boom, you got it made. Luckily, Weight Watchers has maple syrup flavored porridge, not just with maple syrup, but with caramel color (carcinogenic chemical known as 4-methylimidazole or 4-Mel) and carrageenan, a migraine enhancer.

Not only is Weight Watchers’ oatmeal imperceptibly destroying its customers’ hearts and brains, but also fooling their sweet tooth. Corn syrup remains an ingredient in a number of their products – mostly snack cookies and candies – and sinisterly succeeds at sugaring up any honey trying to lose her buns.

Additionally, the Atkins diet offers simplistic meals, but the company is a little too gung ho. The amount of calories in a serving of beef teriyaki is fairly reasonable: 260. Take a glance down and make sure to drink gallons of water because the sodium content is close to 1000mg.

Teriyaki only gets into more trouble with, once again, caramel coloring as well as sucralose; an artificial sugar. So where does the high sodium number come from? Disodium inosinate and guanylate are said to be naturally occurring; however, both are replacements for additive MSG. DI and G provide a punch of flavor and require little of the additive to do so. Still, they increase the salt content of the product.

To bread or not to bread, that is the question. Cutting carbs is assumed to increase weight loss. In biology, one of the four macromolecules that makes up our body is carbohydrates. AP Biology teacher Ms. Sarah Rew posits, “The body needs carbohydrates for energy. If you are not careful (with your diet) you will gain it all back.”

Furthermore, the body needs these simple sugars to carry out normal functions such as energy production and transfer, as well as memory and recognition. The key is to eliminate not all carbohydrates, but processed ones such as chips, candy, and artificial sugars, which will turn into fat if not used as energy.

Freshman Ilona Averina says, “Fad diets have a negative impact on the body, but there are some exceptions.” Opting to go gluten free is a controversial alternative because carbs are still on the menu; however, these carbs are breader for you (pardon the pun).

Noshing on vegetables such as potatoes, sprouted grain bread products, rice, and quinoa all offer similar benefits to wheat. Brands to invest in include Food for Life (Ezekiel bread) as well as Lundberg Family Farms because they both are organic.

Today, various diets are known to work; however, exercise is ultimately the best diet tool. Body fat percentage is decreased through burning calories. In order to lose weight – or get rid of it because it is unwanted – take walks and begin light cardio. Watch out for the additives mentioned earlier and monitor intake of processed foods. Greek yogurt is an excellent source of protein as well as scrambled eggs, legumes or beans. Snack on almonds or cashews and drink plenty of fluids; if water is not what’s up, try adding in a few citrus fruit slices for a tangy taste.

Dieting is not the best way to get skinny, but that’s not the goal; fit is the new slim, and hey, it’s December. Next to that gift list is 2016 resolutions, and sweating, not dieting, should be one of them!