The Great Fitness Debate: Gluten-Free, Paleo, Vegan or Vegetarian -- Which Diet Works Best?

Dieting -- we've all been there. Whether you are a woman or a man, trying out every diet trends is nothing new. Now there can be a lot of reasons why we diet. Normally, it is because we want to lose weight but actually, diet doesn't only involve "losing weight." Reasons like religion, beliefs, healthy lifestyle, or just wanting to gain muscle are all part of the parcel of why we diet. But the burning question remains: which of these kinds of diet work the best? For us to find out, a survey was conducted to estimated 2,500 respondents to answer key questions such which diet people stick to the longest, on what different people think of a certain diet, and on why do they even started to try a new diet in the first place.

To start off, kinds of diet that we are going to include are gluten-free, paleo, vegan and vegetarian. According to Mayo Clinic, a gluten-free diet is a diet usually used as treatment for those with celiac disease. It excludes the protein gluten. The Paleo diet aims to return to how early humans eat. Usually, paleo involves eating lean meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. If you want to lose weight or planning to maintain weight, go paleo. Meanwhile, vegan and vegetarian diets have the same common denominator which is vegetable eating, though for vegan diet, animal products are not allowed. Out of all these four diets, which lasts longest?

According to the survey, all the respondents had tried any of these diets, but almost 23% of them sticks longer with vegetarian diet, which can last six months to one year as compare to gluten-free with 12.6%. This might has something to do with their beliefs that include religion, health, or any concerns on animals that made vegetarians go meatless. Different strokes for different folks as they say, so what do most of the respondents think to people doing a certain diet? An overwhelmingly 30% of the respondents say that Paleo is "healthy," while vegetarian diet followed with 28.6%. Gluten-free suffered with words like "annoying" with 20% of respondents saying so. Now how about if we try a new diet? What could be the possible reasons for choosing a diet? Survey says that for vegetarians, aside for "moral reasons", it is because they want to gain a muscle and also, it can save them money as well --- 71.4% of them said so. Meanwhile, Paleo and vegetarian diets are popular for weight loss, though Paleo dieters are more with 31.7%.

Whether you are a vegan, vegetarian, paleo follower, or a gluten-free believer, differences do not matter. What is important is that it keeps us healthy, happy, and satisfied with our food choices.

Read this article for more ideas about bodybuilding meal plans.