Psychosocial factors predicting adherence to the metabolic reset diet

Abstract

Obesity and diabetes have very high prevalence rates in the modern world and are two key characteristics of metabolic syndrome. This in turn has been linked to other chronic diseases like cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, cancer, arthritis, and schizophrenia. Different health models and theories implicate certain variables that appear to play key roles in motivating people to adopt healthy behaviors like dietary changes, which are often challenging to adhere to. The current research examined how well three psychosocial factors (health self-efficacy, healthy eating mindset, and sense of community) correlated to adherence to the Metabolic Reset Diet (MRD). This diet is highly restrictive and involves primarily, the consumption of meat, cheese, and eggs for 30 days. It was hypothesized that those who have high self-efficacy, a healthy mindset, and a strong sense of community would be more likely to adhere to the MRD. Further, a sense of community might also be strong enough to moderate the effects of low self-efficacy and health mindset. Participants were recruited from the Martin Clinic Facebook group and page, whose founder developed this MRD. Prior to starting the diet, individuals completed measures for the three predictors, a demographic questionnaire, and questions regarding prior experience with the MRD. Each day they are on the diet, they checked in online with a report regarding adherence to the diet foods. After 30 days, they completed a follow-up survey. All data was collected online. A multiple regression analysis yielded non-significant results. The conclusion of the current study is that health self-efficacy, healthy eating mindset and sense of community are not good predictors for adherence to the MRD. However, a larger sample size might have yielded significant correlations. Future research might examine additional factors such as familial support and health literacy.