Yeah, I'm always a bit suspicious of apparently effective dietary changes which result in a calorie reduction - often different people report completely different dietary changes helped them, but one thing they all have in common is being in calorie deficit.

There are plenty of studies showing that caloric restriction calms inflammatory responses which are responsible for the majority of common diseases. Without balancing the energy intake, I'm always slightly suspicious that any improvements with changing what I eat are actually caused by the change in how much I eat.