We humans are forever in search of a quick and easy
way to lose weight. Fad diets seduce us with their promised “drastic” results
and implied ease and simplicity, but they’re rarely reasonable -- or even
healthy. These nine fad diets of yesterday and today range from the doable to
the extreme! Remember: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, and it
could even be harmful. Read on to find out which fad diets we don’t miss. Continue...
1.
Tapeworm Diet
Not for the squeamish, this fad has
reportedly been around since the dawn of the 20th century. Brave souls would
swallow tapeworm cyst pills, so tapeworms would grow and mature inside their
intestines, eating all food products until the dieter’s goal weight is reached.
Said tapeworm is then excreted with the aid of an anti-parasite pill. Mind you,
tapeworms can get pretty damn huge -- as long as 30 feet -- and can cause a
whole mess of health issues, like diarrhea, vomiting, headaches and even
epilepsy. Erin Palinski-Wade, RD, says this is in no way a viable weight-loss
option. “This is an incredibly dangerous and unhealthy weight-loss option that
could potentially be deadly,” says Palinkski-Wade. “Not only would this lead to
serious nutrient deficiencies that can have lifelong complications, but you
would regain the weight back as soon as the parasite is killed.”
2. Hollywood Diet
Jamie and Larry, creators of the Hollywood Diet, have
long claimed their products and regimens will help you miraculously lose weight
while you’re treated, as their website promises, “like a star.” Their small
selection of shakes and cookies for sale, on which you are to subside for 24
hours or more, will reportedly lead to a weight loss of two to nine pounds.
Extreme low-calorie diets like this can be dangerous, especially when followed
for more than a couple of days, warns Los Angeles-based nutritionist Alyse
Levine M.S., RD. “This diet puts your body into starvation mode, and most of
the weight loss you experience in the first few days will be water weight,”
says Levine. Added potential side effects may include diarrhea, fatigue,
constipation and nausea.
3. Baby Food Diet
Reportedly, celebrity fitness guru Tracy Anderson
touted this fad diet to her ultra-famous clientele. The idea is to replace
breakfast and lunch with tiny jarred rations of puréed food and then to eat a
low-calorie dinner. Sure, babies subsist just fine on tiny, jarred rations of
puréed food, and if you’re a grown-up and choose to eat nothing but tiny jars
of puréed food, you’ll likely lose the same amount of weight you would if you
ate tiny portions of any food. This leaves ease of portion control and the
convenience of jarred, prepared food as this regimen’s sole selling point.
Granted, it’s free of additives and preservatives, but don’t grown-ups deserve
the dignity of using forks? “This diet deprives you of the pleasures of eating
real food and is not a good long-term approach to weight loss,” says Levine,
adding that it’s much easier -- and more civilized -- to just up consumption of
fruits and vegetables and decrease sodium content.
4. K-E Diet, aka the Feeding-Tube Diet
Talk about extreme! This doctor-affiliated/monitored
recent fad diet has you eating via a feeding tube. Yes, a feeding tube. A “very
low-calorie, protein- and fat-rich” solution with no carbs whatsoever is pumped
through a tube the size of a strand of spaghetti that is inserted through your
nose and into your stomach where it empties. Your body goes into ketosis,
burning your own fat at a faster pace. “The fact that one would resort to a
feeding tube to lose weight is appalling,” says Levine. “This very low-calorie
restricted plan is no more effective for short-term weight loss than just
restricting your calorie intake of regularly consumed food.” Aside from that,
complications from this diet may include constipation, kidney stones,
dehydration, dizziness and headaches, and, Levine adds, “a more unhealthy
relationship with food.”
5. Werewolf Diet
The concept behind this diet is that water weight ebbs
and flows like the tide. Because humans are also made of water, the Moon
Connection website claims fasting during either a full or new moon can cleanse
your body of water weight and toxins at a more accelerated pace -- up to six
pounds in a single day. There’s a quickie version and a more prolonged version.
Fasting for short periods of time here and there might not be so bad for us,
but weight loss shouldn’t be the motivation, says Levine. “There’s no
scientific evidence that our bodies need a detox diet or cleanse,” adds Levine.
“Our kidneys naturally detoxify our bodies 24 hours a day by removing waste --
there’s no need for a liquid fast to do so.” Instead, Levine recommends simply
increasing water intake to eight to 10 cups per day, keeping sodium to 2,300
milligrams or less per day, and increasing whole foods while limiting processed
foods -- regardless of the moon phase.
6. Master Cleanse, aka the Lemonade Diet
Based on the book “The Master Cleanser” by Stanley
Burroughs, the Master Cleanse, or lemonade diet, has been around for a while
and name-dropped by plenty of the Beyoncés of the world because it’s a fast and
easy…fast. As this miraculous elixir consists only of water, lemon juice,
cayenne pepper and maple syrup, you’ll lose some water weight -- but not for
long, says Los Angeles-based nutritionist Alyse Levine M.S., RD. “The
likelihood is that you’ll gain all the weight back and more once you go back to
eating solid food,” says Levine. “You may also have a harder time losing weight
in the future, since such low-calorie diets cause you to lose muscle mass and
decrease your metabolism.” So what’s the point?
7. Sleeping-Beauty Diet
We’ve all heard of sleeping off a hangover or a cold,
right? What if you were to sedate yourself into skipping a bunch of meals? Made
popular after an honorable mention in the popular ’60s novel “Valley of the
Dolls” and Elvis Presley’s rumored participation, this is by far the laziest
fad diet of them all. All you have to do is drug yourself unconscious until you
wake up thinner days later. Basically, it’s starvation with a side of muscle
atrophy, says registered dietitian Erin Palinski-Wade. “Not only can not eating
or drinking for days lead to a slower metabolism and dehydration, but the harm
you will cause to all of your body’s organs from taking unregulated drugs (or
improper use of prescription drugs) can be fatal,” she adds.
8. Cabbage Soup Diet
This age-old fad diet took simplicity to the extreme,
pairing down what you could eat to a few food groups to total less than 1,000
calories a day. Limiting your diet so dramatically isn’t a good idea, says Erin
Palinski-Wade, RD, CDE, author of “Belly Fat Diet for Dummies.” “Living off of
cabbage soup and a few specific foods over a period of time is not a healthy
way to lose weight,” says Palinski-Wade. “Vegetables are high in volume while
low in calories. Not only is the calorie range so low that it may slow your
metabolism, but this restrictive diet may promote nutrient deficiencies if
followed long term, such as deficiencies in protein and essential fatty acids.”
Instead, Palinski-Wade recommends filling half your plate with veggies and the
other half with lean protein and healthy, whole-grain carbs
9. Grapefruit Diet
Dating as far back as the 1930s, this fad diet still
retains some level of popularity. The premise is simple: If you eat a
grapefruit before eating anything else, drink lots of water, cut out carbs and
eat lean protein, you’ll burn more fat. Fans of this diet say if you do it for
around 10 days, you can lose up to 10 pounds. There may be a kernel of truth to
this one, says Erin Palinski-Wade, RD. “It’s been suggested that eating
grapefruit can help to slim the waistline and lower body weight, most likely
due to the diuretic properties of grapefruit helping to shed water weight. In
addition, the fruit makes a great high-volume, low-calorie option, helping to
keep you full and encouraging less total calorie intake during the day.” Still,
isn’t there just so much grapefruit one can eat?
Are
there any other fad diets that should have made the list? Share your thoughts
and experiences with us in the comments below.
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