Subscribe RSS FeedWith obesity expected to affect an ever growing percentage of our population over the next 20-40 years, the pursuit of ‘fad diets and quick fix weight loss schemes has become more popular than ever predicted. From the TWA Stewardess diet to the Blood Type Diet to the 7 day Elimination diet, each of these weight loss programs all claim to promote immediate weight loss and increased metabolic activity.
But do fad diets like this really help you lose weight?
Sure, they might help you lose quite a bit of water weight fairly quickly, but the vast majority of dieters who try such fads find that their weight loss is insignificant – losing as little as 1-2lbs before hitting a plateau on whatever fad diet they are following.
More disappointingly, once dieters stopped following these kinds of diets, they immediately regained all the weight they lost. This is typical of most diets, actually. For many dieters, the battle of the bulge becomes a fight with yo-you dieting.
What are the long term implications of these diets?
Whilst celebrity diets can help dieters to experience quick weight loss, most are not safe for the foreseeable future. Limiting the amount of key nutrients needed to ensure your body is working at maximum levels, many involve reducing your calorie content to less than 1,000 calories a day– over half your allowance.
Supported by heavy sessions in the gym and constant calorie counting, most of these diets run the risk of making you feel queasy, fatigued, and unable to focus and more worryingly prevent your body from working properly – All of which are good for your long term health and ultimately your future ability to lose weight.
Are Fad Diets easy to spot?
Fad diets are easier to spot than you imagine. Proclaiming to offer you a ‘quick fix’ solution to your weight loss concerns, you can often spot a fad diet by their:
• Too good to be true claims
• Lack of clinical studies
• Removal of one or more of the five daily food groups
• Recommendations from medical professionals without reviews from other researchers
When picking a dietary fad or weight loss supplement, it is vital to thoroughly research their benefits first before including them into your diet. If there is no medical evidence that they can produce real and credible health benefits, then they probably don’t work.