Do Fad Diets Work? Myths and Facts
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What are the Top 8 Fad Diets? What do you Eat on Fad Diets?
Many people suffer with trying to lose weight, and resort to searching the internet for the quickest way to get the results that they are hoping for. Many of these “Fad Diets” are good for losing weight quickly, but do not offer good results over long-term periods as they are hard diets to maintain.
Fad Diets Foods
Over the past few years, here are some of the top fad diets (no particular order):
- Keto Diet- Low carbohydrate, high fat, and moderate protein consumption. This diet began to help people with frequent seizures and diabetics but has become popular for quick weight loss recently. Very little research on long term effects of this diet for healthy adults.
- Intermittent Fasting- This diet is highly variable where people will fast (go without food) for long periods of time and only eat during small windows during the day. The most drastic of fasting diets calls for 2 days of fasting, followed by 5 days of a Mediterranean type of diet.
- Vegan Diet- As the name entails, this diet calls for the person to avoid any foods or drinks that originate from animals. Vegetables, grains, fruits, and nuts are the main sources of food in this diet.
- Weight Watchers- This is one of the most popular and longer lasting commercial diet programs. WW is based on a point system for foods and does not eliminate particular foods but teaches balanced diet and healthier choices.
- Cleanse Diets- This diet consists of only consuming juices from fruits and vegetables in order to lose weight and detoxify or cleanse the body. This diet is very restrictive on both food groups as well as caloric intake.
- Atkins Diet- This was the original low carb diet. This diet differentiates itself from the keto diet in that it allows for increased protein in its diet plan.
- Paleo Diet- This diet is based on foods that early humans would have been able to hunt/gather in the paleolithic era. This diet typically includes lean meats, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds.
- Whole 30- This diet is based on eating “whole foods”, as in foods that are not packaged and processed for 30 days. Eating based on this part of the diet is healthy, but it also restricts sugars, alcohol, legumes, dairy, and grains. The issue with this diet is that it is hard to maintain, even for the 30 days.
Are Fad Diets Bad?
Fad diets can have both good and bad qualities to them. Most of them are good in the sense that they can help reduce weight or body fat. This can improve cardiovascular health and reduce stress on joints. However, many of these fad diets can have adverse effects on a person’s health. This is due to these fad diets eliminating whole categories of foods that are critical for maintaining a well-balanced body chemistry. It is important that you seek advice from a physician or licensed dietician before making any drastic changes to your current diet.
Fad Diets
Do Fad Diets Include Exercise?
Fad diets do not require any type of exercise to help lose weight.
What is the Most Successful Diet to Lose Weight?
The safest and most effective way to lose weight and keep it off is a combination of exercise, a healthy variety of food groups, and appropriate portions of food.
Tips for Spotting Fad Diets
- No type of exercise is required to help lose weight
- Guaranteed weight loss in a short period of time
- Eliminates one or more major food group.
- Does not encourage a long-term plan
- Posted by social media influencer, but does not cite scientific studies
By: Alex Bigale, PTA
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