If you are planning to lose weight, there are a great deal of fad diets to avoid. These are the kind of diets that promise rapid weight loss but don’t offer balanced nutrition. If they work, it’s because you are cutting out essential nutrients and consuming a very limited number of calories, and the results will only be temporary. So here are some fad diets to avoid …
Of all the fad diets to avoid, your family will definitely be grateful of you pass up the Cabbage Soup Diet. Imagine how unpleasant it will be for them, considering the side effects of you eating so much cabbage! Besides, you’ll find it pretty dull and tasteless.
I’m not a nutritionist or medically trained, but I can’t see how cutting out a major food group can be safe. Follow the Atkins diet, and you’re going to be missing out on an important source of energy. Like the Cabbage Soup Diet, this plan is notorious for certain unpleasant side effects …
Followers of the Blood Type Diet believe that if you want to lose weight, you need to eat appropriate foods for your blood type. For example, type O people should not eat dairy or wheat. However, there is absolutely no scientific evidence to back this up, so don’t be tempted by this wacky idea.
This is basically a detox diet, and many doctors are dubious about the benefits of such diets. It is based on the use of a very expensive drink, which is recommended for short term use. So of course you are going to lose several pounds – because you’re simply consuming a very low calorie intake! You’re also going to lose a lot of money …
One reason why diets often fail is that they are monotonous, so you get bored and start eating more interesting (and calorific) foods. If you’re eating grapefruit at every meal you’ll soon get fed up! Another reason to be wary of this diet is that grapefruit can interact with some medications.
Allegedly Steve Jobs followed this diet, and well, it certainly didn’t do him much good. A fruitarian diet appeals to those who think that the modern diet of processed foods is bad for us, as indeed it is. But is it any better to eat nothing but fruit, nuts and seeds?
Like the fruitarian diet, the caveman diet at first seems as though it could contain some good advice. The aim is to follow what our distant ancestors ate – well, what could be wrong with going back to basics and eating what our bodies are designed for? Quite a lot, really. This isn’t the Stone Age, we are living different lives, and who knows exactly what our ancestors ate?
Baby food is designed for babies. So why would grown adults want to eat it? This diet is going to be very low on calories and the texture will be extremely boring. And just because celebrities are supposed to follow it doesn’t mean that it’s a good example to follow. So leave this one to the babies.
If you want to lose weight, there are far more sensible ways to go about it than following these daft diets. Adopting a sensible eating plan and combining it with exercise will lead to far better results. Remember that there are no quick fixes with weight loss; it’s essential to take the long-term view. And NEVER be tempted to atke diet pills. Have you ever tried any awful fad diets?