For the most part yes, with a few exceptions. Many of these fad diets that you hear about every day are very harmful to your body. Sure you lose a lot of weight in a short time, but this is an unhealthy way to do it. Even if you lose all that weight, it’s mostly temporary and as soon as you put your old clothes back on, the weight soon comes back. Fad diets often involve losing water, which leads to dehydration and causes unhealthy electrolyte and salt imbalances that can lead to cramps, dizziness, and loss of muscle mass.
Fad diets in the media
You often hear about fad diets in the media all the time and how celebrities have lost a lot of weight on these amazing diets. In the recent media, Oprah Winfrey was on an Acai berry diet and lost a lot of weight (again), it’s an unhealthy way to lose weight by relying on a berry. Sure it’s full of antioxidants, but don’t depend on it, if acai is taken in its original juice form (not reconstituted with water or in pill form), it makes a great antioxidant-rich natural energy drink. Beyonce Knowles has recently been on a master cleanse “I lived on water, cayenne pepper and maple syrup for 14 days, it was hard, everyone around me was eating and I was dying.” Sounds great!
Scams?
It’s easy enough to spot a fad diet with false promises. Most of them promise unrealistic weight loss, and there are often companies promoting certain foods and supplements to trick you into signing up for a monthly subscription. An example of this is the Acai berry diet, there are plenty of scam websites promoting Acai pills.
ribbon worm diet
Even at the turn of the century, people had begun trying to market weight loss pills and diets. A disturbing example of this is the Tape Worm diet. Which consists of taking capsules with tapeworm eggs in them. Hmm! The introduction of intestinal parasites can lead to weight loss, but tapeworms deplete many nutrients, minerals, and calories.
Atkins diet
When people think of the Atkins diet, they think of eating greasy burgers and cheese all the time. This is garbage. Diets low in carbohydrates and high in fat and protein are very beneficial for weight loss and, above all, for health.
Atkins believes that the main cause of Western obesity is due to the consumption of refined carbohydrates, sugar, flour and high fructose syrups. Refined carbohydrates and sugar are junk and should be avoided. They increase insulin and provide very little nutritional value.
The main idea is to switch the body’s metabolism from burning glucose for fuel to burning stored fat for fuel. This process is called ketosis.
ketogenic diets
Ketosis can be achieved by eating very few carbohydrates (less than 20-30 grams) for several weeks, leading to a state of ketosis. If there are too few carbohydrates in the diet, the liver converts fat into fatty acids and ketone bodies. Ketone bodies move to the brain and replace glucose as an energy source. You don’t want to be constantly eating cheese and burgers.
Protein – Eat things like chicken, tuna, fresh fish, beef, whey protein, eggs, turkey pork. I’m sure you get the idea. Healthy organic meats if possible.
Carbs: If you want to limit your carb intake, you’ll need to eat foods that give you the best bang for your buck, so to speak. Green leafy vegetables full of fiber, nutrients and vitamins. Eat things like spinach, kale, broccoli, onions, cucumbers. Natural organic vegetables are the key.
Fats: Believe it or not, fats are good for you! Try to balance your diet so that saturated, polyunsaturated, and monounsaturated fats include 1/3 of each of your total fat intake. Most foods have something of each type, but many foods are higher in one fat than another. Good sources of saturates are things like coconut oils and animal fats. The sources of polyunsaturated are flaxseed oil and pine nuts. Good sources of monounsaturated are virgin olive oils, cashews, walnuts and almonds.
Stay away from trans fats, trans fats are basically damaged fats. Stay away from things like margarine, cooking sprays, snack foods, and hydrogenated oils.
Remember that variation is the key. Don’t just eat chicken and spinach every day! Try different food combinations.
Hunter-gatherer diets
It has been argued that hunting societies lived on ketogenic diets. It survives mainly on meat, fish, poultry, and the leaves, roots, and fruits of many plants. Even in modern times, there are some hunter-gatherer tribes that live on ketogenic diets. The Inuit consume a diet of food that is locally caught, hunted, and gathered. This can include walrus, ringed seal, bearded seal, beluga whale, polar bear, berries, and fireweed.
There are many objections and concerns about how healthy such a diet would be. So how healthy is the Inuit diet? Statistically, they are some of the healthiest people in the world with low incidences of diseases like arthritis and cancer.
From 1906 to 1918, the Arctic explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson ate almost exclusively fish and seal meat, often raw or fermented, and almost no vegetables, living like an Eskimo among Eskimos. He came to the conclusion that he had never been in better health in his life.
So?
In general, most fad diets suck. When you hear things like the cabbage diet, the lazy zone diet, the Hollywood diet, and lose weight fast, it’s best to stay clear. Many people think that ketosis is a bad thing, but this is not always the case, it is an effective way to achieve a healthier body. Don’t rely on diet alone to do it all for you. Work out to lose weight, go for a run, skate, climb, whatever gets you moving. If you’re serious about losing weight, stop drinking soda. Drink water, water is a catabolic substance, which means your body needs energy to digest it and let it pass through your system. There are many ways to lose weight, but to make it as simple as possible, for better functioning and physical appearance, you need to work hard and eat right.