Fad Diets

A fad diet is defined by its promise to produce quick, easy, and dramatic weight loss. Permanent weight loss is usually not guaranteed, and enjoying a variety of food can be challenging. There are many fad diets, each promising a path to speedy weight loss. While some diets focus on adding or eliminating specific foods while others simply limiting calorie consumption to near starvation levels.

Food-Specific Fad Diets

Many fad diets emphasize specific types of foods, and some of them seem really crazy when you hear the guidelines. A few examples include:

• The cabbage soup diet provides dieters with a recipe for low-calorie soup and limited menu choices to follow for a month in the hopes of dropping up to 40 pounds in that time frame.
• The lemon juice and maple syrup diet is a two-week cleanse during which readers don't eat any solid food. Instead, they consume a mixture of lemon juice, maple syrup, cayenne pepper, and water.
• The coconut diet is an extremely low-carb way of eating that requires readers to consume two to three tablespoons of coconut oil each day.

Time-Based Fad Diets

Some fad eating plans have strict menus or rules that have to be followed for a certain number of days.

• The three-day tuna diet includes, not surprisingly, a serving of tuna each day, along with a restricted menu featuring other items. People sometimes wonder if there is a substitute for tuna with this diet.
• Another three-day approach to dieting is sometimes referred to as the Alabama three-day diet, though it goes by other names as well. It restricts calorie consumption to as low as 800 calories per day.
• The four-day wonder diet is similar, though it provides for four consecutive days of extremely limited eating rather than just three. People who follow this diet restrict calories to a semi-starvation mode.
• The seven-day soup diet is centered around eating a very low-calorie vegetable soup concoction for seven consecutive days. Dieters can add a few specified foods to the soup each day, but calories stay very low.

Fad Diet Risks and Concerns

Since health concerns often arise when considering fad diets, it is important to consider their risks and potential side effects.

• Discover the potentially dangerous effects associated with crash diets versus adopting healthy eating habits that are sustainable and good for you.
• Find out about risks associated with certain fad diets, such as the dangers of the corset diet and other similar efforts to lose weight quickly.
• Consider safety concerns for the Suddenly Slim diet and other programs that include weight loss supplements paired with very restricted eating.
• Understand the potential of experiencing muscle loss on diet plans like the Master Cleanse, as well as other risks associated with such extreme measures.

Make Wise Decisions

Whichever fad diet you are seeking to learn about, you can find information about it here, from the basics of a plan to its pros and cons. Lifestyle often influences whether a fad diet will work for you. Always consult your physician before beginning any diet regimen.