Current Events for Fad Diets

In the last decade, fad diets have taken the western world by storm. These types of diets promise fast weight loss solutions without too much effort. Some of them even yield results without even needing to lift a finger, let alone perform any exercise.

Sounds absolutely fantastic doesn’t it? Imagine being able to loose weight really fast without having to pound the pavement for hours at a time.

Say goodbye to inconvenient gym sessions, sweaty gym clothes and smelly socks.  But say goodbye to it all at a price, because fad diets are always a done deal and no matter what, will end up costing you in the long run.

You’ve heard the names before: Atkins, South Beach, The Zone, The Cabbage Soup, The Juice Diet and the list goes one. Most of these diets claim that its fat you’ll be loosing, but don’t be fooled.

According to The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, mostly you’ll be loosing fluids. Of course, if one followed one of these diets for a lengthy period of time, fat loss would inevitably occur.

However, most of these diets restrict what you can eat so much that most people find it impossible to sustain for long periods of time.

These types of diets don’t promote healthy eating habits that could be followed for life. If anything, they promote eating habits that are potentially harmful in the long term.

Many fad diets eliminate or severely restrict fruits, carbohydrates such as cereals and whole grains as well as dairy products and believe it or not, even some vegetables. These are all foods that our bodies need to function properly and help deter many life-threatening diseases.

In the short term, anyone following a fad diet puts themself at high risk of suffering dehydration, weakness and fatigue, nausea, headaches and constipation. In the long term, the risks are far higher.

Did you know that eating too much protein (such as an eating program encouraged by the Atkins or other like diets) can severely reduce calcium intake, therefore drastically increasing the risk of osteoporosis?

Most of these fad diets promote some kind of poor long term eating habit such as the high protein/low carbohydrate program that Dr Atkins promotes. The fact that these types of diets severely restrict entire food groups should be indication enough that you’ll be missing out on important essential nutrients that your body requires.

Because these diets are so restrictive with what one can and can not eat, the possibility of maintaining one of these diets for long periods of time is quite small. It common for people to regain all the weight they lost almost immediately upon concluding the diet, and often more weight is gained than lost.

Can you imagine not being able to eat such things as fruits and vegetables? Your body would be lacking vital nutrients so badly that the desire to overeat would be astonishing.

So how to you tell if it’s a fad diet or not? Does it promise a quick fix solution to your weight loss problem? If so, chances are it’s definitely a fad. Weight loss is never a fast process and takes a lot of time and energy to obtain desired results.

Does the diet promote a company’s product? This is a sure fire sign of a fad diet. Does it exclude or eliminate food groups such as carbohydrates? If so, say no! And lastly, if the diet implies that eating certain foods can change your body type, then it’s definitely just another fad.

Although these diets may yield fast results, in the long term the price you pay is far higher than a little weight loss.