Written by Catherine Saxelby
on Tuesday, 13 January 2009.
Tagged: dieting, diets, fads, guides, healthy cooking, healthy eating, overweight, weight loss
Many people turn to fad diets either in desperation or looking for a quick-fix to their weight loss problems. In this article I'll show you why the only "diet" you need is a healthy eating plan and why fad diets in general are counter-productive. Take a look!
"Lose 14kg in 30 days!" "Drop a dress size in a weekend!" "Block the absorption of fat or carbs!" "Lose weight with our miracle supplement or juice!" "New diet melts away flab!" I'm sure you've heard them all.
Quick and easy weight loss is so appealing that it's hard not to be sucked in with sensational claims like those above.
Fad diets come and go - every year sees the appearance of yet a "new and revolutionary" way of getting rid of unwanted flab quickly without effort. Cast your memory back to the Kickstart Soup diet, Dr Atkins Diet and the Blood Type Diet. Before them, can you recall the Israeli Army diet, the Beverly Hills Diet, the Hip and Thigh Diet?
Often they are old ideas re-cycled with a new name and a new image to catch the unsuspecting. Their promises of quick weight loss has enormous appeal for anyone with a weight problem. Here's why:
There are four key reasons why you should steer clear of fad diets:
Here's a summary of the five different types of weight loss strategies used by fad diets. Understand these and you'll understand how these diets work and how you can spot them next time you read about one:
Based on one food (like hard-boiled eggs) or one food group (like vegetables), these diets imply that they have a mysterious ability to burn-off fat, reduce your appetite or speed up your metabolism. Others offer you "unlimited" quantities of a food, knowing that you will quickly get tired of the same thing and curtail your total kilojoule intake.
They work on the principle of boredom and monotony. You end up eating very few kilojoules, so your body basically goes into starvation mode.
Examples
Kick Start Soup diet, The Cabbage Soup Diet, The Heart Foundation 3-Day Diet (disowned by the Heart Foundation), The Grapefruit Diet, The Mayo Clinic Diet (also known as the Egg Diet), The Beverley Hills Diet, the Bananas and Milk Diet.
Semi-fasts allow small amounts of light foods like juices, fruit, salads, herbal teas or brown rice. They promise you a feeling of euphoria and you will feel cleansed after it's finished. They're attractive as they produce rapid weight loss in only a few days, say if you go to a spa or health resort.
They are not without hazards e.g. dizziness, muscle cramps, nausea, bad breath, dehydration, constipation. Follow with caution.
Examples
Detox Diets
With the promise of spot reducing "problem areas", these diets are always popular and regularly re-surface every few years. The trouble is that weight is usually lost from all over your body, not just one spot. (And usually not the spot you want to lose it from.) Most are simply low-kilojoule diets combined with an exercise plan.
Examples
Rosemary Conley's Hip and Thigh Diet and the Cellulite Diet.
You replace one, two or three meals a day with a special shake on this type of diet. The good thing is this keeps you out of the kitchen and away from food so you're not tempted to nibble or over indulge. The downside is that the shakes can be expensive and may leave you short on vitamins or minerals that are plentiful in food (although many shakes are fortified these days). And because you're not chewing and taking time to eat, you may not feel as satisfied as you would be from whole foods.
Examples
Slim Fast, Tony Fergusons, Herbalife and Optifast
Diets that tell you to avoid all bread, potatoes, pasta and cereals come into fashion every few years. Such diets claim that these carbohydrate foods are the cause of obesity and that by simply eliminating them, you will eliminate your flab.
Living without carbohydrate means a diet of meat, cheese, fish, mayonnaise, butter and cream, which creates a high-fat, high-cholesterol regime - hardly good for the heart. You definitely shed a lot of weight on such diets. But the weight is largely water and will return once carbohydrates are (eventually) eaten.
Examples
Dr Atkins' Diet Revolution, The Scarsdale Medical Diet, Boston Police Diet and Dr Stillman's Quick Weight Loss Diet.
If you hear about a new diet (and there will be one coming to a magazine or website near you!), look over it and ask yourself the following six questions. Does the diet:
If the answer to any of these questions is YES, then this is not a balanced program and is unlikely to be based on a healthy eating plan that will lead to healthy weight loss and the acquisition of healthy eating habits that will help you maintain your weight loss. Forget it!
If you feel confused about what's best for you, make an appointment with an accredited practicing dietitian. To find one near you, contact Dietitians Australia on 1800 812 942 or go to www.dietitiansaustralia.org.au.
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Check out my FREE downloadable fact sheets:
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