At the turn of every year, people usually come up with resolutions for the New Year. One of the most common resolutions if social media and the usual high gym traffic in January is anything to go by, is losing weight. Reasons people have to lose weight range from medical issues to wanting to fit into a wedding outfit, a summer bod, or just to look fitter.
People are always looking for quick solutions for weight loss. With the increased use of the internet as a source of information for diet and nutrition, it’s easy to pay for a fad diet that doesn’t work. You only need to search ‘weight loss programs near me,’ and you’ll get a plethora of diet solutions.
There is no shortage of diet fads either with celebrities and other influential figures sharing their go-to weight-loss diets.
However, maintaining your weight involves more than just cutting back on certain foods. While some of the fad diets work in the short-term, most of them are not reliable for weight loss in the long-run.
Here are five examples of diet fads that have not stood the test of time.
1. Liquid Diets Are a Terrible Weight Loss Plan
Over the years, liquid diets have been sold as weight loss solutions with each new diet tweaking an element from the last one, but ultimately the diet involves taking a purely liquid diet. This method works for a short while, but your body needs solids, and you also lose out on nutrients.
2. Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG) Diet
In 1954, a physician came up with a theory to treat kids suffering from Fröhlich’s syndrome, whose symptoms include obesity and the slow development of reproductive organs. The treatment involved injecting the kids with HCG, a hormone produced by the female human body during pregnancy to help the baby grow.
The physician claimed that the treatment combined with other diet measures, led to the intake of only 500 calories per day. However, research shows that these gains were due to the restrictive diet and not the HCG.
3. Apple Cider Vinegar Diet
In 2017, the apple cider vinegar diet ranked highly on Google’s trending weight-loss diets. For years, the combination has been used medicinally. Apple cider vinegar has been said to help with weight loss because the acetic acid prevents fat deposition and improves metabolism.
In the short-term, taking the diet could lead to loss of a few pounds, but there’s little evidence to support long-term weight loss. Apple cider vinegar diet also requires other health considerations because it can alter insulin levels and worsen body potassium levels.
4. Water Diet Doesn’t Work
The water diet is yet another weight loss diet that does not only work but could even be harmful to you. There are several variations of the water diet. Some diets let you add fruits like apples to your water, some tell you to take water only while others ask you to take water for a couple of days, and once you notice weight gain, you can incorporate fruits and vegetables in your meals.
A water diet is similar to fasting. Additionally, taking water only means that you lose out on many nutrients. You can only last for so long before feeling extremely hungry and going back to your feeding habits.
5. Blood Type Diet
Naturopathic physician Peter D’Adamo came up with the blood type diet. This diet suggests that your blood type affects how you interact with food. For example, if you are blood type A, you should avoid wheat, corn, dairy, and kidney beans if you want to lose weight. Type B blood should avoid chicken, peanuts, and corn to lose weight but feed on the liver, eggs, and green vegetables.
Unfortunately, there’s hardly any study that supports the theories brought forward by the diet. Most of the suggested weight loss foods work across all the blood types.
What to Factor When Choosing Weight Loss Programs Near Me
The bottom line in choosing weight loss programs is getting a plan that’s healthy and sustainable. You can achieve short-term weight loss using most diet fads, but soon you’ll resort to your old eating habits because of hunger and the overly restrictive nature of some diets.
You need to think of weight loss as a lifestyle change rather than a task you can accomplish using a ‘cheat’ method, which most diet fads are.
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