With promises to "personalize your nutrition" or "achieve your best shape", fad diets offer a solid set of rules that can make men and women feel like they’re on a fast-track to fitness. Fad diets also change from year to year, giving the illusion of progress. A fad diet can be loosely described as any weight loss plan that gains quick — and often temporary — popularity. Fad diets prey on people who feel helpless about managing their weight and health. By making miraculous claims and then letting people down, they ultimately demoralize patients from moving forward. They get in the way of people finding a reasonable, balanced, healthful approach to managing weight. Many “detox” or colonic diets are “just plain dangerous”, since they could lead to severe dehydration and electrolyte imbalances.
So how can we weed out a fad diet from a healthy one, and truly embody what it means to "eat clean"?
The first step is to remember that a diet does not always equal balanced, healthy eating.
- Fad diets that promise quick fixes
- Fad diets that ignore the differences between individual people, such as individual body composition or activity level.
Be suspicious of:
1. A claim that promises you that you'll lose weight fast. Scientifically speaking, it took time for you to gain the excess weight and it will take time for you to get it off.
2. A promise that says you will not only lose weight but also keep it off without giving up high calorie foods and without exercising. If a diet plan sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
3. Testimonials from clients or "experts" who don't have a valid explanation as to how the diet worked.
4. People or groups that draw simple conclusions from complex medical research.
5. Diets that limit your food choices and don't encourage balanced eating patterns.
6. Gadgets and gizmos that are advised for weight reduction, without proper advise on a healthy diet or physical activity.
7. Diet plans that require you to spend money on pills, potions, powders or packets for them to work. In many cases, these products are accompanied by advice on eating right and exercising regularly, which by themselves show results anyway!
