Fad Diets

Fad diets began in the 1930s with the liquid diet and the grapefruit diet. A fad diet consists of a diet that eliminates one or more food groups. They are designed for people who want to lose weight quickly without exercise. While fad diets are typically not encouraged by medical professionals some have shown to be quite effective. There have been many types of fad diets over the years but today we are going to focus on 5 more popular ones.

• Carb Cycle Diet- this is a diet where you cycle between high and low carb days, this can be done by a weekly or monthly basis. The goal of this diet is to time carb intake to when it brings maximum benefits and curve it when it’s not needed. On carb days you should eat things like rice, quinoa, potatoes, and bread.
• The Military Diet- this diet is a low calorie 3-day meal plan that can help you lose up to 10 pounds in a week. The 3-day meal plan comes with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The daily total calories for this meal plan are under 1500 and include items such as hot dogs and ice cream.
• The Paleo Diet- this diet takes you back to when we had to hunt and gather for our food. It consists of eating only foods that could be hunted or gathered including meat, seafood, fruits, vegetables, and nuts. This diet is very strict and can sometimes be hard to follow.
• The Keto Diet- this diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet that limits daily carb intake to 5-10% of total calorie intake. Carbs are the body’s primary source of energy, so this diet creates a state of ketosis, where fat is used as fuel. This leads to drastic weight loss and extreme fat burn.
• The 5:2 Diet- this diet is split into 2 phases, 5 days of eating and 2 days of fasting. During the fasting days it restricts your calories to 500-600, this can cause you to lose a substantial amount of weight.

Many of these diets are not going to work for everyone and some may have negative effects on your body. Be sure to research further if you are considering trying any of these fad diets to see if they are right for you.