Dietary Lifestyles – Fad Diets

When people discuss a "diet," they are usually referring to a short-term regimen that will help them lose weight and usually – whether they realize it or not – they are referring to a fad diet. The American Heart Association (AHA) has "declared war on fad diets." Their website provides a guide for recognizing fad diets, dispels myths that they support any fad diets, and gives healthy alternatives to fad diets. According to the AHA, warning signs of fad diets include magic or miracle foods, bizarre quantities of food, rigid menus, specific food combinations, rapid weight loss, no warnings to people with diabetes or high blood pressure, and no suggestion for increased physical activity.

And most of these fad diets make statements that are just not physiologically true. Here are some principles to share with your patients:

The Goods on Popular Fad Diets

The Atkins Diet: The granddaddy of fad diets, Atkins has been around since 1972. People buy into it because, by following the low carb/high protein regimen, they have lost weight quickly. Followed long-term, the diet can cause serious health problems. The AHA has clarified that they do not endorse the diet in any way, despite popular contrary claims. Similar diets include the Diet Divas Diet, Lindora Lean for Life Diet, and the Protein Power Diet. According to the Mayo Clinic, though some fat is burned while in the ketosis stage, most of the rapid "weight" loss at the beginning of the diet is attributed to water (and some muscle) loss. And since high-protein diets may encourage the consumption of high-fat foods, such as bacon, some physicians believe they can increase the risk of heart disease in some patients.

The Zone Diet: This is another diet with vast popularity. The Zone recommends specific food combining at each meal: 30% of calories from fat, 25 to 35% of calories from protein, and 35 to 45% from carbohydrates (predominantly vegetables as carbs). The AHA and other organizations classify the Zone as a high-protein diet, warning that intake of certain vitamins and minerals may not be optimal and that many of the diet's claims about fats and their relationship to heart disease may be flawed.

The Cabbage Soup Diet, 3-Day Diet, Grapefruit Diet, Metabolism Diet, 7-Day Diet, Bread and Butter Diet, Chicken Soup Diet: These diets are not based on a healthy balance or on verified scientific research. They are designed to be short-term and include an overabundance of one food type. They may help people lose a few pounds initially, but long-term adherence could be detrimental and long-term weight loss is unlikely.

The Cider Vinegar Diet, Negative Calorie Diet: These diets recommend that people add a food product to their diet to "burn fat." Perhaps excess additives like vinegar make food taste disgusting enough that people are turned off food! The diet premise is obviously flawed – food doesn't burn fat.

The Jenny Craig Diet, Nutri/System Diet, SlimFast Diet, Herbalife Diet, Diet Workshop Diet, LA Weight Loss Diet Centers Diet, Metabolife, Peel Away the Pounds Patch System, the Scan Diet, Six Week Body Makeover Diet, the Skinny Pill: These diets are mainly based on calorie restriction and may or may not work. The diets advise purchasing a product, in addition to a diet plan. Dieters must decide how much money they are willing to spend and how many good habits (in the kitchen, in physical activity) they are hoping to learn through the plan. Dieters should beware of promises of a "miracle pill" or claims that physical activity is not required.

Blood Test Diet, Eat Right 4 Your Type Diet: Diets that are based on the premise that people are intolerant to certain foods and that by avoiding these foods, weight loss will occur. There is not a lot of medical research on this premise. I have a good hypothesis: your body is intolerant – of so many fatty, processed, greasy foods … you know the ones I mean.

Beverly Hills Diet, Fit For Life Diet, Suzanne Somers Diet, Total Health Makeover Plan: Food-combining diets. At this time, there is no scientific proof that the combination of foods in the diet makes a person fat.

Fasting: Fasting is not a weight-loss alternative. Longer-term fasting can lead to anorexia and other eating disorders. Similar diets include the Hollywood 48-hour Diet (a juice fast), some Liquid Diets, and Low Calorie Diets.

Pulling the Plug on Fads

So why do so many of us believe in these quick-fix diets? Perhaps there is something in the psyche – a childlike belief in magic – that allows us to believe that a weeklong diet or a magic pill will solve our weight problems. And despite all the medical evidence debunking these diets, they remain as popular as ever.

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