Here’s Why Fad Diets Don’t Work In The Long Run

New Delhi: We live in an era where smart work and quick results are the USP of leading a successful fast paced life. With people becoming increasingly conscious about the benefits of a healthy lifestyle, different types of diet plans are being advocated by health pundits. Fad diets are in vogue for their easy and quick weight loss strategies. However, health experts caution against these diets, calling them unhealthy in the long run. Nutrition expert Ekta Vermani Tandon says, “Fad diets are destined to fail.”

Among the hundreds of diets doing the rounds in the world of health and nutrition, here are the four most popular and common ones.

1 The baby food diet

Baby foods are high in nutrients with very little salt and fat content. The most vital aspect of weight loss is to keep a check on the portion of the food we consume. Since baby food come in small packages, the followers of this diet can monitor their food intake.

This diet consists of replacing two meals – breakfast and lunch – with baby food, followed by a complete well-rounded meal for dinner.

Problems: 

Also Read: How Daily Foods Can Help Your Waistline

2 The blood type diet

This diet completely depends on an individual’s blood group to decide what food must be eaten. For instance people with blood group A should switch to a vegetarian diet and avoid meat consumption. Whereas O blood group should eat seafood and meat and avoid legumes, grains and corn. Experts say that food you eat reacts chemically with your blood group. Once the food suitable for your blood group is identified, digestion is bound to improve.

Problems:

3 The Grape fruit diet

It is believed that this particular low carb diet has great fat burning properties. According to this diet one must consume half a grapefruit with every meal for at least 10-12 days. This fruit has high fibre content which eliminates hunger pangs. Grapefruit is said to contain fat-burning enzymes.

Problems:

4 The Paleo diet

The Paleo diet tries to emulate what prehistoric man ate, before he started farming or learned to process food. That’s why it relies on protein and fibre-rich food from natural sources, along with plenty of fluids like water, coconut and green tea. The idea is to eat wholesome food and avoid dairy, legumes and grains.

Coconut milk and oil, both high in saturated fat are recommended for this diet. This may not suit our sedentary lifestyle.

Problems:

Though these diet plans make us aware about the intake of food on a daily basis, they have more cons than pros. Experts believe that fad diets can only help in achieving short term goals. For a concrete weight loss diet it is best to seek advice from a nutritionist or a dietician.

Also Read: Don’t Just Make Right Food Choices, Exercise Too