8 Fad Diets ...

This liquid diet only supplies you with 400 calories per day. Having such a severe restriction on calories can cause a loss in nutrients. To compensate for this loss, supplements of vitamins and minerals, as well as fatty acids are added to the daily intake of liquid. The Cambridge Diet was very popular in the early 1980s, but has since slacked off a bit. Anyone on this diet is basically gaining the weight loss benefits starvation provides, while protecting muscles from deterioration with the right amount of protein.

Dr. Barry Sears, a biochemist, is the creator of this diet. The formula used for every meal consists of 30 percent fats, 30 percent protein, and 40 percent carbohydrates. Some people find this diet too complex to follow, while others find it to be one of the most perfect diets around. There are very few reports about people feeling hungry or fatigued while on this diet.

This is one of the shortest fad diets around. While weight loss often does occur, most people gain the weight right back after returning to their normal eating habits. People usually lose weight because of the sudden drop in calories, most of which is from water loss. There are a number of menus to follow, so it’s hard to say if one is healthier than others.

Food requires a certain amount of calories to be used to digest it, thus creating a sort of ‘negative’ calorie affect. In reality, this diet enables users to lose weight by having them consume a lower number of calories. According to this diet plan, eating a stick of celery will cause the body to burn up 95 calories, in order to digest it.

This diet takes 10 days to complete and is also known as the Master Cleanse Diet. Basically you drink 6 to 10 glasses of a concoction of water, lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. If you get hungry you’re supposed to drink a glass of this stuff. The measurements used for each ingredient are as follows: 2 T lemon juice, 2 T grade B maple syrup, a tenth of a tsp of powdered cayenne pepper, and 10 ounces of distilled water.

Cardiologist Arthur Agatston created this diet plan for heart patients who were overweight. Patients reported having success in losing weight with this diet. This diet has been called the ‘healthy’ version of the Atkins. There is a long list of good foods that are able to be eaten while using this diet, such as fish, chicken, fruits, veggies, and whole grains. Three phase exist in this diet plan. Phase one is the induction phase that lasts for two weeks. Mostly carbs are avoided during this phase, but snacks and three meals a day are still consumed. Phase two introduces a few new foods avoided during phase one. The third and final phase consists of learning to make this way of eating a part of your daily lifestyle.

In the 7 days this diet lasts, reports of fast weight loss is common. While weight loss is bound to occur, due to the lower intake of calories, most people have a hard time dealing with the bouts of gas. Anyone who has eaten cabbage knows that it tends to cause gas. The soup is not only bland and lacking in nutrition, but it is also rather salty.

This diet takes 12 days to complete. There is a list of foods that are acceptable for the diet, such as corn, broccoli, leaf spinach, bell peppers, cereal, pretzels, sweet pickles, red onions, radishes, and pasta. There is also a list of foods that are to be avoided while on the 12 day diet, such as cucumbers, chili, carrots, butter, bread, green beans, hot dogs, mayonnaise, peas, potatoes, and salad dressing, just to name a few. Basically what gives the grapefruit diet its name is the fact that either half a grapefruit or 8 ounces of grapefruit juice are consumed with each meal three times a day.

Each of the 8 fad diets listed above boast some fairly miraculous claims. Not one of them suggested that the person dieting should also do a little exercise as well. Eating healthy food at regular intervals and increasing your activity level is much better than any fad diet. Have you ever fallen into a fad diet and seen the results it claimed it would provide?

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