Enough is enough! Let’s get past the bunk and dispel the false fluff and rid the world of these 10 diet trends once and for all!

With more research emerging and real world experiences plastered on the Internet, these days your diet needs to be realistic and scientifically backed up. People can do a Google search to see reviews for any easy diet plans. And, the Internet is full of everyday people – not just the marketing companies and journalists writing alluring descriptions to peak your interest.

There are the top 10 diets that actually work, but there are just as many that do nothing.

So why are some diet trends still pretending to fit the bill?

Here’s a list of 10 diet trends that need to die and why…

#1 The Raw Foods Diet

This diet has obtained long-time popularity. Now is certainly the time it gets sent to the chopping block. Certainly the idea of focusing your diet around fruits and veggies is a worthy plan. But, to require that everything you eat be raw robs you of some important benefits you could obtain.

Dr. Joel Fuhrman, M.D., at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and a New York Times bestseller, wrote an article on the truth about raw food diets. He stated that contrary to the beliefs promoted by raw-food enthusiasts, eating raw food does not demand less enzyme production by your body. He also stated, “In many cases, cooking destroys some of the harmful anti-nutrients that bind minerals in the gut and interfere with the utilization of nutrients. Destruction of these anti-nutrients increases absorption.”

So while there are many benefits to eating raw foods (particularly fruits and veggies), it is not a viable diet or lifestyle to depend on.

#2 The Master Cleanse / Lemonade Diet

This is quite popular in Southern California. It consists of drinking a lemonade concoction of squeezed lemons, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper several times a day for 10 days. Also, you’re supposed to drink an herbal laxative tea every night and a quart of salt water first thing in the morning.

This diet has no reliable scientific backing. Living on lemonade, laxatives and salt water isn’t a real diet and it certainly isn’t healthy for you. The consequences of this diet will be your own body’s consumption of itself. The lean muscle you have will disappear and when you finish the diet 10 days later, your body will store even more fat.

This will in fact, leave you worse off than you were before. Don’t be allured by the instant satisfying effect of weight loss at the start.

Why?

The harmful effects you’ll suffer from later will have you regretting this diet entirely. Skip!

#3 The Lunar Diet

Also known as the “Werewolf Diet,” this one follows the lunar calendar and is all about fasting. The theory here is that you eat whatever however you want, but then don’t eat at all to balance it out. Essentially, it’s intermittent fasting.

This is really not healthy for you. Starvation of any kind does not serve your body any beneficial value. Fasting will especially make it nearly impossible to maintain a regular fitness routine. Working out requires consistent and adequate nutrition that you would not be able to maintain if you aren’t eating at all. Every time you starve yourself, your body will eat whatever reserves you have in store. You can’t build muscle when your body is eliminating the muscle you already have.

Fasting of any kind can lead to serious consequences beyond what happens inside your body that you can’t see. Headaches, lightheadedness, dehydration, and fainting will certainly ensue from this type of diet. Don’t put yourself at risk by following a diet like this.

Pass on it!

#4 The 5-Bites Diet

The 5-bites diet means you can eat whatever you want for a meal.

What’s the catch?

You can only have five bites. This one was obviously made for people who want to do the least amount of work possible with their diet. By restricting the number of bites, you’re hopefully restricting the number of calories you ingest.

Portion control is certainly important when dieting. But, what you actually eat is just as important. Reliability and scientific backing for this diet is non-existent. It’s merely a psychological attempt to put a cap on what you eat.

While it may be an interesting take on what you eat, it certainly doesn’t offer up a healthy meal plan or guarantee weight loss. Also, as mentioned, fitness relies on proper nutrients and eating whatever you want may not exactly be nutritious.

Don’t bother!

#5 The HCG Diet

Here’s an interesting one. First off, it limits your calories to about 500 (also known as starvation). Secondly, it requires injections of human chorionic gonadotropin (HCG). This is supposed to suppress your appetite.

There is no evidence, however, that HCG actually does suppress appetite. It actually does not prove to do more than provide a placebo effect. The FDA has not approved HCG for weight loss and any over-the-counter homeopathic remedies that apparently have HCG are illegal.

Will you lose weight?

Certainly. Is this a healthy weight loss?

No. Why will you lose weight?

It’s because of the starvation factor. Extreme calorie limits will undoubtedly yield a weight loss. But this is a highly unethical practice and will only damage your body rather than make you a healthier person. Such a low-calorie count can also make it hard to get the proper nutrients for a regular workout.

Forget it!

#6 The Baby Food Diet

This one is all around strange.

Why would an adult actually want to eat baby food in the first place? 

Often, baby food doesn’t taste great and maybe that’s part of the effect – you don’t actually like it so you eat less. But, as discussed, less eating is not necessarily the answer. It is important to watch your calorie counts, but do not starve yourself for any reason.

In addition to being strange, this easy diet does not provide all the right valuables that fruits and veggies have to offer you. Baby food is typically ground down to be mushy so that it’s easy to eat without teeth. Many fruits and veggies store their nutrients in the stringy fibers that hold them together. When blended down to mushy bits, you’re losing much of the healthy effect you could be receiving.

Not to mention, what on earth will you have when you go out to eat?

Odd and impractical!

#7 The Cabbage-Soup or One-Food Diet

The cabbage soup diet has particularly had a lasting following simply because cabbage itself has a lot of great nutritional properties. While it is smart to bump up your consumption of superfoods or fruits/veggies that have mounds of vitamins, fiber and other useful nutrients, it’s not valuable to purely eat one food for your entire diet. You could live off something that way, but it just isn’t necessary.

The variety of things offered in different foods and food groups is what helps your body piece it all together. One food doesn’t offer the right addition of each category that you need. There’s a reason you’ve learned about food groups your whole life and purely eating one food will not only grow very old and tasteless to you, but it also won’t be a healthy choice for you body.

Not a viable option!

#8 The Cookie Diet

Sounds delicious, right? Well, there’s a little more to it than just popping chocolate chip cookies in your mouth. These are special weight loss cookies. They are high in fiber and protein. Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet, The Hollywood Cookie Diet and the Smart for Life Cookie Diet are a couple of the trends setting the cookie pathway to a slim waist. Typically, they involve only eating these diet cookies for breakfast, lunch and any snacks. But then for dinner you can eat whatever you want.

Well, eating cookies all day is a small amount of food so by dinnertime you’ll be outrageously hungry. Since you’ll be so hungry, you’re sure to binge. Any binge eating is certain to bring on the unhealthy rampages and excessive calorie counts. Not to mention, putting the bulk of your food at the end of the day does not provide your body a proper amount of energy throughout the day. You’re filling yourself up before bed. That is certain to make your sleeping schedule go awry and you’re depriving yourself of nutrients that offer your brain and muscles the fuel to work through the entire day.

How can you work at your best both in the office and in the gym when you don’t have the support from your food?

As much as what and how you eat is a choice, whatever choices you make really affect everything your body can and will do. Don’t sacrifice your full potential with this diet!

#9 The Ear Stapling Diet

Based on the theory among acupuncturists that an area of the ear can regulate your appetite, this diet involves an actual procedure in which those partaking get a staple on the “stomach” of their ear. Apparently this will curtail your eating.

There isn’t any scientific evidence to back this up though. And even if there were, it all falls back to the idea that dieting shouldn’t be about eating as little as possible. Of course how much you eat matters. But, as much as it matters that you don’t overeat, it also matters that you don’t under eat.

Don’t subject your entire diet around a supposed belief that you can manipulate your body into suppressing your appetite. Not eating is not healthy. What you eat is crucial. Ensuring that you’re eating enough of the good stuff is just as important.

Not worth it!

#10 The Gluten-Free Diet for People Who Don’t Have Celiac

Celiac disease certainly requires that one does not eat gluten. But, only about 1% of the population actually has celiac disease. The self-diagnosis pandemic is an incredible phenomenon in society. It has become so important that marketers and companies purposely make gluten-free products because people want them. This is quite absurd, nothing like carb cycling something that actually works.

Don’t subject yourself to avoiding something that your body could actually benefit from. Regular wheat bread provides your body with fiber and starches that you need. Avoiding bread altogether because you think it’ll make you lose weight means cutting out an entire food group – and people need to stop doing that. It’s called a diet trend for a reason. Gluten-free isn’t code for healthier so don’t make it your diet plan!

Conclusion

Other bizarre diets that people apparently try are the blood type diet, sleeping beauty diet, tapeworm diet, cotton ball diet and the air diet. All of these are highly unsafe and are extreme measures to take.

Ultimately, all of these diets focus on exclusion. Only eat this or don’t eat that. Typically, these types of diets show results for few and rarely provide a lasting effect. More reliable diets take an approach to keeping track of your counts in the important elements of nutrition. Also, any good diet routine includes exercise. Fitness is highly important to overall health and making the best use of the nutrients you consume.

Healthy eating requires more than following a quick fix diet. You wouldn’t follow a get rich quick plan and expect great success. These diets are the same for your health and weight loss. Ignoring all that you know about calories, carbs, fats and sugars just to attempt a drop in pounds isn’t worth gambling on your health. Playing with your health isn’t something to take lightly.

Whatever diet you embark on, be sure it isn’t putting you at risk. This is even more important when you workout on a frequent basis. Exercise puts extra demands on your body that are good for you, but that also require proper nutrition to be successful and keep you healthy. Diets should be chosen carefully and seriously. Consult your doctor before you make any drastic changes.

By Alyssa Bright