FAD AND QUACKERY

 

As waistlines are getting thicker and thicker, we are constantly looking for quick fixes to battle the bulge. There are plenty of diets available whose advertising sounds too good to be true. The problem is, they are crash or fad diets that promote quick weight loss without taking into effect the nutrients your body needs. Social media is flooded with fad diets, many of which work by drastically slashing calories, causing you more harm than good.

Still, why fad diets are plentiful, and there’s always something new to hook people ?Because the fad diet is attractive, luring, and promises “magical results” in a short span of time, which is something we all want; a simple way to cut more inches. 

If you have tried a fad diet earlier, you have plenty of company. But for most, it doesn’t work. The reason being fad diets might give quick short-term weight loss, but many are difficult to follow, have arbitrary rules, and a few could put your health in danger. 

Some interesting facts about Fad diets😍

What is a Fad Diet?

A fad diet is based on hype, not science, and probably has more to do with a marketing scheme, celebrity backing than studied proven effects. Fad diet involves eating high fat, low-carbs, or high-protein foods which promise a quick fix, like one magic food or combination of foods that can change your body chemistry.

Often fad diets may result in short-term weight loss for some people, but most times, the diets don’t deliver what they promise.

When you start a fad diet, you’re shocking your body into a routine it isn’t used to. By losing weight too quickly, you can send your body into survival mode. This comes in the form of slow metabolism, which should sound very unappealing to anyone trying to lose weight.

These extremely low-calorie fad diets also typically starve your body of the necessary nutrients, vitamins, and minerals that you need to function. Also, they have strict rules to adhere to. 

Within a few weeks of depriving yourself of vital nutrients, you will probably end up binging on all unhealthy foods, resulting in more weight gain and doing harm to your body—the usual tale of fad diets. 

The Atkins Diet is the most well-known low-carb diet. It consists of 4 stages, including a first 2-week induction phase that reduces carbs to 20 grams a day while permitting unlimited amounts of protein and fat. 

Believers of this diet can then gradually add their carbs in 5-gram increments to decide their critical carbohydrate levels for losing weight and maintaining the loss.

However, you indeed have to remain low carb for life, even if you have achieved your weight goals. Otherwise, you will gain back the weight you lost, which is almost real with any low-carb diet.  

Keto is the most-hyped diet, which everybody has heard of. The concept is to eat very low carbs, moderate protein, and a very high-fat diet to lose weight. 

The diet works by shifting your body in a state of ketosis for energy derived from the breakdown of fat in the body in the absence of carbohydrates as an energy source. This results in weight loss. 

However, the problem arises because the diet is extremely rigid and difficult to follow. It puts additional stress on organs that need carbs as a primary fuel for energy. Shifting from glycogen to ketones is the mountain work itself and being on a low-carb diet for a prolonged time could prove dangerous and as well as not sustainable. 

Detox diets, detox products are the buzzwords in the health industry. The idea underneath “detoxification” is that consuming these products will cleanse your body of “toxins”, and in turn, it helps to improve health and encourage weight loss. 

Every day, at all times, our body has the ability to detoxify itself from all toxins with the help of detoxifying organs like the liver, kidney, and skin. We can help the process by eating more fiber-rich foods and by staying hydrated. Going on a juice diet or a raw vegetable diet isn’t necessary.

Vegan diets have been criticized for being unbalanced and extreme because they contain no animal products. Vegan diets can be healthy or unhealthy, depending on the food choices made.

It is unlikely that you will lose weight while being vegan if you don’t reduce your calories. You may want to be extra careful that you consume enough protein, iron, zinc, vitamin D, and calcium. 

Vegans also have the potential to develop a B12 deficiency, which could potentially cause irreversible neurological effects.

The Paleo Diet is based on the diet that our ancestors ate thousands of years ago. The diet limits numerous food groups such as milk, legumes, and grains and promotes lean meats, fish, fruit, and vegetables. 

Critics always pointed out that eating the same food as our prehistoric ancestors ate is not practical due to modern sedentary activity and lifestyle changes. Simultaneously, when saturated fat and protein are consumed far more than the recommended levels, it increases the risk of kidney and heart diseases.

Spot a fad diet

Typically, a fad diet shares some, or all, of the following characteristics:

• Promises a quick fix.
• Promotes 'magic' foods or combinations of foods.
• Implies that food can change body chemistry.
• Excludes or severely restricts food groups or nutrients, such as carbohydrates.
• Has rigid rules that focus on weight loss.
• Makes claims based on a single study or testimonials only.

Fad diets can cause health problems

• Dehydration.
• Weakness and fatigue
• Nausea and headaches
• constipation
• Inadequate vitamin and mineral intake.

Balanced eating plan

• Eat plenty of vegetables, legumes and fruits.
• Include a variety of cereals (including breads, rice, pasta and noodles), preferably wholegrain.
• Include lean meat, fish, poultry or alternatives.
• Include milk, yoghurts, cheeses or alternatives.
• Drink plenty of water
• Limit saturated fat and moderate total fat intake.
• Choose reduced fat varieties of foods where possible.
• Choose foods low in salt.
• Limit your alcohol intake, if you choose to drink.
• Consume only moderate amounts of sugars, and food and drinks containing added sugars. In particular, limit sugar-sweetened beverages.