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All About Fad Diets

Fad diets are diets that involve rapid weight loss, but are only to be followed for a short period of time. Fad diets are also diets that quickly become wildly popular, last for a short time, then become a footnote in popular culture. The Hollywood diet, the Adkins diet, and Jenny Craig are just three examples.

Fad diets are sometimes known as food fad-ism. This refers to any form of food that becomes popular for a short period of time. Common aspects of these fads include:

• The food, or some ingredient within it, is thought to have amazing powers.

• Other foods are removed from the diet because they have negative properties that should be avoided.

One of these fad diets that has these elements is the Atkins diet. In Atkins carbohydrates must be avoided because of their negative characteristics. Low carbohydrates are extremely desirous in Atkins, because then the body enters a super fat burning condition. Although it is a long-term diet, it did have short phases during which carbohydrate cutting was taken to the extreme. However, many people are able to continue the Atkins diet for years.

As with many have diets, Atkins popularity was extreme and short-lived. It lasted a few years during which it seemed everyone you talked to was on the diet . Every movie star, singer, and sports figure claimed to use the Atkins diet when they needed to lose weight. Although still around today, the diet is far from as popular as it was at its height.

The Truth About Diets: Many fad diets can be quite dangerous. Even a diet like the Subway diet, as first presented in the commercials, could have problems. It was based on the legend of Jared, a young man who’d lost nearly 250 pounds in only a year by eating Subway sandwiches, baked chips, and diet soda. In reality Jared cut his caloric intake from over 10,000 calories a day to only 900. Such an extreme level of caloric intake cuts and rapid weight loss isn’t a healthy fat loss. Even so in moderation the Subway diet can work, particularly when combined with exercise — Jared walked 6 miles a day.

Beware of fad diets. You’re better off learning how to eat well on an everyday basis and maintaining a program of rigorous exercise.