Are You Falling for These Dieting Fads That Don't Work?

There are countless diet products and plans out there, but not all of them have your health in mind. Some of them can be downright damaging to your body, so it is best to avoid them.

Many times, dieting fads trick you by telling you that you can get amazing results in a short amount of time, but these could be the ones that do the most damage or, at the very least, do nothing more than waste your time.

Which dieting fads should you avoid because they don’t work? Continue reading to see if you have fallen for any of them.

Gluten Free Diet

Some people like to claim that a gluten free diet is a great way to lose weight. The reality is that, unless you are one of the very small number of people who have Celiac Disease or a high intolerance or sensitivity to gluten, you really do not need to follow this restrictive—and expensive—diet. There is no research proving that this diet will help you lose weight, but this diet could cause you to miss out on a lot of fiber and nutrients that are found in wheat-based foods.

The Cabbage Soup Diet

Whenever you come across a diet that tells you to eat nothing but one particular food for days in a row, turn the other way and run. The cabbage soup diet, which suggests eating cabbage soup every day for a week, along with a few other foods like skim milk and bananas, is yet another one of the many dieting fads that is unbalanced and will not give you any real weight loss results.

The HCG Diet

The HCG Diet is so bad that even the FDA refers to it as being a reckless path towards weight loss. This diet could be dangerous because it uses HCG, a hormone produced during pregnancy. Plus, the diet recommends eating a mere 500 calories each day, which simply is not enough. And there is no evidence that any of this diet’s recommendations work.

Gluten Free Dieting (When Not Medically Required)

Gluten free dieting has become a huge trend, with promises ranging from an improved immune system to easy weight loss.  Avoiding gluten is very important for individuals with conditions such as Celiac Disease or who have diagnosed allergies or sensitivities. 

However, when not necessary due to a medical condition, gluten-free dieting has not been proven to come with health advantages.  Moreover, some research shows that it increases the risk of heart disease.  Furthermore, many gluten-free food alternatives are higher in calories, salt, sugar, and fat. Therefore, they can actually make it harder to lose weight and easier to gain it.

Meal Replacement Diets

Meal replacement diets that require you to drink shakes or eat bars or cookies can sometimes – though inconsistently – support weight loss efforts.  However, they are a short-term strategy that doesn’t set the dieter up to keep the weight off.  Indeed, they are convenient, but unless the dieter plans to use them forever, then he or she is only setting up for weight struggles in the future.

Most experts recommend avoiding these types of dieting fads.  They don’t allow the dieter the opportunity to build the right habits to lose the weight naturally and keep it off over time. 

Cleanses and Detoxes

Cleanses and detoxes use different methods to clear “toxins” out of the body.  The idea is to remove various types of blockages they are causing to the body’s ability to function at its best.  That said, doctors call these dieting fads more harmful than beneficial.

The reason is that none of the detoxes or cleanses be able to show that they have removed a specific type of toxin.  Moreover, doctors and surgeons will tell you that even when a body is opened for surgery or in autopsies, toxins from everyday life aren’t shown built up in the digestive tract in any way that cleanses or detoxes could have an effect.

The stomach, liver, kidneys, intestines and other parts of the digestive system don’t hold onto toxins.  They push everything along through the process.  Provided the patient is not constipated, buildups don’t happen in the body in the way claimed by the creators of cleanses and detoxes.

Liquid Diet

Going on a liquid diet is bad news, in addition to not being effective, as you will be limiting your intake of a host of important nutrients, including protein and fiber. Also, the simple act of chewing will help your body feel satisfied, and you can’t chew liquids.

There are better ways to lose weight than by following a fad that could potentially be dangerous. Focus on eating right, exercising, and taking one of the diet pills that work, such as FenFast 375 if you need some extra support. In this way, you can achieve safe, long-term results.