Jamie Noah, BSED
Dietetic Intern

     Everywhere you look people are on a fad diet.  So what's so wrong with fad diets? Well, the American Heart Association has given some guidelines about why today's fad diets are so unhealthy.

     Quick weight loss diets usually emphasize one particular food group or food. They violate the first principle of good balanced nutrition that includes a variety of foods. If you stay on a fad diet for more than a few weeks you may become nutrient deficient, because no one type of food has all the vitamins and minerals your body needs. The Cabbage Soup diet is an example; this so-called "fat-burning soup" is eaten mostly with fruits and vegetables. The diet supposedly will help you lose 10-17 pounds in seven days. There are no super foods. You need to eat small amounts from all food groups. Fad diets also violate a second important principle of good nutrition: eating should be enjoyable. Fad diets are monotonous and boring and make it almost impossible to stay on them for long periods.

          Fad diets are not endorsed by the American Heart Association. The American Heart Association suggests eating plans with recommended servings of various foods, not specific foods. Any diet that gives specific menus or suggests that it be followed for a set time period is not from the American Heart Association. Unlike an incomplete liquid protein diet or other fad diets, a good diet can be eaten for years to maintain desirable body weight and health. Fad diets fail to provide ways to keep weight off.

Fad diets are flawed in many other ways:

• Many do not encourage physical activity.
• Because quick weight loss diets require you to make drastic changes in eating patterns you cannot stay on them for long.
• Many fad diets are based on food myths. Diets high in protein are usually high in fat. They have not been documented to be safe in the long term.

References:

1. www.americanheart.org

2. www.faddiet.com