Fad diets are extremely popular, but many of them have no scientific evidence to support their potential benefits. Some diets do seem to be effective at producing weight loss in the short term, but they may undermine your health if practised for an extended period of time.
Popular Fad Diets: Which One Will Work For You?
1) Atkins Diet
The Atkins Diet is a high-protein diet that has been popularized by Dr. Robert Atkins and his book Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution. The diet aims to help people lose weight quickly and easily, but it can take some time to get used to.
Atkins diet helps you to lose weight quickly and easily. (Image via Unsplash / Louis Hansel)
Dr. Atkins’ original plan calls for followers to eat an extremely low amount of carbohydrates (less than 20 grams per day), while increasing their fat intake significantly (more than 60 grams per day).
This means that the dieter should eat foods like steak, fish, chicken breast, eggs, cheese and butter as much as they want—but no bread or pasta!
2) South Beach Diet
The South Beach Diet is one of the most popular fad diets out there and with good reason. And since it encourages balance and moderation in all things, it has a very positive image compared to other fad diets that have extreme restrictions on what you can and cannot eat.
South Beach Diet focuses on foods with a low glycemic index. (Image via Unsplash / Jan Sedivy)
The South Beach Diet focuses on foods with a low glycemic index (GI). Foods with a low GI are digested slowly, which means they don’t spike your blood sugar levels as dramatically as high GI foods do—and that puts less strain on your metabolism as well as less pressure on your heart and liver.
It also means that this diet won’t cause blood sugar spikes or drops when combined with exercise routines like walking 30 minutes per day, five days per week.
3) Vegan Diet
This diet is a great option for people who are lactose intolerant or have trouble digesting meat and other animal products. Many vegans feel that eliminating all animal products from their diets has improved their health dramatically.
A vegan diet is also a good choice for those trying to lose weight because…