5 Bite Diet
It propagates zero breakfast (yes no breakfast), and only 5 bites of food at lunch and at dinner and has to be one of the worst fad diets to have come up in a while.
Why? It is extremely spare and also terribly imbalanced, and of course totally impossible to follow for long (or any) term.
Verdict: Stay away completely.
The Potato Hack Diet
This is a diet where all you eat is potatoes all day long, and nothing else to lose weight.
Why? While I have nothing against potatoes (in fact I love them and include them in diets liberally), what goes against this diet is the same thing that goes against any fad diet: lack of variety. You need to eat all kinds of foods to stay healthy. Mono diets can be seriously detrimental in the long run.
Verdict: Want to do it for a day, go ahead but don’t make it a habit.
Beyoncé’s Coachella Diet
Beyoncé’s extremely restrictive Coachella diet, the same one that recommends no carbs, no sugar, no meat, no fish, no alcohol, and no dairy, and became famous due to her Netflix documentary Homecoming became available for sale.
Why? This is just too restrictive. In fact Beyonce herself mentions in the documentary that she was exhausted and hungry, and shared that she will never put her body through that kind of rigour again.
Verdict: Please don’t touch with a barge poll.
Carnivore Diet
It increasingly got popular last year and involves eating mostly meat (and some eggs and cheese). There’s a version that involves eating only beef.
Why? This is not a healthy or sustainable diet, is extremely high in saturated fats and may increase the cholesterol levels, plus and the load on the liver and heart would be tremendous.
Verdict: Avoid this diet completely.
Boiled Egg Diet
Some reports say that Nicole Kidman reportedly ate only hard-boiled eggs prior to starring in Cold Mountain… so this one has some celebrity backing. It involves eating just eggs through the day, mostly boiled eggs - for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Why? Eggs are healthy, but this is not a balanced, healthy diet. It is extremely restrictive, incredibly low-calorie, and faddish
Verdict: Maybe for a day or two but no more.
Master Cleanse
This is an old diet but resurfaced in 2019 again. It involves surviving only on a strange, spicy concoction of water, lemon, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper for 10 days or so; absolutely no solid foods.
Why? You get almost no nutrients or calories during this time period, and most people experience severe nausea and weakness.
Verdict: A big no.
The Grapefruit Diet
Here the focus on all meals is on grapefruit or grapefruit juice, as apparently the fruit contains fat-busting enzymes that will help dieters lose weight quickly.
Why? In reality this is just a very-low calorie and low protein diet and is extremely restrictive, leading to multiple deficiencies even when done for a short span
Verdict: AVOID!
The Werewolf Diet
This diet dictates how you eat based on the cycles of the moon, such as a fasting with juice for 24 hours during a full moon and not eating past 6 p.m. during other moon phases.
Why? It is not backed by research, and is very difficult to sustain long term.
Verdict: Try if you want to, but best to avoid.
The Lectin Free Diet
Here the premise is that people need to shun lectins, a type of protein found in wheat, beans, potatoes, red kidney beans, soy beans, tomatoes and peanuts. It is believed that removing foods with lectins can improve your health and promote weight loss
Why? There is no science supporting this. Lectins in food are perfectly good for most of us.
Verdict: Follow one if you are intolerant to lectins.
Raw Food Diet
Proponents of this diet believe that raw food delivers natural enzymes and when they are cooked, heat destroys most of the vitamins and phytonutrients.
Why? This could help control calorie intake for sure, but most people will find it difficult to digest an all-raw diet, plus it is very boring. Besides, some foods actually deliver more nutritional value when cooked.
Verdict: Can follow for a day or two, but a better idea would be to incorporate some raw foods in daily diet along with the cooked.
(Kavita is a nutritionist, weight management consultant and health writer based in Delhi. She is the author of Don’t Diet! 50 Habits of Thin People (Jaico) and Ultimate Grandmother Hacks: 50 Kickass Traditional Habits for a Fitter You (Rupa).)
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