As spring break quickly approaches, college campuses are littered with girls trying to quickly and easily take off a few pounds to look fabulous in their bikinis on the beach. While eating healthy and hitting the gym are the obvious solutions, fad diets have been a popular trend on campuses for years to help collegiettes™ slim down. But while Weight Watchers, the Atkins Diet, and the Zone Diet have been huge in the past, new forms of fad diets are creeping up and taking their place, leading many college girls to jump on the dieting bandwagon without knowing all the facts. Many of these fad diets use unhealthy methods to guarantee unrealistic results, and many of these diets are not approved by the FDA,. We’ve put together a list of the current most popular fad diets so you have all the facts before you start something that could be detrimental to your health.
Quick Trim: The Kardashian sisters have a reality television show, a trendy store, and now—their own diet supplement. Kourtney, Kim, and Khloe introduced Quick Trim Products back in 2009, and are now kicking the advertising up a notch on Twitter, Facebook, and their own personal websites to get the word out. The supplement contains laxatives, diuretics, and caffeine, along with other powerful stimulants that are supposed to boost the metabolism to increase weight loss. While the FDA doesn’t approve of the product, Kim swears by the supplement and has said that she uses it as part of her daily diet routine.
What We Say: Sure, it’s tempting to use a supplement because a celebrity uses it, but laxatives and diuretics are a dangerous way to drop some pounds. “Quick weight loss can be achieved, but at what cost for the consumer?” says Keri Gans, a nutrition consultant and speaker and author of The Small Change Diet. “If you are looking to lose weight safely and that you will keep off, the best kept secret is a well-balanced diet with exercise.” If you want a healthy way to speed up your metabolism, try adding some green tea to your diet.
NoOodle: The NoOodle is a new gluten-free product that is made up of soluble fiber and water, and expands in your stomach to keep you feeling full. The noodles are made from the shirataki yam—an ancient Japanese yam that has been used for centuries. The noodles have no calories, carbohydrates, or soy, and therefore have no taste, but dieters can flavor them with sauces or spices. The creator offers the noodles as a prepared meal in various different flavors, including Ultra-Lite Primavera and Terri-yaki Chicken.
What We Say: The NoOodle diet is great for people who have Celiac Disease (a disease that disrupts the absorption of nutrients in the small intestine) and can’t have gluten, but Gans says that many people who do not have Celiac Disease will take on a gluten-free diet in hopes of losing weight. “Gluten avoiders may end up short on vitamins and many gluten-free products are high in calories,” she says. If eating gluten isn’t possible, NoOodle may be a great way to have a satisfying meal – just keep the calories in your sauces down. Make sure you also eat a variety of foods, including veggies, fruits, legumes, and nuts, to ensure that you get all the vitamins you need. If you can eat gluten, enjoy NoOodle as a low-cal meal once in a while, but be sure to get your fix of vitamins and minerals elsewhere.
hCG Diet: HCG stands for human chorionic gonadotropin, which is a hormone that women produce when pregnant. This plan guarantees a one to three pound weight loss per day by combining daily injections of the hormone with a very restrictive 500 calorie per day diet. Supposedly, this combination signals the brain to stir up fat stores, thus allowing them to leave the body. The FDA doesn’t approve of it, and actually banned selling and advertising the product without a warning label.
What We Say: Injecting your body with hormones—especially pregnancy hormones—is not a safe or natural way to lose weight, not to mention that a 500-calorie per day diet plan is close to starvation. In fact, the American Society of Bariatric Physicians issued a statement saying that the diet is ineffective for weight loss, and the American Medical Association put out a safety warning about the product. Trash the hormones and instead eat a variety of healthy foods including whole grains, vegetables, fruits, and lean meats.
The Velocity Diet: Creators of the velocity diet claim that the program actually melts fat off the body, and while that may be physically impossible, that doesn’t stop avid dieters from trying. The program substitutes your typical meals for pre-made protein shakes, and allows only one solid meal per week. Within a month, the velocity diet supposedly subtracts 25 pounds of fat from your body by making sure you’re not eating any of the wrong foods.
What We Say: A diet similar to when you got your wisdom teeth taken out seems horrible— and far from healthy. A month-long liquid diet is not the way to lose fat, and is definitely not a permanent solution for weight loss. Restrictive diets like this are not healthy, and while it will probably result in quick weight loss, “essentially, you’re starving yourself, which over long term can have serious health consequences, such as malnutrition,” Gans says. Instead, hit the gym and workout your problem areas—while you can’t spot-reduce fat, building muscle on your butt and thighs will make those areas look more toned and shapely.
Ice Cube Diet: Desert Labs’ newest fad diet, the Ice Cube Diet, promises to help reduce your appetite and food intake by chewing on the pre-frozen ice cubes. Each ice cube contains 3000 mg of Hoodia, a plant-based substance that is supposed to curb food cravings and stop you from overeating. While chewing ice won’t make you drop pounds, the ice supposedly helps with portion control so you can slowly lose weight.
What We Say: While a plant-based substance seems healthy, there’s no quick-fire way to drop weight without healthy eating and exercise. (And, I’m sorry, but eating an ice cube isn’t part of my complete breakfast.) Since Hoodia is so new to the market, there haven’t been many studies done on it to prove that it’s safe, Diane Longstreet, a registered dietician at University Community Hospital, told ABC News in an article that was published February 18, 2011. “The bottom line is we don’t know the exact reason why Hoodia seems to work. We don’t know side effects. We don’t know what will happen to your brain, kidneys, liver,” she added. Her Campus suggests you steer clear of the ice cubes and instead focus on eating smaller and more balanced meals.
Don’t be tempted by miracle fad diets to get into great shape for spring break and warm weather. Instead, focus on healthy eating and exercise, and check out how to get in shape for spring break here!
http://caloriecount.about.com/
Keri Gans, a nutrition consultant and speaker and author of The Small Change Diet
Maik Wiedenbach, author of 105 Training Myths and Tips