Fad diets are like “get rich quick” schemes where the results achieved seldom match up to the promises made. The results are temporary at best. In a nutshell, one thing that you need to know about fad diets is that the positives of a fad diet regimen are outweighed by the negatives.

A brief look at the concept of fad diets, after reading this article you will have a clear understanding of what fad diets are and should you be going for one.

Fad diets work on the basis of the following three points:

* Promoting a food group as a panacea for losing weight

* Eliminating foods considered harmful

* Lifestyle-related diets

These premise are not scientifically verified though the diet promoters may have some anecdotal evidence to back it.

Food faddism can be taken to extremes, as in the case of Zen Macrobiotic diets that promised more than just weight loss, they offered a spiritual rebirth as well for the small price of giving up animal products including milk, fruits, and vegetables and living entirely off cereals.

Why are fad diets popular?

Given the fact that we are all intelligent folk, why do we fall for these fad diets? I guess for the same reason we buy a pack of cigarettes even though it has the Surgeon General’s warning printed on it.

Fad diet promoters prey on our gullibility, desperation, and vanity and do it quite successfully. Another reason why these diets sell is that they do show some temporary results. However, a lot of weight loss that occurs when following a fad diet is from losing water and lean muscle and not body fat.

How to recognize a fad diet?

If an advertisement for a diet has any of the following characteristics, it’s a fad diet.

* A promise of quick results

* Easy to follow

* No restrictions on what you eat

* No exercise required

* Strong marketing with tools like before and after photos

* Elimination of entire food groups from the diet plan

* No mention of any scientific backing but a lot of jargon used

Some (in)famous fad diets

3-Day diet – This diet restricts calorie intake to around a 1000 calories each day for 3 days in a week. For the rest of the week, you may follow your normal eating routine. This is one of the more extreme diets with severe calorie restrictions that lead to a breakdown of muscle. Also, plunging the body in and out of near-starvation routines can do more harm than good. The diet claims an ability to bring down weight by 10 pounds in a week or 40 pounds in a month.

Hollywood diet – What can be a better tool than adding “Hollywood” as a tag to your product? There is a strong chance that sad and down & out individuals will be willing to put reason aside and try out this extreme diet plan which promises rapid weight loss. The diet basically asks you to survive on a concentrate made of water and fructose, pineapple, orange, apple, prune, white grape, and lemon juices, and extracts of bilberry, green tea, ginkgo biloba, and grapeseed, along with a few preservatives and stabilizers. Good for cleansing the system once in a while but not recommended as a weight-loss diet.

Moon diet – It would be difficult to come up with a diet more gimmicky than the moon diet. The diet claims that the phases of the moon can help you lose around six pounds in one day. You need willpower, the ability to read an Almanac, and a suspension of belief before going in for this diet which is basically a form of scheduled fasting.

In conclusion, it would be fair to say that there is no gain without pain; the only real way to lose weight and stay healthy is diet control and exercise.