Lots of today’s popular diets take advantage of our desire to drop weight quickly. Unfortunately, though, “quick-fix” diets don’t work.

In this group diets that leave out major food groups are included:

High protein diets - The high protein diet reduces by significant amounts the percentage of carbohydrates in the diet, these carbohydrates are an essential part of a healthy diet and can cause problems if our body lacks them

Low fat & one particular food group diets – These diets often leave out entire food groups and essential fats which our body needs; they often lack essential nutrients such as fibre and carbohydrates, as well as minerals and certain vitamins.

Antioxidants can also be left out which are found in vegetables and these are essential in helping our bodies resist diseases. Following diets such as these over any period of time can have adverse effects on your health and may lead to serious health problems developing later in life.

Weight loss programs & clubs

There are a few well known clubs that have particularly good success rates for helping dieters. These clubs are normally visited on a weekly basis and require membership; probably the reason behind the success rate is that you are not alone in your quest for losing weight.

Meetings will involve talking about your diet and discussing any achievements or failures in weight loss during the week and at most meetings your weight will be checked from week to week.

Most of the clubs offer you meal planning and some of them have there own particular brand of meal replacements with pre counted calories. Most diets that are recommended by clubs are calorie controlled diets combined with daily exercise routines.

The magic diet pills

There are an increasingly large number of magic pills on offer that promise quick and easy weight loss, in general most of these fall short of what they claim and some can even be dangerous to our health particularly those containing the drug Ephedra.

This drug increases the metabolism which in turn increases the heart rate and can lead to heart palpitations. There has been no scientific proof that any of these so called slimming pills have any affect on losing weight.

How to recognise fad diets

* Any diet or pill that claims to shed pounds instantly.

* Any that sound too good to be true probably are.

* Any diet that recommends “good” or “bad” foods.

* Recommendations that help boost the selling of a product.

* Any diet that totally eliminates one or more of the five food groups.

* Simple conclusions taken from complex studies.

* Any recommended from a single study.

* Warnings of dangers from a product or health regime.

Here are 5 clues that a diet may be more about empty promises than real results:

1. The diet is based on drastically cutting back calories. Starvation-type diets that require the body to fast often promise quick results. But our bodies simply aren’t designed to drop pounds quickly. In fact, doctors say it’s nearly impossible for a healthy, normally active person to lose more than 2 to 3 pounds per week of actual fat, even on a starvation diet.

   Here’s the trick that very low-calorie diets rely on: The body’s natural reaction to near-starvation is to dump water. So most, if not all, of the weight lost on quick-weight-loss diets is not fat — it’s just water. And the body sucks this lost water back up like a sponge once a person starts eating normally again.

2. The diet is based on taking special pills, powders, or herbs. These are usually just gimmicks — and the only thing they slim down is your wallet.

   Many diet pills contain laxatives or diuretics that force a person’s body to eliminate more water. Just like restricted-calorie diets, the weight lost with these supplements is mostly water, not fat.

   Other supplements claim that their ingredients speed up metabolism; suppress appetite; or block the absorption of fat, sugars, or carbohydrates. For most diet supplements, there’s no reliable scientific research to back up their claims. And doctors consider diet supplements risky for teens because not much is known about how the ingredients affect the growing body.

3. The diet tells you to eat only specific foods or foods in certain combinations. There’s no reliable scientific proof that combining certain foods works. And limiting the foods you eat means you might not get all the nutrition you need.
4. The diet makes you completely cut out fat, sugar, or carbs. Depriving our bodies of needed food groups is a bad idea (especially when they’re still growing). It’s better to eat smaller portions in well-rounded meals (meals that contain servings of protein, grains, fruits, and veggies). When your body gets the right balance of nutrition, it’s less likely to send you willpower-busting cravings! Eating smaller portions also helps you set good eating habits that will help you keep the weight off.
5. The diet requires you to skip meals or replace meals with special drinks or food bars. As with diets that ban certain food groups, skipping or substituting meals can mean you don’t get the nutrition needed to support healthy development. Plus, you miss out on the enjoyment of sharing a satisfying meal with friends or family.

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