What is a Fad Diet?

According to The British Dietetic Association "A fad diet is a plan that promotes results such as fast weight loss without robust scientific evidence to support its claims. Popular ones include plans where you eat a very restrictive diet with few foods or an unusual combination of foods. They may only allow you to eat certain foods at certain times. Fad diets often consist of expensive and unnecessary food products, ingredients and/or supplements."

What claims make a Fad Diet?

Source: https://www.bda.uk.com/resource/fad-diets.html

• promise a magic bullet to lose weight without having to change your lifestyle in any way. These include diet pills, injections, lotions, wearables such as sweat suits 
• promise rapid weight loss such as keto or extreme or total fasting
• recommend magical fat-burning effects of foods such as the grapefruit diet or hidden ingredients in foods (caffeine/coffee diet) or alleged fat burning substances such as green tea extract or raspberry ketones
• promote the avoidance or severe limitation of a whole food group such as dairy products, all carbohydrates, or a staple food such as wheat. Examples include very low carb/keto (<50g carbohydrate per day unless medically prescribed), carnivore diets or paleo diets
• suggest substituting everyday foods or food groups for expensive doses of supplements (e.g. IV vitamin drips), expensive ingredients, or special products such as the bulletproof diet or weight loss injections
• promote eating mainly one type of food (mono diet) e.g. cabbage soup diet, chocolate diet or boiled eggs diet, or avoiding all cooked foods (raw food diet)
• recommend eating foods only in particular combinations based on your genetic type or blood group (blood group diet)
• suggest that you are living with overweight because of a food allergy or a yeast infection
• recommend 'detoxing' or avoiding foods in certain combinations such as fruit with meals
• are based on claims that we can survive without food or having liquid meals only e.g. water fasting or juice cleanses
• offer no supporting evidence apart from personal success stories 
• focus only on your appearance rather than on health benefits with rigid rules
• are selling you products or supplements
• recommend eating non-food items such as cotton wool or hydrochloric acid
• have recommendations based on a single study, testimonials or unrealistic amounts of a food e.g. chilli 
• recommend the same diet for everyone without accounting for specific needs
• are based on a ‘secret’ that doctors are yet to discover or ‘don’t want you to know’
• imply that food can change body chemistry
• misinterpret medical tests or how the body works such as the alkaline diet, collagen diet
• are labelled as ‘wellness’ but really are about strictly controlling food e.g. clean eating

Why is it harmful?

Many fad diets can result in quick weight loss; however, this loss typically comes from lean muscle and water rather than fat. These diets are often unsustainable in the long run, as many become frustrated with the strict rules and restrictions. When food groups are vilified and natural sensations of hunger and satiety are overlooked, it can trigger a cycle of losing and regaining weight. Such cycles may harm our relationship with food, fostering feelings of failure instead of building the skills and confidence needed to manage diet and weight healthily.

Which Fad Diet have you tried?

Using the above characteristics, we have put together some popular high-street diets that fit into Fad Diet guidelines: 

Ketogenic (Keto) Diet

• Overview: A diet that involves consuming very low amounts of carbohydrates and high amounts of fats to induce ketosis, a state where the body burns fat for energy.
• Concerns: While it may lead to rapid weight loss, it can be challenging to maintain and may cause side effects such as nutrient deficiencies and increased cholesterol levels.

Atkins Diet

• Overview: A low-carbohydrate, high-protein diet that encourages the consumption of fats and proteins while severely limiting carbohydrate intake.
• Concerns: The initial phases can be highly restrictive, potentially leading to nutrient deficiencies and unsustainable eating patterns.

Cabbage Soup Diet

• Overview: A short-term diet that involves consuming large amounts of cabbage soup with the promise of quick weight loss.
• Concerns: Highly restrictive and lacking in essential nutrients, making it unsustainable and potentially harmful if followed for extended periods.

Clean Eating Diets

• Overview: Diets emphasising whole, unprocessed foods and eliminating processed items.
• Concerns: While promoting healthy eating, some interpretations can become overly restrictive, leading to an unhealthy obsession with food purity and potential nutritional deficiencies.

Intermittent Fasting (e.g., 5:2 Diet)

• Overview: This eating pattern involves cycling between periods of eating and fasting. The 5:2 diet, for instance, entails eating normally five days a week and restricting calorie intake to 500-600 calories on the remaining two days.
• Concerns: While some studies suggest benefits, intermittent fasting can lead to overeating during non-fasting periods, potential nutrient deficiencies, and may not be suitable for everyone, especially those with certain medical conditions

Slimming World 

• Overview: The idea is that participants can eat unlimited amounts of certain foods while tracking and restricting higher-calorie, processed, or indulgent foods. Fat is pretty much cut out of the diet.
• Concerns: While promoting healthy eating, some interpretations can become overly restrictive, leading to an unhealthy obsession with food purity and potential nutritional deficiencies and a fixation on scale weight.

Juice Cleanses and Detox Diets

• Overview: Diets that involve consuming only fruit and vegetable juices or specific foods to "detoxify" the body.
• Concerns: The body naturally detoxifies itself, and these diets can lack essential nutrients, leading to fatigue, dizziness, and other health issues.

The final mouthful

Fad diets promise quick fixes, dramatic weight loss, and "secret" solutions, but in reality, they don’t provide lasting results. While some may lead to short-term weight loss, they often come with severe restrictions, unsustainable rules, and potential health risks.