Get the Scary Facts About Fad Diets

How many of you have considered going on a diet in the run-up to prom or swimsuit season? If so, then you’ve also probably considered going on a fad diet. Fad diets are temporary diets intended to facilitate weight loss – quickly.

You’ve probably heard of variations of these diets: the cabbage soup diet, the grapefruit diet, the chicken soup diet – you can pretty much think of any food, Google it, and there’ll be a fad diet for it.

In an email interview with Mount Royal University’s Dr. Nathan Ackroyd, an assistant professor of chemistry and Dr. Lynne Lafave, an assistant professor of nutrition, the two experts explain why people subscribe to fad dieting. “Basically, people are looking for a quick fix. Even when people know the damage a diet can do, they justify it because it is only for a short time.”

But here’s the unfortunate truth: fad dieting rarely works, and that’s a scientific fact. In fact, it is as unhealthy as it is popular and could jeopardize your well-being.

“Extreme dieting can change your metabolic rate, which causes lethargy... and contribute to weight gain after a short-term diet,” state Ackroyd and Lafave. “Certain cleanses and fasts can also damage the large intestine, which makes it difficult to absorb nutrients. Fad dieting can become fatal when combined with mystery potions and pills.”

Furthermore, fad dieting reduces your caloric intake to unhealthy levels and deprives your body of fiber, vitamins and can even cause muscle loss. This is especially dangerous for teens as our bodies are still in a stage of development.

A random survey of my peers found that one of the most popular fad diets among teens these days is the Lemonade Diet. Alternatively known as the Master Cleanse, the Lemonade Diet is not as sweet as its name. Dieters are restricted to a dangerously low caloric intake and are only allowed to consume fluids – mainly a version of lemonade made with lemon juice, water, maple syrup and cayenne pepper.

While this diet has been advertised to be a magical solution to weight loss, more problems than benefits are attributed to this extreme plan. One grade 11 student from Edmonton testifies to the consequences of the Lemonade Diet. “I always felt hungry. I craved food and felt crabby when I couldn’t have any. In the end, I hardly even lost any weight and felt sick all the time. I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone.”

Fortunately, not all teenagers fall for the empty promises of fad diets. Rishi, a grade 11 student, says that he would never go to such extremes. Why? “Well, they don’t work. Not only are they a stupid alternative to healthy eating and exercise, but you look at a fad diet and go, ‘I can achieve this,’ and it becomes unachievable, and you end up starving yourself to achieve the look.”

Realistically, fads diets will always be propagated in the media, so the most important thing that teenagers can do is to learn to distinguish fad diets from the healthy ones. Ackroyd and Lafave explain, “Diets whose promises seem too good to be true are usually a fad diet. Fad diets often promise quick and easy weight loss, but anything more than two pounds of weight loss each week is unsafe. Fad diets don’t endure, because they don’t really work. Eating healthy foods and exercising is an enduring healthy way to lose weight. Anything that is an easy fix is not something that will last. Anything worth having is worth working for. True weight control involves habits that can be maintained for the rest of your life.”

By educating ourselves about nutrition and activity, teens can learn to lead a healthy and sustainable lifestyle. With balanced meals, plenty of exercise and a dollop of self-esteem, anyone can look – and feel – fabulous. Now that should be a fad!

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