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Diet

Why Fad Diets Are a Big Fail

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What is a Fad Diet? 

Throughout the years, many diets have come and gone with promises of quick weight loss and instant life transformation. Fad diets are not long-term solutions that are based on non-scientific, unproven claims, personal testimonies, or poorly controlled studies. They leave individuals feeling more confused about nutrition and healthy eating habits and can even result in disordered eating patterns.

Common Characteristics of a Fad Diet:

  • Promises of quick results
  • Elimination of specific food groups
  • Little or no physical activity required
  • Inflexible menu and meal options
  • Limited variety
  • Herbal supplements
  • Unusual food quantities
  • Special gates are required

Why Fad Diets Don’t Work

They lure you with the promise of a quick weight loss (“Drop 10 pounds in 10 days!”), and there’s always a gimmick (“Eat nothing but white foods!”). But what fad diets don’t do is admit their high rates of failure. Sure, you may lose some weight, but chances are, you’ll quickly gain it all back.

What Fad Diets Ignore

“It’s hard to keep the weight off with a fad diet,” says Lisa Abramson, a nutrition counselor at Ochsner Medical Center, “because it keeps you from dealing with food issues.” Is it emotional eating? Stress? Boredom? “Those are the kinds of things you have to deal with — the awareness of why you want to eat when you’re not hungry.”

Going to the Extreme

Fad diets are an extreme form of dieting that forbids followers from eating certain foods such as fruit or dairy products. This often results in depriving your body of the wide range of nutrients it needs to be healthy, Abramson says. “Ultimately you’re going to go back to them.”

Today, the Keto diet has many fans, but Abramson isn’t one of them. “It’s high in fat and low in carbs, which is extremely unhealthy because too much fat is a bad thing.”

How Can You Lose Weight?

Fortunately, there are healthier alternatives, such as the Comprehensive Weight Loss program at Ochsner. The program offers weight loss options for all your weight loss needs, ranging from losing a few pounds to much more. Whether you need to lose weight for health reasons or to maintain a healthy lifestyle, we are here for you throughout your entire weight loss journey.

The mission of our comprehensive weight loss program is to improve your health and help you achieve the highest quality of life possible by providing medical, surgical and non-surgical weight loss options. We want to ensure that you are fully-educated and are able to make an informed decision before choosing your weight loss plan.

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