Have you ever tried a fad diet? I’ve tried a few different ones, not really with a long term goal in mind but more to experiment with. I’ve heard of a few interesting fad diets in my time, and I’m going to highlight my favorite* ones.
*Favorite = what I find most interesting. Not that I necessarily recommend following these.
Before I dive into these, I want to briefly address the word “diet”. Diet is technically what you consume every day. But over the years it’s gotten more associated with restriction or elimination, which makes me not love it so much. I would rather think about what I eat as nutrition, or food that we eat that’s nourishing us. But more about nourishing foods another time!
I would like to highlight the point that some of these diets can be very effective for specific conditions, but that’s a very individual consideration. I’m going to highlight the pros and cons as applicable for the general population, but it’s an individual decision (maybe with a health care practitioner) to figure out what’s right for you.
This is not an exhaustive list of fad diets, it is just the list of the ones I see and hear about most frequently.
Low Carb Diets (Atkins, South Beach Diet, other similar ones) – there are a variety of low carb diets out there. They’ve been holding strong for the last 30+ years (maybe even longer). They tend to be low carb, moderate fat, and moderate-high protein.
| Pros | Cons |
| – Our Western diets tend to be very heavy in carbs – lots of bread, cereal, pasta, sugar, baked goods, flour, etc. Cutting these down can be helpful for a lot of things, including weight loss, reducing inflammation, fewer food cravings, and more. – This diet tends to focus on increasing veggies, which is a good rule for eating in general. The more veggies the better. | – Making any food “evil” is a slippery slope. Carbs aren’t evil! Knowing how to choose good ones and ones that work for you is a skill to master, but sometimes the association of certain foods as bad with a specific diet is not helpful. |
Low Fat Diets – low fat diets were the popular thing to do in the 80’s and 90’s, and they really made fat out to be the bad guy. I think we’ve mostly moved past this one, but there might be some people still hanging on to it. This is focused on low fat, high carbs, and usually moderate protein.
| Pros | Cons |
| – There aren’t many pros to low fat diets that I can think of. It’s very helpful for people who are calorie counting. Fat has much higher calories per gram than carbs or proteins, so high fat foods tend to be high in calories. But calories aren’t evil, and healthy fat in our diet is essential | – Healthy fat is an essential part of our body’s function. Not getting enough fat can mean hormones can go out of whack. Low fat diets can also, paradoxically, increase blood cholesterol. – Fat is a really important part of the experience of food, and taking fat out of a food makes it not taste so great. In low fat products, sugar usually replaces fat, which has its own set of problems. |
Zone Diet – This is advertised as balanced diet with a 30-30-40 ratio of protein-fat-carbs. You might have heard some celebrities embrace this one. I think this was big with Jennifer Aniston for awhile.
| Pros | Cons |
| – Some people say this diet is very well balanced and offers a lot of variety. | – Some people say this diet is very restrictive and hard to stick with. |
The Cabbage Soup Diet – I’ve always found this one hilarious. There are no pros. All cons. Don’t do it.
Which diet is right for me?
Here’s my guess: none of them. Your individual nutrition needs are unique to you, and not everyone fits into these cookie cutter models perfectly. You may have found some parts of each of them helpful, of maybe you haven’t tried any of them yet.
The big question you must ask yourself: are the nutrition changes you want to make sustainable for the long term? Healthy nutrition comes from healthy habits and making choices every day that are healthy for you, not what other people on the internet tell you to do. Just because you watched a video on the keto diet working for Sally on YouTube, doesn’t mean it will be a good choice for you.
Stay tuned for Fad Diets Part 2…..