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What are Fad Diets?

Fad diets are diets that become very popular during a certain period of time. These diets often claim incredible weight loss results. Many people associate these diet types with unsuccessful weight loss methods. Fad diets may promise fast results, claim they have found the cure for being overweight, maintain a very strict set of rules, or reference famous celebrities and organizations.

Typically, if a diet sounds too good to be true, it usually is. A healthy body can only come from a healthy, well-rounded diet and regular exercise. If you struggle with irregular eating, or binging and purging habits you may want to attend eating disorder treatment at an eating disorder treatment clinic. Such a facility can help you or your loved one deal with dangerous, eating-related habits as well as any underlying psychological conditions.

Eating Disorders and Fad Diets

Those with eating disorders may be especially susceptible to fad diets. There are three main eating disorder types: anorexia, bulimia, and binge eating disorder. Skipping meals and eating only foods from one food group is popular for those with anorexia. Taking diet pills is popular among those with bulimia. Those with binge eating disorder may try a variety of fad diets in an attempt to loose the weight they have gained from their eating disorder. Unfortunately, following the strict guidelines of most fad diets does not often last long, and often results in relapse.

To avoid the harmful repercussions of following a dangerous diet plan or of engaging in eating disordered behavior, consider attending anorexia treatment, a binge eating disorder center, or a bulimia clinic. These eating disorder treatment programs often provide a number of specialized programs and therapy types that will help to prevent relapse through addressing the underlying causes of the eating disorder.

12 Signs of a Dangerous Diet

1. An entire food group is banned – Banning consumption of an entire food group is one sign of a poor diet program. While weight loss may occur, this is often not due to the fact that a single “bad” food group is removed, but due to the fact that overall calorie intake is less.
2. The diet is completely fat-free – Diets which restrict the consumption of fats can be very unhealthy. Fats should be taking up approximately 30% of our total calorie consumption and thus a low-fat diet is much healthier. Fats are needed to absorb certain vitamins into the body and to provide other necessary functions.
3. A “miracle food” must be bought – Diets which force you to buy a certain product in order to loose weight are often not very effective. There are no “miracle cures” for loosing weight, only a healthy diet and regular exercise.
4. Skipping meals is involved – Skipping meals is an unhealthy form of dieting, and is certainly not realistic for a long-term meal plan. Also, when a person avoids certain meals they will likely over-eat later on in the day.
5. Abnormal portions of food are served – Having portions of food that are too small for a long period of time can become very dangerous, primarily due to a lack of nutrients. Also, if the body only consumes 1,200 or fewer calories a day, metabolism with decrease, thus burning fewer calories and slowing down weight loss.
6. All-liquid diets – While such a diet can be effective in causing weight loss, this is primarily caused by a drop in calorie consumption. All-liquid diets are not effective for a long-term, healthy lifestyle. Once the fad diet is completed and you return to your normal diet, all the weight will return, especially since you have not experienced any practice with “normal eating”. Also, in an all-liquid diet, essential vitamins and minerals are frequently missing.
7. Weight loss is claimed to be “fast and easy” – Effective weight loss takes place when 1 to 2 pounds is lost every week. If a diet claims that you can drop 20 pounds in 2 weeks, you are likely falling for an ineffective “fad diet”. Rapid weight loss can be dangerous and does not often last long.
8. The diet is only temporary – For the most part, a typical “fad diet” is only temporary. A change in diet should not merely be a temporary change in eating habits, but it should be a lifestyle change which is healthy and easy to follow.
9. Only one food type or group is consumed – These diets are not only boring, they are also nutrient lacking! A popular result of such a diet is avoidance of eating or over-eating. Also, such a strict diet does not often last very long and creates poor nutrition in the body.
10. High protein diets – While high-protein diets can succeed in producing weight loss results, there are a number of health risks associated with these types of diets. Harmful effects may include kidney complications, dizziness, raised cholesterol, and osteoporosis. Muscle growth is a popularly mentioned benefit of such a diet, but this type of growth can only take place as a result of exercise and strength training.
11. The diet interferes with your normal life – A change in a person’s diet should not interfere with their ability to live a normal life. Strict diets which require a person to eat at specific times of the day, prepare their food a certain way, or cause a lack of energy due to size and types of food are not practical or recommended for those seeking a new diet plan.
12. Supplements are required – Supplements are not a part of any healthy lifestyle. These products are often harmful and have been known to cause raised blood pressure, dehydration, nerve damage, insomnia, increased heart rate, muscular damage, and even death in rare cases.

Fad diets can be very ineffective at times because most often they do not encourage the practice of exercise. A healthy diet combined with regular exercise provides far more benefits than a simple diet change can offer. Exercise also speeds up weight loss and when combined with a healthy meal plan, is a better way to attempt loosing weight.

Specialized eating disorder programs for the eating disordered are often available at eating disorder treatment center. Bulimia help, anorexia treatment, and binge eating disorder assistance are just a few of the eating disorders which are treated at eating disorder treatment in an eating disorder residential program.