List of Popular Fad Diets

A fad diet is a diet that experiences a quick rise to popularity, often for a short period of time, and then fades away as people become disillusioned with them. Many times, the diets become popular due to a famous celebrity endorsing it or gimmicky advertising. According to FamilyDoctor.org, fad diets almost exclusively provide the potential for short-term weight loss but little hope of keeping it off. This is because the diets are not realistic as long-term options. Before starting any type of diet, fad or not, speak with your doctor so you can be given any special instructions or warnings.

Cabbage Soup Diet

The cabbage soup diet is a week-long diet that consists of eating a lot of cabbage soup. According to MayoClinic.com, you may consume up to 10 pounds of cabbage soup over a seven-day period. During this week, you are also permitted to eat certain vegetables, fruits, brown rice, chicken and beef. The diet is seriously lacking in complex carbohydrates, minerals, proteins and vitamins. It can also contain excess amounts of sodium, depending on how the soup is prepared. The cabbage often leads to flatulence and the lack of nutrients may leave you feeling exhausted. If you choose to go on this diet, MayoClinic.com recommends following up with a normal, balanced diet for a minimum of two weeks.

HCG Diet

HCG stands for human chorionic gonadotropin, which is a hormone naturally produced by a woman's body during pregnancy. The HCG diet combines injecting the HCG hormone into the body and a diet that severely restricts calorie consumption. Because the diet only allows you to consume around 500 calories each day, the calorie restriction is what causes the weight loss and not the HCG, according to MayoClinic.com. Extreme caution is urged for anyone trying this diet as it has not been approved as a weight control treatment by the Food and Drug Administration and very low calorie diets are considered dangerous.

Blood Type Diet

The basis of the blood type diet states that your blood type should be the determining factor of the medical choices you make, what exercises you perform and what types of foods you eat, according to "Weight Loss: Making the Right Choice." Proponents of the diet claim that eating items that are incompatible with your blood type may lead to a variety of conditions ranging from slow metabolism and allergies to heart disease and cancer. There has been no scientific research that shows this diet is any more or less effective than any other diet choice.

Considerations

If you are looking to lose weight, it is best to select a diet that has been proven to work over time. A mix of exercise and a diet that controls calorie, refined carbohydrate and fat intake while ensuring you get plenty of nutrients is your best bet. Fresh fruits, vegetables, lean meats, poultry, fish and whole grains will get you off to the right start.