5 Things You Need to Know About the 3-Day Diet

1. 3 Days of Dieting

The biggest draw to the 3-day diet is that you only have to follow it for 3 days. For the best results, dieters should rotate a "normal" diet in between sessions of the 3-day diet. If you follow the diet exactly, you can lose up to 10 pounds in 3 days. However, reviewers of the diet suggest the weight loss occurs based on fluid loss rather than fat loss.

2. A Vicious Cycle of Weight Loss and Gain

The 3-day diet restricts calorie consumption to around 1,000 calories per day. People who overeat during their normal days may feel hungry or deprived during the dieting session and binge or overeat once they resume normal days. Without resolving the issues that caused the weight gain, the 3-day diet creates a yo-yo cycle where dieters lose weight only to put it back on again. If you consume more calories than you should, gradually reduce the amount on a weekly basis to break the yo-yo cycle.

3. Tuna, Tuna and More Tuna

Do you like a variety of foods and textures when you eat? If so, skip the 3-day diet, which uses tuna, toast or crackers, carrots and bananas during all 3 days. For this diet to work, you must follow the food plan with the exact portion size. The diet also recommends eating the exact portion even if you aren't hungry, which can encourage you to overeat. After 3 days of boredom, your taste buds go overboard for spice, flavor and variety.

4. Takes Away Sleep, Not Fat

The 3-day diet recommends black coffee or tea with each meal. While caffeine stimulates your metabolism, drinking coffee with dinner may hinder your ability to fall asleep at a decent hour. Sleep studies show that getting the proper amount of sleep actually promotes weight loss. When you fail to get 6 to 7 hours of sleep each night, your body becomes more susceptible to diseases like cancer. Rather than feeling more alert in the morning, you will feel sluggish and won't be able to compensate with more caffeine.

5. Find a Better Diet

So what is the bottom line of the 3-day diet? Doctors and dietitians don't support it. While it keeps popping up as a fad diet, studies point to a lack of scientific evidence and a failure to address the cause of the problem as two main reasons to pick a different diet. A good diet should help you analyze and control your eating habits, promote exercise and allow sustainable weight loss.