When you're contemplating starting a diet, the potential options may seem overwhelming. But all diets are not created equal, and the plan you heard about from a friend may not be the healthiest method of losing weight. Learning to recognize unhealthy diets -- often called fad diets or crash diets -- can help you weed out the bad diets from the good ones and find a program that is both safe and effective.
Characteristics
Most fad diets share a few characteristics that make them easily distinguishable from healthy weight-loss plans. One common theme of fad diets is a severe restriction in calories or the elimination of certain food groups from your diet. Crash diets also typically promise a lot of weight loss in a short period of time. If a diet promises anything over 2 lbs. of weight loss per week, this usually indicates a crash diet. An unhealthy diet may also focus on one particular food, claiming that it has special weight-loss or fat-burning powers. Fad or crash diets are often designed for temporary use, with no plan for maintaining the weight loss after the diet has ended.
Examples
Many unhealthy fad diets are known by the name of the food they endorse, such as the cabbage diet or grapefruit diet. Sometimes diets include the name of a hospital or medical organization but actually have no affiliation with the group. These diets are frequently passed from person to person or via email. Other fad diets may be published as books by purported medical experts.
Dangers
Diets that limit food intake below 800 calories a day may cause a dangerous heart arrhythmia. If you lose more than about 3 lbs. per week, you can increase your risk of developing gallstones. Some crash diets may cause nutrient deficiencies since they do not provide all the variety you need for a balanced diet. Fad diets may also cause temporary discomfort or pain in the form of nausea, diarrhea, constipation, abdominal cramping or flatulence. A diet plan that is excessively restrictive may cause a rebound effect when you end the diet; you're likely to regain all of the weight you lost.
Controversy
Diet programs may fall on the murky line between fad or crash diets and legitimate weight-loss methods. Proponents of some low-carbohydrate diets, for example, often point to research showing that reducing carbohydrates is as effective as reducing fat for weight loss. Other evidence regarding the safety and efficacy of these diets has been mixed.
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