Fad diets are popular non-standard diets that often promise dramatic weight loss. However, they are usually not supported by scientific evidence, and they sometimes offer dangerous dietary advice.
A fad diet is a diet that is popular, generally only for a short time, similar to fads in fashion, without being a standard scientific dietary recommendation, and often making unreasonable claims for fast weight loss or health improvements; as such it is often considered a type of pseudoscientific diet.[1][2][3][4][5] Fad diets are usually not supported by clinical research and their health recommendations are not peer-reviewed, thus they often make unsubstantiated statements about health and disease.[3]
Generally, fad diets promise an assortment of desired changes requiring little effort, thus attracting the interest of consumers uneducated about whole-diet, whole-lifestyle changes necessary for sustainable health benefits.[1][2][6] Fad diets are often promoted with exaggerated claims, such as rapid weight loss of more than 1 kg/week, improving health by "detoxification", or even more dangerous claims achieved through highly restrictive and nutritionally unbalanced food choices leading to malnutrition or even eating non-food items such as cotton wool.[2][4][7][8] Highly restrictive fad diets should be avoided.[9][10] At best, fad diets may offer novel and engaging ways to reduce caloric intake, but at worst they may be medically unsuitable to the individual, unsustainable, or even dangerous.[1][2] Dietitian advice should be preferred before attempting any diet.[4]
Celebrity endorsements are frequently used to promote fad diets, which may generate significant revenue for the creators of the diets through the sale of associated products.[4][11] Regardless of their evidence base, or lack thereof, fad diets are extremely popular, with over 1500 books published each year, and many consumers willing to pay into an industry worth $35 billion per year in the United States.[1] About 14–15% Americans declare having used a fad diet for short-term weight loss.[1]
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^ abWhitney, Eleanor Noss; Rolfes, Sharon Rady; Crowe, Tim; Walsh, Adam. (2019). Understanding Nutrition. Cengage Learning Australia. pp. 321-325. ISBN 9780170424431
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A faddiet is a diet that is popular, generally only for a short time, similar to fads in fashion, without being a standard scientific dietary recommendation...
of "crash" or "fad" diets – short-term, weight-loss plans that involve drastic changes to a person's normal eating habits. Only diets covered on Wikipedia...
The carnivore diet (also called a zero carb diet) is a high-protein faddiet in which only animal products such as meat, eggs, and dairy are consumed....
The Paleolithic diet, Paleo diet, caveman diet, or Stone Age diet is a modern faddiet consisting of foods thought by its proponents to mirror those eaten...
A macrobiotic diet (or macrobiotics) is a faddiet based on ideas about types of food drawn from Zen Buddhism. The diet tries to balance the supposed...
The Dukan Diet is a high-protein low-carbohydrate faddiet devised by Pierre Dukan. The Dukan diet is a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet with four...
The Atkins diet is a low-carbohydrate faddiet devised by Robert Atkins in the 1970s, marketed with claims that carbohydrate restriction is crucial to...
Zone diet is a faddiet emphasizing low-carbohydrate consumption. It was created by Barry Sears, an American biochemist. The ideas behind the diet are...
The South Beach Diet is a popular faddiet developed by Arthur Agatston and promoted in his bestselling 2003 book. It emphasizes eating food with a low...
medical experts and nutritionists as a faddiet. Physician Terrence T. Kuske wrote regarding the Stillman diet: It induces a degree of diuresis because...
of a diet food or faddiet. "South Beach Keto- Friendly Diet". KGUN. 16 January 2019. "What Endurance Athletes Should Know About the Atkins Diet". 4 September...
The Scarsdale diet, a high-protein low-carbohydrate faddiet designed for weight loss, created in the 1970s by Herman Tarnower and named for the town in...
The Cambridge Diet was a very-low-calorie meal replacement faddiet developed in the 1960s. The diet launched with different versions in the US and the...
events. Fads include diets, clothing, hairstyles, toys, and more. Some popular fads throughout history are toys such as yo-yos, hula hoops, and fad dances...
categories report 7 percent or higher. Some publicized diets, often referred to as faddiets, make exaggerated claims of fast weight loss or other health...
The blood type diets are faddiets advocated by several authors, the most prominent of whom is Peter J. D'Adamo. These diets are based on the notion that...
disputed. Milk In the 1920s, the milk dietfad was popularized by physical culturist Bernarr Macfadden. He advertised the diet as a remedy for diverse ailments...
faddiets such as the ketogenic diet and intermittent fasting to promote heart health. Fleming M (27 January 2015). "Fasting facts: is the 5:2 diet too...
versions have been greatly relaxed, and have been described as faddiets. The Rice Diet Program was founded in 1939 by Walter Kempner [de] (1903-1997)...
The cotton ball diet is a faddiet that involves consuming cotton balls dipped in liquids such as juices or smoothies. The cotton is intended to make a...
Alkaline diet (also known as the alkaline ash diet, alkaline acid diet, acid ash diet, and acid alkaline diet) describes a group of loosely related diets based...
diet is a radical weight loss diet designed around heavy consumption of a low-calorie cabbage soup over seven days. It is generally considered a fad diet...
as the French paradox. By 2011, the Mediterranean diet was included by some authors as a faddiet promoted for losing weight. Since about 2016, the American...
mainstream nutritional advice. The Pritikin Diet has been categorized as a faddiet with possible disadvantages including a boring food choice, flatulence...
The British Dietetic Association has described raw foodism as a faddiet. Raw food diets, specifically raw veganism, may diminish intake of essential minerals...
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