Fad Diets
Pennington Biomedical Research Center
Division of Education
Proliferation of fad diets
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There are many different types of diets available
currently.
Fat diets are available in book form, magazines, on-line,
and on TV.
Each one promises better cures than the next with huge
weight losses in short time.
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How to recognize a fad diet
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Promise quick weight loss.
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Limit food selections and dictate specific rituals.
3.
Use testimonials from famous people
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How to recognize a fad diet
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4 They bill themselves as cure-alls.
5. They often recommend expensive supplements.
6. No attempts are made to change eating habits permanently.
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How to recognize a fad diet
7. Use scientific jargon and terms.
8. They are generally critical and skeptical about the
scientific community.
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Types of Fad Diets:
Macronutrient Restrictions
Low or Restricted-Carbohydrate Approaches
Low-Fat Approaches
Novelty Diets
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Types of Fad Diets:
Low or Restricted Carbohydrate Approaches
Most common form of fad diet
How it
works
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The brain requires glucose for normal functioning.
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Glucose is made from tissue proteins.
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This leads to protein tissue loss.
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Types of Fad Diets:
Low or Restricted Carbohydrate Approaches
Why
you
lose
weight
on it
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Dieter loses weight very rapidly with the loss of
carbohydrates and fluids.
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Work in the short run because of limited food intake.
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Reduced eating due to limited selection.
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On normal diet fluids are restored and the weight is
regained.
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Problems
With Low or Restricted Carbohydrate
Approaches
Problems
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The plan lacks: fruits, vegetables, and whole
grains.
Not intended for long-term use.
The plan includes excessive intake of animal
fats.
Individuals experience reduced exercise capacity
due to limited carbohydrate intake.
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Problems
Metabolic
consequences
With Low or Restricted Carbohydrate
Approaches
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Can result in metabolic dehydration.
Due to use of body’s own stores of carbohydrates and
protein.
Results in initial weight loss.
This is extremely stressful and forces the brain to alter
its metabolism.
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Problems
With Low or Restricted Carbohydrate
Approaches
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Can lead to such serious health problems such as
kidney stress, liver disorders, and gout.
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These diets also increase the risk for:
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Coronary heart disease
Diabetes
Stroke
Several types of cancer
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Recent Finds
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Typical Atkins Diet can contain up to 59% fat and provides
significantly fewer servings of grains, vegetables, and fruit than
recommended by the U.S. Dietary Guidelines.
Very low-carbohydrate diet increases the risk for kidney stone
formation and the potential for bone loss contributing to
osteoporosis.
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Recent Finds:
From the American Heart Association
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According to the AHA, restricting carbohydrate levels
can increase the risk of heart disease, high cholesterol,
diabetes, stroke, and certain kinds of cancer.
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Recent Finds:
From the American Heart Association
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Most of these plans greatly exceed the AHA’s dietary
guidelines of 15-20% protein and only 10% saturated
fats daily.
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68% of the calories in the overall diet come from fat with
26% coming from saturated fat on the Atkins' Diet
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Recent Finds:
From The American Kidney Fund
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High-protein diets can cause scarring in the kidneys.
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Dehydration forces the kidneys to work harder to clean
toxins from the blood.
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Recent Finds:
From the American Institute for Cancer Research and
the World Cancer Research Fund
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Diets high in saturated fat increase the risk of prostate,
breast , and colon cancer.
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High-protein diets are low in protective dietary fiber,
which lowers the risk of lung, oral, esophageal,
stomach, and colon cancer.
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Examples of:
Low or Restricted Carbohydrate Approaches
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Dr. Atkins
Sugar Busters
Carbohydrate Addicts Diet
The Five-Day Miracle Diet
Protein Power
Enter the Zone
Endocrine Control Diet
Healthy For Life
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The Doctor’s Quick Weight Loss Diet
Woman Doctor’s Diet for Women
Miracle Diet for Fast Weight loss
Calories Don’t Count
Four Day Wonder Diet
The Complete Scarsdale Medical
Diet
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Types of Fad Diets:
Low Fat
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Less than 20% of energy comes from fat, usually only 5-10%.
There is limited (or elimination of) animal protein sources;
also all fats, nuts, and seeds.
Dieters eat primarily grains, fruit, and vegetables, which
most people cannot do for a very long time.
Eventually, the individual wants some foods higher in
fat or protein.
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Problems:
With Low Fat Diet Plans
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Little satiety
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Flatulence
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Possibly poor mineral absorption from excess dietary fiber
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Limited food choices sometimes leading to deprivation
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The diet is much lower in fat than a typical American diet.
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Examples of:
Low Fat Diet Plans
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The Rice Diet Report
The Pritikin Diet
Eat More, Weigh Less
The 35+ Diet
20/30 Fat and Fiber
Fat to Muscle Diet
T-Factor Diet
Fit or Fat
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Two Day Diet
Complete Hip and Thigh Diet
The Maximum Metabolism Diet
The Pasta Diet
G-Index Diet
Lean Bodies
Outsmarting the Female Fat Cell
The Macrobiotic Diet (some
versions)
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Types of Fad Diets:
Novelty Diets
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Some novelty diets emphasize one food or food group
and exclude almost all others.
The Rice Diet was originally designed in the 1940’s to
lower blood pressure.
Another novelty diet is the Egg Diet, on which you
eat all the eggs you want.
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Novelty Diets:
Rice and Egg
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The rationale behind these diets is that you
can only eat eggs, fruit, or rice for just so long
before becoming bored, in theory, reducing
your energy intake.
However, it is more likely that you will
abandon the diet entirely before losing much
weight.
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Novelty Diets:
Information
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Some bizarre novelty diets claim that some
food combinations putrefies ( ex. meat
eaten with potatoes) in the intestines and
creates toxins, which invade the blood and
cause disease, and overweight and obesity.
Examples of this type of novelty diet
include: Fit for Life, the Beverly Hills Diet,
and Eat Great, Lose Weight
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Novelty Diets:
Information
The gimmicks proposed in the different
books appear controversial but are
really designed to sell books.
And most importantly, there is
No Research or Scientific Evidence
backing up these claims.
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Problems:
With Novelty Diets
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They promote certain nutrients, foods, or combinations
of foods as having unique, magical, or previously
undiscovered qualities
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They can lead to malnutrition
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No change in everyday eating habits leading to
relapse
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Unrealistic food choices leading to possible bingeing
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Examples of:
Novelty Diets
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Dr. Abravenel’s Body Type
and Lifetime
Fit for Life
Dr. Berger’s Immune Power
Diet
The Hilton Head Metabolism
Diet
The Beverly Hills Diet
Dr. Debetz Champagne Diet
Sun Sign Diet
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Eat to Win
Cabbage-Soup Diet
Eat Great, Lose Weight
The Ultrafit Diet
Two Day Diet
Paris Diet
Eat Right 4 Your Type
3 Season Diet
Metabolize
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Quackery
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Fad diets fall under the category of quackery, people
taking advantage of others.
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Usually costs a considerable amount of money
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Often times, those offering the product or service
were victims themselves.
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Quackery: Tips
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Healthy weight loss approaches that work will be
reported in the major journals, such as the
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Journal of the American Dietetic Association, the
Journal of the American Medical Association, or
The New England Journal of Medicine.
The rule of thumb on seeing a new diet aid on the
market is that: If it sounds too good to be true, it
usually is.
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Other Diets
Moderate Calorie Restriction:
General Overview
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Usually 1000-1800 kcal per day, with a moderate fat
intake
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Reasonable balance of macronutrients
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Encourages exercise
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May use behavioral approach
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Acceptable if vitamin and mineral supplement is
used and permission of family physician is granted
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Examples:
Moderate Calorie Restriction
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The Setpoint Diet
Slim Chance in a Fat
World
Weight Watcher’s Diet
Mary Ellen’s Help
Yourself Diet Plan
The Beyond Diet
Staying Thin
The Calloway Diet
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Living Without Dieting
Volumetrics
Lose the Last 10 pounds
Dieting with the Duchess
Dieting for Dummies
The Wedding Dress Diet
Dr. Shapiro’s Picture
Perfect Diet
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Very Low Calorie Diets
General Overview
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Less than 800 kcal per day
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Also known as protein-sparing modified fasts
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Must be under close physician scrutiny
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Very Low Calorie Diets
General Overview
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Used for fast weight loss under doctor’s
supervision to get ready for surgery, for
example.
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Very Low Calorie Diets:
Problems
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Organ tissue losses- especially from the heart
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Low blood potassium could lead to heart failure
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Expensive to follow
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Potential for kidney stones with rapid weight loss
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Potential for Gout
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Examples:
Of Very Low Calorie Diets
Optifast
Ultrafast
Cambridge Diet
Thin So Fast
HMR
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Formula Diets:
General Overview
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Can help people who cannot regulate
portion sizes
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Based on formulated or packaged products
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Problems:
With Formula Diets
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No change in habits are observed.
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Possibly leading to increased chance of relapse
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Expensive
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Often leading to constipation
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Pre-measured Diets:
General Information
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Most food supplied in pre-measured servings takes
much of the decision making out of the process of
eating.
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Expensive
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May not allow for easy sound eating later
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Examples
Of Pre-measured Diet
Jenny Craig
NutriSystem
Health Management Resources
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References
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http://www.essentialnutrition.org/lowcarb.php
Wardlaw G, Kessel M. Perspectives in Nutrition. 5th ed.
2002
http://www.jennycraig.com
http://www.google.com
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Pennington Biomedical Research Center
Division of Education
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Outreach Coordinator, Division of Education
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Edited: October 2009
Phillip Brantley, PhD,
Director, Division of Education
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Heli Roy, PhD, RD
Claude Bouchard, PhD
Director, Pennington Biomedical Research Center
• Beth Kalicki
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About Our Company…
The Pennington Biomedical Research Center is a world-renowned nutrition research center.
Mission:
To promote healthier lives through research and education in nutrition and preventive medicine.
The Pennington Center has several research areas, including:
Clinical Obesity Research
Experimental Obesity
Functional Foods
Health and Performance Enhancement
Nutrition and Chronic Diseases
Nutrition and the Brain
Dementia, Alzheimer’s and healthy aging
Diet, exercise, weight loss and weight loss maintenance
The research fostered in these areas can have a profound impact on healthy living and on the prevention of common chronic diseases,
such as heart disease, cancer, diabetes, hypertension and osteoporosis.
The Division of Education provides education and information to the scientific community and the public about research findings,
training programs and research areas, and coordinates educational events for the public on various health issues.
We invite people of all ages and backgrounds to participate in the exciting research studies being conducted at the Pennington Center
in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. If you would like to take part, visit the clinical trials web page at www.pbrc.edu or call (225) 763-3000.
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