Fad Diets:



Fad Diets:

What you need to know

Fad diets are ever increasing in popularity. Everywhere you go you see or hear about Jenny Craig this, Nutrisystem that, “How the Atkins Diet worked for me!”, or any number of other information. We are bombarded daily with commercials and media trying to sell us on the newest “scientific” approach to losing weight. It is genuinely a huge concern for our modern society. But many people jump into these “Fad” diets without understanding the consequences or the general idea of what they are doing. Without proper research or care these diets will not help you. Analyzing three popular diets we can show you how they are over costly, cause health problems, and are generally ineffective making your overall goal to lose weight more difficult; when all you need to know is how to eat healthy and exercise regularly.

Diet Overview

The Atkins Diet:

The Atkins Diet was formulated by Dr. Robert C. Atkins as a reaction to the ever increasing levels of obesity. His basic theory was that we are ingesting too many refined carbohydrates and that a hormone imbalance was the cause of extra stored fat. By reducing the amount of carbohydrate intake a person can reduce or reverse this imbalance and begin to burn fat more efficiently. The Atkins Diet has 4 phases: Induction phase, Ongoing Weight Loss phase, and the last two phases are maintenance phases. The induction phase gets a lot of criticism for its total restriction of not only carbs but also calories and is the hardest obstacle for people to overcome that try this diet. ()

The Zone Diet:

The Zone Diet was created by Dr. Barry Sears. Dr. Sears research indicated that a balanced diet with a ratio of 40-30-30 (respectively carbs, protein, fats) was the key to healthy weight loss and maintenance. The Zone diet still falls under the category of a low carb diet because it recommends under 60%, which goes against the government recommendations. Every meal is supposed to be figured out exactly to this ratio making it complicated and a lot of effort. ()

Nutrisystem:

Founded by Harold Katz this diet is similar to Jenny Craig in that they send you pre-packaged food that you order online. Getting to choose what you eat seems like a great idea but many of the participants of this diet claim the food is disgusting and high in Sodium. Nutrisystem is famous for its celebrity sponsored commercials featuring former Dolphin’s quarterback Dan Marino and Coach Don Shula. One of their major taglines is, “Eat like a man!” The diet is not a lifelong solution. ()

Cost of Fad Diets:

Cost has grown into a serious concern in America these recent years. People believe that saving a penny justifies consuming unhealthy foods simply for the right price. Fad diets have persuaded people with the idea of low cost meal plans to coerce the customer into buying their product. Let's outline and display the actual costs of the Zone, Atkins, and Nutrisystem diets plans each ending in the cumulative sum of one month.

The Atkins Diet:

The Atkins diet on one end of the spectrum offers minimal products sold exclusively through them. Their plan involves that the customer purchase the Atkins shakes and bars, which start out $6.29 for a five pack of various nutrition bars. Then $6.99 for a four pack of Atkins ready drink shakes. Atkins then would have you follow an outline for purchasing the certain items for your diet at your local grocery store. The money a single person can spend on groceries in a month would range any where from 400 to 600 dollars a month. On Average for Atkins bars and shakes alone, for 30 days, 1 bar and shake a day, you will spend $79.68 on their product combined. As far as prioritizing concern, Atkins seems to entail a higher priority for health and actual weight loss compared to the concern for cost. ()

NutriSystem:

Nutrisystem delivers a straight to the point message for their product. The estimated sum for a year’s worth of food on the Nutrisystem diet plan at the rate of 366.61 per month. would total more than $4,400 dollars. This sum isn’t to extremely drastic in comparison to what it would cost the average single person’s monthly grocery bills, which was estimated at about 400 to 600 dollars a month . In a year’s time accumulate to sums ranging from 4500 to 7000 dollars. The more important question is though, are you receiving the results you are paying for? ()

The Zone Diet:

The Zone Diet is one of, if not the most costly of the three diets displayed. It offers more supplements and gimmicks than necessary in maintaining a healthy stable diet. With over a dozen different supplements for sale, the prices for purchasing all these pills would be through the roof. 30 days supply of cognitive support tablets for 49.95 or The Zone athlete pro supplement for 49.95 for a 15 day supply. This Fad diet seems to emphasize as much on their additional products as they do their core diet. It is almost too hard to differentiate which is not, and what is necessary to purchase to execute the Zone diet. Though it does have its negative aspects The Zone diet is relatively easy to maintain and afford. ()

Negative Health Effects of Fad Diets:

Perhaps the most serious of the concerns are the potential negative health effects of these fad diets as they can be very serious and long lasting. One of the greatest examples of this is the “magic pill” named Fen-phen, which became part of a fad diet to the detriment of a great number of people. Fad diets have become such a threat to health that Bronwyn Pike, the Minister for Health of Victoria, Australia, has launched an advertising campaign warning of the health impacts and ineffectiveness of fad diets. In this section we will take a look at the possible side effects of some of today’s most popular fad diets.

The Atkins Diet:

There are a wide range of side effects from this sort of diet, including some negative effects on your brain and muscles (). If your body doesn’t have a supply of carbohydrates to produce glucose from it will look to break down the protein in your muscles to get its needed energy. Eventually, your brain will stop using glucose for energy and will start using ketones. Ketones are not used by the brain as efficiently as glucose, which may result in reduced thinking speeds and reactions times.

This diet also causes the body to lose water weight, which may give false hope to someone thinking they are losing body fat. Here are some other side effects ():

• Dehydration

• Constipation

• Heart Disease/Cancer

• Bone Disease

• Low Energy, Poor Work-Outs

• Bad breath

Pregnant or women who are breastfeeding should also avoid this type of diet, as they are on the higher end of the recommended daily allowance for carbohydrate intake. So we see that with a low carbohydrate diet you can suffer from many things that could be dangerous to your health, as well as general low energy and a slow down in brain function.

The Zone Diet:

This relatively healthy diet actually suggests a fair balance of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, but if you stick specifically with this diet’s plan it may leave you with deficiencies in vitamins D and E, as well as magnesium and calcium. The dietary plan is also low in phytochemicals and antioxidants which can be very helpful in creating health in the body.

NutriSystem:

The last diet we will profile is NutriSystem. NutriSystem is a meal replacement plan that restricts you to between 1,000 and 1,500 calories per day. One problem with this plan its history of promoting “magic pills”, including Fen-phen () to be used in conjunction with its meal plans. Aside from that, this plan is generally accepted as ok, although it may leave you short in energy depending on your per-day caloric expenditure.

With any plan you should really consult with a qualified health practitioner with any of your dietary considerations. There is just too much to risk to do otherwise, because fads may come and fads may go, but these negative side effects may stick with you forever.

Fad Diet Innefficacy

Another personal health factor affected my fad diets is your metabolism and lean muscle which affect the effectiveness of weight loss. Most people who start fad diets do so without the knowledge of nutrition, metabolism, and lean muscle necessary to properly take care of their bodies. Some popular diets, like Atkins, start with periods of near starvation, any diet that does this is immediately threatening to your metabolic balance. If you restrict your caloric intake too much and slow your metabolism down then you will need to restrict your intake even more in order to continue burning enough calories to be lose weight, and constantly restricting your food intake is unhealthy. (Cloe, 2, 3)

Situations with low carbohydrate intake are also dangerous because your muscles are the first thing to be broken down for fuel and lean muscle is what helps boost your metabolism. Reduction in your overall muscle mass makes losing weight harder. For example, let’s say one pound of muscle burns 50 calories a day and you lose 5 pounds of muscle from starving yourself. You now burn 250 calories less each day and now have to eat 250 less calories to maintain weight balance. This only furthers the starvation mechanism and continues to lower your current BMR making weight loss harder. (Cloe, 3, 4, 5)

In the early weeks of dieting most people will see results they call “dramatic” when they drop between 5-20 pounds. This keeps them thinking, alright, I can do this, its working amazingly already. What they don’t understand is that most that weight is a mix of water weight and muscle tissue that was broken down due to a lack of carbs and sodium. Your best tool in the first place is muscle and too many ill-informed fad dieters lose there one best tool. This situation creates what is called the “yo-yo effect” where dieters repeatedly gain weight, starve themselves to lose it, and repeat. This is an ever repeating cycle that makes weight loss harder and harder after each failed attempt making “dieters” heavier and heavier. (Kellow, 7, 9, 11)

Being Healthy without Fad Diets:

Trying Fad diets aren’t always the solution to health problems or weight issues. Just planed exercising and eating healthy are the two best ways for maintaining good health and a safe weight. You could go spend hundreds of dollars on a pill diet, saying it will help you lose weight or you could go run a mile and eat some healthy non-processed foods.

A balanced diet means eating plenty of fruits, vegetables, and grains. Your diet should be low in fat and cholesterol to reduce your risk of obesity and heart disease. Food guide pyramids can help you choose a healthy, balanced diet. If you eat more foods on the bottom of the pyramid (grains, vegetables, and fruits) and less from the top (meats, dairy products, fats, oils, and sweets) you’re in good shape.

Serving sizes vary with each food, for example, a serving size for bread is one slice. In addition to eating a balanced, healthy diet, you also need to exercise to stay healthy. Your heart is a muscle and you need to exercise it to keep it strong.

So with exercising and nutrition in mind, you can win the battle in staying healthy instead of trying diets that don’t work. You don’t need to join an expensive health club membership to get the exercise you need. Lots of diets watch your food intake but don’t explain strategies to exercising. Exercising can be easy as any of these ways:

• Walk at a steady pace for 30 minutes a day

• Try walking to nearby stores or houses

• Try biking to work if weather permits it

Conclusion:

Through scientific research the diets analyzed here have brought up lots of interesting questions in the field of health and nutrition. These fad diets are still allowed to continue because for some people they do work and have helped them lose weight. For others they have just been a waste of time and money. It is important to remember that when considering dieting do some research, consult a physician or primary care doctor, and be smart. These fad diets are only safe and effective when done in moderation to the teachings of the promoters and still should only be practiced by a small minority. The healthiest thing to do is take a course on nutrition, talk to some trainers, or go to a gym. Fad dieting is ineffective because of the high costs, health risks, and set backs experienced by most. Remember that being who you are is always ok and sometimes you don’t need to force change, it will come in time.

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