Question: What are fad diets and do they work?

Answer:

Fad diets are a popular way that individuals are trying lose weight. Basically, a fad diet is any diet that either only includes certain types of foods or eliminates whole food groups. Popular fad diets include the Atkins diet, the South Beach diet, and the Zone diet just to name a few. These examples are types of low carb diets. When individuals start these diets they will lose weight when they exclude certain foods since they will be eating less calories then they normally do. However, any diet plan where you are losing more than 1-2 lbs a week is not healthy. When you lose weight faster than this you are losing water weight and muscle weight. When attempting to lose weight the best plan is to eat a balanced meal with all food groups, but cutting back on the calorie dense food and exercising regularly.