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Diet culture has run rampant in recent years, creating the false narrative that you must follow dramatic cleanses and eating habits in order to achieve quick and effective results. With a little research it becomes clear that a balanced diet of protein, carbs and healthy fat is the most effective method for seeing positive changes in your body, but even so, many people still fall victim to the fads of the diet industry.
While there is no one-size-fits-all diet for weight loss, there are several cleanses and eating plans which should be avoided at all costs in order to preserve the lasting health of your body. The reality of fads is they have the potential to damage your metabolism and cause you to gain the weight back when you stop following them, so Michele Canon, XPRO, NASM Certified Fitness Nutrition Specialist, CPT and XPRO for Xponential+ outlined the three to stay weary of as you embark on your own weight loss journey.
The Master Cleanse
Cleanses are often used as a way to “reset” digestion and promote the flushing of toxins from the body, but the reality is that this is simply starving your body. “This diet claims that you will detox your body by drinking only lemon with water, cayenne pepper and maple syrup for 10 days,” explains Canon. Lacking in nutrients, this liquid diet will not fill you up or leave you remotely satiated for lasting results.
In order to lose weight you do need to be in a calorie deficit, but that’s not to say you should be drinking your calories for ten days. This leaves you at risk of putting your metabolism in flux, throwing off digestion and feeding off of your muscles as fuel rather than burning excess fat.
The Cabbage Soup Diet
Not only is this diet extremely boring to your palate, but the cabbage soup diet also lacks the nutrients to help satiate you for extended periods of time. If your diet is leaving you excessively hungry and you find yourself dreaming of the foods you “aren’t allowed to have,” it’s not a diet worth following. “This diet instructs you to consume cabbage soup for 7 days. In addition, there are specific other foods allowed each day–for example, one day you are told to consume cabbage soup and up to 8 bananas,” notes Canon. While bananas and cabbage do provide a healthy source of carbs, you’re missing out on other essential nutrients to bolster your overall health.
The Raw Food Diet
This diet, while “allowing” a wider range of ingredients than the latter two diets, creates an unhealthy relationship with food that categorizes perfectly healthy ingredients as bad for you. “The philosophy behind the raw food diet is that food heated over 104-118 degrees Fahrenheit is unhealthy for you. Proponents of this diet only consume raw, plant-based foods such as nuts, seeds, and some raw eggs or dairy.” says Canon. Although you can still get a good range of nutrients from this eating plan, realistically there is no reason to cut cooked foods out of your diet, and it’s not likely to expedite your results at all.
What makes these worse than other diets?
Not only do these three diets eliminate major food groups, but most notably they cut down on protein which is actually essential for healthy muscle growth and an effective metabolism to improve your body’s fat burning capabilities. “The worst thing about these plans is that they are either very low or void of animal protein. Animal protein is the only nutrient that provides our bodies with essential amino acids that are crucial to muscle building, muscle recovery and most importantly, metabolic health,” explains Canon. “When you skip protein, you can also become deficient in B12, iron, zinc, vitamin A & D.”
At the end of the day, prioritizing the three major macronutrients, keeping your diet colorful and filling, and maintaining regular exercise is the best way to achieve weight loss with ease, and while you may see results from following these fads, as soon as you stop you’re more than likely going to gain the weight back. “[The] rule of thumb is if a diet claims to be a quick fix or asks you to remove an entire macronutrient, it is a red flag,” Canon says.
