The most popular weight loss diets: do they work?

Many fad diets claim to have the secret to shifting those stubborn kilos without a proper assessment and supervision by expert clinicians. But do they really work and if not, what does?

What is a fad diet?
Fad diets promise a quick solution to a weight problem. Here the Accredited Practising Dietitians from FNA assess two of the most popular fad diets:

The Atkins diet
This is a high-fat, high-protein diet based on meat, poultry, fish and eggs and encourages fatty foods like cream and butter. Very few carbohydrate containing foods are permitted.

FNA’s analysis: The low-carbohydrate approach often works in the short-term because much of the initial weight loss is actually water.

FNA’s verdict: The Atkins diet is unhealthy and potentially harmful. And as soon as you eat the carbohydrate containing foods which your body starts to crave while on this diet, your weight will increase again.

'Detox' diets
These plans remove almost all foods from the diet and rely heavily on fruits and vegetables, sometimes allowing only one type of food to be eaten in a day.

FNA’s analysis: Apart from being nutritionally unbalanced, these diets also overlook the fact that the human body is designed to perform its own detoxifying functions.

FNA’s verdict: Before adopting an extreme detox diet, ask yourself what you are eating or drinking too much of in the first place, and start by cutting back on that! Removing excess alcohol and fatty foods from your diet and boosting your water intake is a sensible alternative to 'detoxing'.

The bottom line
Due to their strict guidelines and rules, these diets rarely work for long-term weight loss.  Importantly, fad diets like these do not offer personalised nutrition advice, tailed to your individual needs. And they rarely include sustainable lifestyle changes in their plan, which can be alluring to some people who want a quick fix.

What does work?
An Accredited Practising Dietitian (APD) at FNA on the other hand offers expert personalised advice on your weight management goals, monitors your progress and provides on-going encouragement to help you achieve your goals and to maintain your new lifestyle – without falling into the trap of the dieting merry-go-round.

For more information, contact FNA.

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