When the word diet is described as a “fad” diet, it is a clear warning that the diet only offers a short-term solution for losing weight.
If you want to lose weight successfully and keep it off, following a fad diet does not provide a viable solution.
Even if a fad diet leads to weight loss, often the pounds are regained. Research at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) proved this point.
Researchers found fad dieting does not lead to permanent weight loss, nor offers health benefits. Scientists found that dieters lose about 10% of their body weight at the beginning of a diet.
However, nearly two-thirds of the study participants regained more weight than they lost. These results lead people to question what diets actually work.
Simple answer: eating in moderation and exercise. If you do not like to visit a gym to lose weight, you can opt for such activities as walking, gardening, or taking part in a sport, such as golf or tennis.
Not a Safe Diet Plan
Fad dieting is not safe. Neither is going on and off diets.
Research confirms that consistently losing and gaining weight is connected with the following conditions:
- Cardiovascular disease
Following this eating pattern also alters immune system functioning, thereby making dieters more susceptible to sickness. Scientists cannot explain how this type of cycling leads to adverse health. Yet, studies prove that regularly losing and regaining weight is not advised.
Nevertheless, fad diets are still popular despite their failure rates. The following information covers two types of popular fad diets and shows why they do not work.
1. Food Combination Eating Plans
One food combination diet is the Somersizing Diet, endorsed by Suzanne Somers.
Besides featuring a host of rules, this diet advocates that dieters eat foods in a particular order. Other food combination diets restrict eating carbohydrates and proteins at the same time.
In some plans, dieters have to wait so many hours between meals to avoid mixing certain foods. Food combination diets often feature a large number rules – guidelines that are difficult to follow for any length of time.
For instance, the Somersizing Diet offers some of the following rules:
- Eat protein with fat.
- Avoid such foods as bananas, sugar, milk, potatoes, wine, beer, white rice, and carrots.
- Eat vegetables and carbohydrates together.
- Always eat three meals each day. Never skip them.
- Never eat fat or protein with carbs.
As you can see, the above list can lead to confusion. If you are preoccupied with other activities, following this type of diet can become disconcerting. Do not follow an eating plan that you cannot continue to support. Instead, you need to ditch it.
2. Diets that Promote Eating a Single Food
Fad diets also distinguish themselves by showcasing a single food. For example, the grapefruit diet is a fad diet that emphasizes this type of plan.
However, this diet is also a recipe for diet fatigue and nutritional deficiency.
Diets of this type are short-term, and so are the weight loss results. In fact, you are better off not following the diet at all. You may lose weight, but your body will suffer wear-and-tear from this type of diet abuse. It is not worth it when you gain back the weight anyway.
Unfortunately, we live in a world where people want immediate gratification. That’s why the grapefruit diet has been touted by such names as the Mayo Clinic Diet and the Hollywood Diet.
Proponents of the grapefruit diet almost give a grapefruit magical fat-burning properties. All you have to do is eat a half grapefruit before a meal that is high in fat and protein. In turn, a metabolic reaction occurs that leads to amazing fat burning properties. 
Why the Grapefruit Diet Does Not Work
Supposedly, grapefruit possesses an enzyme that leads to quick weight loss. While this may sound exciting to someone 20 pounds overweight, there is a catch.
Embedded in the fine print of the diet plan is a restriction – one that limits your calorie intake to 800 calories per day. The diet also eliminates almost all carbs, even healthy carbs like vegetables, grains, and fruits.
Besides the grapefruit diet, the cabbage soup diet also makes claims to fast weight loss—dieters can lose ten pounds in only ten days.
However, one study showed following a grapefruit diet didn’t have any resounding effects. Research suggested that eating a grapefruit daily for six weeks did not substantially reduce body weight.
A Short-Term Ineffective Weight-Loss Solution
Fad diets do not work because they can only be followed short-term.
Again, our need for immediate gratification works against us.
If you really want to lose weight and keep it off, you have to eliminate the word “fad” from your diet plan. You can only succeed at losing weight by following a nutritional diet that you can stick to indefinitely.
Therefore, losing weight means changing how you eat as well as the foods you eat. It also means increasing your level of activity. When you follow this approach, you can eliminate any fad diets from your life permanently.
When you significantly cut calories or eliminate most foods from your menu, you also cause your body to rebel. In this case, the body will not burn fat as efficiently because it’s in starvation mode.
Starvation mode is the body’s response to any long-term restriction of calories. When the body burns fewer calories, weight loss is slowed. Moreover, when a muscle is used to provide the body with calories, the body goes into “famine” mode.
Making a Commitment
Most nutritional experts advise not going below 1,200 calories per day when dieting. Therefore, eating too little food will reduce your metabolic rate.
In turn, the body eats up muscle instead.
To raise your metabolic rate, you need to build back the lost muscle – another reason fad diets do not work.
If you want to see permanent weight loss results, you need to commit yourself to a healthy diet and exercise plan. When you devote yourself to healthier eating and exercise, you will burn fat more efficiently and succeed at losing weight.