Crazy Fad Diets

Fad diets are essentially diets that are followed with a great amount of zeal for a short period of time until the validity of the diet is busted. They generally do not really help with weight loss but for soem reason, are adopted by a lot of people.
The world has witnessed numerous fad diets and the frenzy that surrounds them. We've put together some of the most eccentric fad diets that have surfaced at some point in time.



The 7-day All You Can Eat Diet
This diet is perhaps the most attractive diet for overweight foodies who decide to shed the kilos. On first hearing of this diet you might wonder how exactly 'eating all the food you can eat' is going to contribute to weight loss in any way. Perhaps after indulging yourself for an entire week, the sight, smell and thought of food leaves you feeling nauseous and here lies the beauty of this diet. In truth, this diet comes packed with a schedule - for example, only fruits on Mondays, only vegetables on Tuesdays and so on.


HCG Diet
The HCG diet or the Human Chorionic Gonadotropin Hormone diet involves injecting this hormone in order to lose weight. The hormone is found in the urine of pregnant women. Apart from these injections, following a lean protein diet is also necessary. The HCG diet thought born in 1971, became popular in 2009. It was once available only at spas and weight loss clinics, but it is now available to try at home as well. Side effects include headaches, depression and blood clots. Cancer detection is also harder as the injections hide the tumour markers.


Tapeworm Diet
We all know tapeworms found in pigs are dangerous so they use the ones found in cows instead! But do you know that cows can host the tapeworms found in pigs as well? The clinics do and that is why they go one step further to ensure the tapeworms they use are not the ones we all fear. These tapeworms absorb most of your food and hence allow you to consume more food without putting on those kilos.
Unfortunately, these tapeworms also consume vital nutrients and vitamins. Despite the introduction of an antibiotic to kill the tapeworm once the required weight is lost, this process is ill-advised as it can lead to the formation of cysts in the brain, spinal cord, liver and eyes.


Cabbage Soup Diet
Let's face it, cabbage isn't really the most loved vegetable and even for you cabbage lovers, resorting to this soup every time you get hungry, day and night for days on end - this is bound to be quite an ordeal. The cabbage soup doesn't bring with it the required nutrients, but it does bring with it unwanted baggage that is sure to leave you smelly and uncomfortable or visiting the loo a tad too often. There is an urban legend that claims that this diet increases one's libido and generates more pheromones which attract the opposite sex. Fo whoever came up with this legend, we wonder if the gas had anything to do with their clouded judgement.


Israeli Army Diet
This is an 8-day diet that required the person to consume one type of food for two days each. On days 1 and 2, only apples are allowed. Days 3 and 4 would require the person to consume only cheese (yes we know - strange!). Chicken dominates the menu on days 5 and 6. Salad is allowed on days 7 and 8. Oh, we forgot to mention black tea and black coffee is allowed on all these days. The diet was not encouraged as doctors found it unbalanced.


The Caveman Diet
Yes, some people actually believe our ancestors had healthier eating habits than we do! The diet allows you to eat meat, vegetables, berries and nuts. Potatoes, beans, sugar, salt, grains (wheat, rice - you name it) are big no-nos!


The Blood Type Diet
A certain Dr. Peter J. D'Adamo developed this diet which allows people to eat according to their blood type. According to him, people whose blood type is A should stick to fruits and vegetables as they have thicker blood and a sensitive immune system. Blood type B people should resort to dairy products. Blood type O people are said to require a higher protein diet and are advised to eat a lot of meat and people of the blood type AB are advised to incorporate the diets of A and B.


The Air Diet
We know about vegetarians, non-vegetarians and even fruitarians, but did you know about breatharians? All they need is fresh and unpolluted air to survive. This is perhaps one of the hardest diets to follow as fresh, unpolluted air is hard to come across these days especially for us urban dwellers.

NOTE: Please do not adopt the aforementioned diets. Finally, it's a combination of healthy eating and regular exercise that does the trick when it comes to weight-loss. If you really want to try a diet, we reccomend consulting a nutrionist for some expert advice.

Source: India Syndicate