By Davina Smith from Davina Smith Nutrition
Like fashion, there are diets that are in vogue and often associated with a celebrity. Similar to a ‘I will never been seen in those again’ pair of trousers that you wore years ago that is now back in fashion so too can fad diets. They come and go but preferably go.
As with each season’s fashions must haves, the media can portray celebrities either truthfully or not of them changing their way of eating to a diet that helped them shed their post baby weight in miracle time, how they slimmed down for a movie, an awards ceremony etc. We are constantly being bombarded everyday be it from magazines, online marketing adverts, radio, TV , film, shop advertising that to be happy and successful we should be thin. These destructive messages do not just apply to women only, men are also being impacted by the subliminal messages. Media can make us believe that we too should follow whatever diet the celebrity is on. If they can do it then so can we?
According to a study from the University of Central Florida, nearly 50% of girls aged three to six years old were already concerned about their weight. That is shocking.
There are so many but I have picked a few of these fad-type diets that you should be wary of.
Cabbage Soup Diet
This diet was put into writing by Margaret Danbrot. She claimed that by following the diet (approx. 1000 calories) a person can lose up to 20 pounds in seven days. Yikes! You drink a vegetable based soup made up of cabbage, onions, peppers, tomatoes, celery and onion soup mix. Buffy The Vampire, Sarah Michelle Gellar was reported to have followed the plan.
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Okay there can be rapid weight loss as a person is consuming very little calories. Most of the weight loss is as a result of loss of water and/or lean body tissue. Your body is being deprived of the other 1200 calories it needs to maintain a healthy metabolic rate to enable you to carry out your basic daily activities. Once you start to eat normal again, the weight loss is temporary.
It can also lead to side effects such as nausea, low energy, light-headedness and plenty of flatulence!! No thank you. Open the window please. Instead have the cabbage soup as part of your normal well balanced daily diet to boost your nutrients.
Maple syrup diet
This Master Cleanse diet was made popular with the help of Beyonce who went on it before starring in the movie Dreamgirls.
For a fortnight she swallowed (I’m sure while pinching her nose and trying not to gag) a concoction of lemon juice, water and cayenne pepper. Okay the three main ingredients are all very nutritional sound and cleansing for your body. This is a very restrictive type diet as you need to drink it 6 to 12 times a day, avoiding solid foods for 10 days. Plus a laxative type tea was to be consumed every night and a glass of lukewarm salt water in the morn. Medics have reported that this is a dangerous diet to follow; you risk the loss of muscle, fatigue and overall malnutrition.
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Beyonce said of the diet:
“I lived on water, cayenne pepper and maple syrup for 14 days. It was tough; everyone was eating and I was dying.”
What did the bootylicious star say about the Maple Diet afterwards?
“After that I ate waffles, fried chicken, cheeseburgers, french fries, everything I could find. That was the best time of my life. I’ve gained twelve pounds.”
Enough said, avoid the Maple Syrup Diet.
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Baby Food Diet
Gwyneth Paltrow, Lady Ga Ga, Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Anniston have all been reported to be Baby Food followers. You eat baby food for two meals each day for a total of 14 jars then you keep your third meal light. Daily calorie intake is restricted to about 600 calories. Yikes! Again very restrictive as a jar of baby food contains approximately only about 80-100 calories. Plus baby food can be highly processed and can taste..how shall I say it..yuk!!
So no to ‘going open wide here comes the chew chew train or aeroplane’ type baby food as meal replacements.
Atkins Diet
Atkins Diet was all the rave a number of years ago with Atkins books adorning many a bookshelf. It hit Hollywood with the likes of one of our Friends Rachel aka Jennifer Anniston and Renee Zellweger who using Atkins lost the weight gained for her spell bounding role in Bridget Jones.
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The theory behind this diet is if carbohydrates (sugar based foods, breads, pastas, rice, fruit, vegetables etc.) are restricted the body will turn to fat to burn as fuel as its main energy source, a process known as ketosis. This results in a rapid and dramatic weight loss. You can devour all the protein you want from meat, eggs and cheese but as long as you eliminate carbs and sugar from your diet.
Has been touted as ‘simple and easy to follow’ but yes there are is much reported medical evidence against it. Medical experts have warned Atkins followers that consuming large amounts of saturated fats, such as that found in meat and cheese, can lead to an increased risk of heart disease. In addition, Atkins style diets can cause nausea, lethargy, headaches, harmful fluid loss and increased carbohydrate cravings. One of the chief complaints Atkins followers have is halitosis aka bad breath. This is caused by certain chemicals that are released in the breath as the body burns fat.
Plus having a daily diet too high in protein has been linked to some forms of cancer. As very little if no carbohydrates, the diet is also lacking in the nutritional benefits of wholegrains, fruit and vegetables.
Dukon Diet
Attack, Cruise, Consolidation and Stabilisation. No I’m not an Army General giving orders to my troops but these are the different phases you have to go through while following The Dukon Diet. Known as the ‘French Atkins’, Kate Middleton and her mother Carol were rumoured to have been on the Dukan Diet before Kate’s royal wedding. Book sales soared!! It’s a complicated and very restrictive diet involving a number of phases including a protein only phase. As with the Atkins Diet, with cutting out food groups you are missing the vital nutrients your body needs. Even the author Dr. Dukon warns of the associated problems including low energy, constipation and the bad breath again. No thanks.
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Raw Food Diet
‘It does exactly what it says on the tin’… ermm eat only raw food. Demi Moore, Matthew Take of his shirt McConaughey and Uma Thurman are fans. Not necessarily followed for weight loss but more a life style choice. Though it was reported that Jared Leto after gaining 60lbs for his role in the film Chapter 27 followed a raw food type diet when cameras stopped rolling and regained his original weight over a year.
Foods can't be heated above 118° F/ 47.78 °C. Uncooked and dehydrated vegan foods make up most of the diet. These include:
- Fruits and fruit juices
- Vegetables and vegetable juices
- Legumes and sprouted legumes
- Cereals
- Seeds and nuts
Although rare, when animal products are included they are eaten raw. There's very little research on the raw food diet. The raw food diet is rich in nutrients. It’s full of fibre and low in saturated fat and sugars. Which is why I’m a big believer on having raw food as part of your overall daily diet and often encourage my clients to do so. Not a full on raw diet but you can incorporate salads, smoothies and juicing etc.
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Raw foodies, along with vegans, need to make sure they’re getting nutrients in particular vitamin B12, calcium, iron, and omega-3 fatty acids, most of which are found naturally in animal products. Raw diet can be low in protein, calcium, vitamin D, iron and zinc. Therefore raw foodies may need to take supplements.
Plus as using low heat those who eat meat, eggs and raw milk can put themselves at a great risk of food poisoning and gastroenteritis. There are some nutrients that can lacking as they are absorbed better when exposed to heat e.g. Lycopene, a carotenoid found in tomatoes. Lycopene has many benefits including being an anti-cancer nutrient, boosting heart health, anti-aging and prevents age-related macular degeneration and cataracts.
The IV Drip Diet/Party Girl
This nonsense diet or I could say No-Sense Diet has gained popularity due to Rihanna being pictured with an IV drip which caused much media speculation. Simon Cowell, Madonna have been known to partake in this pick me up. It’s the same process used in hospitals with IV drips and solutions to treat patients and those who are severely malnourished. But celebrities and others who do not need it are forking out big money when they are feeling rundown, hungover or under the weather to have a cocktail of nutrients fed intravenously like magnesium, Vitamin B’s, Vitamin C and calcium. Wouldn’t they be better off on having a more balanced and nutritious diet? Helllooooooo….Yes.
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6 weeks to OMG! Get skinnier than all your friends
Picture this, you get up in the morning, have a black coffee and then exercise. Then straight after you sit shivering in a cold bath. The title of this book says it all really and so misleading. Okay I get the exercise bit but skipping breakfast until later and having a caffeine hit first thing in the morn on an empty stomach is a NO NO! And why a cold bath? The author highlights that it is to encourage the body to burn the stored fat as it tries to keep warm. High protein and low carbs (including no fruit) is a must for the programme. I say must not, we need our carbs for energy and for our brain, heart and nervous system to function.
The main ingredient (excuse the pun) of these fad diets like those mentioned above is to reduce or increase to the extreme the intake of macro nutrient food groups be it carbohydrates, fats or protein. But (and a big one as your butt can turn into a big butt as the weight can go back on easily once you are finish) are lacking in many of the healthy fats and carbs and good quality protein that our bodies need for overall health and wellbeing.
Celebrities often have teams of people around them daily looking after their every need and whim. They may have their own nutritionist, chef, personal trainer, hairdresser and make-up artist to keep them looking great in the eyes of the media. Photos and videos are being airbrushed and retouched to make celebrities have a much sought after body. Some people strive for this so called ‘perfection’ and will do anything to achieve it much to the detrimental impact on their long term health.
To lose weight healthily and sustainably keep it off is to follow a nutritious and balanced way of eating. Also regular exercise is key and part of your daily routine and perhaps making some lifestyle changes e.g. ensuring you are getting enough sleep, having less stress in your life or improving your ability to cope with stress.
The word ‘diet; is misquoted everyday especially in all forms of media. It has connotations of eating less food to reduce calories and in turn lose weight. It seems that if we are on a diet, we are depriving ourselves of something. In fact the definition of diet is simply ‘what you eat’.
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I tell my clients this from the very first consultation so there are no negative associations with the word.
These type of so called ‘diets’ I discussed above (plus there are plenty more wacky ones out there) are not quick fixes for your long term health, remember that!! Don’t think you are on a diet per se but that you are following a healthy way of eating. Having that slight mind shift can really make a positive difference.
Davina Smith from Davina Smith Nutrition
To get in contact with Davina for further Nutrition and Wellbeing advice go to:
