Diets

Many 'fad' diets become popular for a short period of time, only to fade out. Although some fade from popularity due to being ineffective, some merely lose the public's interest. Judging their nutritional merit can be especially difficult given that most diet proponents locate medical professionals to back up their work. Examples of such fads include the grapefruit diet, low-fat diets, and Atkins.

Many fad diets advocate a specific technique (such as eliminating a certain food, or eating only certain combinations of foods) in conjunction with the basic idea of balancing energy in versus energy out, the goal being to accelerate weight loss. Some ignore traditional science altogether.

Grapefruit diet

On the grapefruit diet, the consumption of grapefruit with each meal was said to increase the metabolic rate, burning fat and enabling rapid weight loss. The grapefruit diet was eventually found to be entirely ineffective.

Low-fat diets

Low-fat diets were popular during the 1980s and 1990s, encouraging people to eat foods low in fat (or without fat altogether) and instead eat foods high in carbohydrates Easy Fast Lose Way Weight . The diet worked on the principle that of the three main macro-nutrients (fat, carbohydrates and protein), only fat was the one which would cause weight-gain. This failed as people ended up eating excessive amounts of low-fat foods rich in refined carbohydrates such as sugar. Some low-fat dieters even gained weight due to the calories from the carbohydrates.