Watch Out For These Fad Diets

When your health is at risk because you're overweight or obese, or you just want to lose a few pounds to look better and feel better, most people start looking for a quick fix. And they're easy to find. But look past the slick marketing campaigns and hype, and most fad diets either don't work or may even be harmful to your health. Here are five unhealthy fad diets to avoid:

1. Diet and weight-loss supplements

.Stop by the Food and Drug Administration website that updates information on consumer affairs, and you'll find a long list of violations from diet and weight-loss supplement makers. Many are simply ineffective at helping you to lose weight, but others contain substances banned by the FDA and linked to dangerous and harmful side effects.

2. Detox diets

These fad diets come in many shapes and sizes. One common detox diet involves drinking large amounts of green tea. Liquid-only diets in other forms are also typical of detox diets that promise to cleanse your body of harmful toxins, improve metabolism, and burn fat.

3. Green juice cleanse.

This diet trend typically recommends drinking green smoothies made purely from fruits and vegetables. It's difficult to sustain, and you miss out on much of the fiber in fruits and vegetables from juicing.

4. Extreme exercise.

While this approach to dieting doesn't involve food, many weight-loss programs promise extreme results through high-intensity interval training for 60 to 90 minutes a day or more. It's possible to burn a lot of extra calories this way, but the risk for injury is significant, and failure to complete these kind of programs is common.

5. Extended calorie restriction

This could possibly be the oldest diet trend on record. Eat less. While that's a good rule of thumb to follow to tip the scale in the right direction, fat diets have taken this to a new low. When you're in a calorie deficit for an extended period of time, your metabolism slows. Your body begins storing fat, uncertain when you'll get another good meal. And weight loss typical stalls. Not exactly what you were after, right.

Make Smart Food Choices to Lose Weight

If you're serious about losing weight, clean up your diet. But skip all the fads. The best dietary practice to lose weight and maintain a healthy weight is simply eating healthier foods. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, fish, legumes, and plenty of water. Regular exercise 30 to 60 minutes a day can help too.

Need help giving your menu a makeover to lose weight? Check out the selection of healthy, delicious meals that won't push you over the edge on calories on our Portion Controlled menu.