The average person will try 126 fad diets over the course of their lifetime, a new poll has claimed.
A poll of 2,000 participants found that the average person will embark on at least two fad diets a year, which was then typically being abandoned after just six days.
Among the most common “quick fix” methods were revealed as the Atkins Diet, the 5:2 and the Cabbage Soup Diet, while others opted to eliminate key food groups by trying the Keto, South Beach or Juice diets.
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At least 52 per cent of admitted they were really confused about which diets were sustainable, while a fifth didn’t know where to go to get reliable and truthful information.
“January tends to be the month when people embark on fad diets as a quick fix,” said Nick Marston, chairman of Love Fresh Berries, who commissioned the poll.
1/16 The Grapefruit Diet
This golden oldie has been around since the 1930s and was a favourite among classic Hollywood stars, like Marilyn Monroe. It involves eating half a grapefruit before every meal and is based on the idea that grapefruits contain a fat-burning enzyme that boosts the metabolism.
Rex
2/16 The Air Diet
Based on the French concept of breatharianism, the idea that air alone can keep our bodies active, the air diet involves sitting in front of food, placing a piece onto a fork, holding it up to your mouth… But not eating it. Instead, you are to subsist on water and salt soup only. Madonna is apparently a fan of pretend eating.
3/16 The ‘Liquids Only’ Master Cleanse Diet
She did look good in Dream Girls, didn’t she? But the lengths Beyoncé went to to achieve her svelte frame were a tad extreme. Instead of solid foods, she survived on liquids – famously a mixture of lemon juice, maple syrup, cayenne pepper and water – for 14 days. Apparently, this helps to detoxify the body (a process it actually does every day, naturally and unaided by weird diets) and stimulates tissue growth. The dieter is also encouraged to drink laxative tea twice a day. Glamorously.
Reuters
4/16 The Ice Diet
Renee Zellweger apparently fills up on ice to stop her piling on the pounds from non-water based foods. Which is, of course, totally ridiculous.
Getty
5/16 The Watercress Soup Diet
Liz Hurley once revealed that she regularly subsists on a six-cup-a-day diet of watercress soup when she wants to lose weight for a role. The low-calorie leafy green is also a diuretic, helping to combat water retention. It’s also a completely mental thing to do.
Getty
6/16 Placenta Pill Diet
When January Jones gave birth to her son Xander, she had her placenta dried and crushed and stuffed into pills, that she then took as a supplement to lose weight. No idea if it worked or not, but it successfully made us feel queasy reading about it.
Getty
7/16 The Victoria’s Secret Angel Diet
If you’re crazy – and, you know, called Adriana Lima or something – then this diet, usually undertaken nine days before a runway show, is for you. It involves omitting all solid foods entirely and subsisting only on protein shakes, supplements and vitamins. You also have to work out twice a day, consult a nutritionist, and, 12 hours before a show, stop drinking liquids entirely to drain the excess fluids from your body and dehydrate as much as possible.
Getty
8/16 The Five Hands Diet
Victoria Beckham apparently adopted the Five Hands Diet technique after she gave birth to baby Harper. That means eating only five handfuls of high energy and protein foods a day. So, nuts then.
Getty
9/16 The Baby Food Diet
Yep. No real food. Just baby food. And 14 jars of the pap a day at that. Jennifer Aniston loves it. Allegedly. As (also allegedly) does Reese Witherspoon.
BANG
10/16 The Drunk Diet
This was invented by Lady Gaga, who once eschewed her evening meals for a swig of whiskey – but adhered to a strict exercise plan, even when hung over.
Getty
11/16 The Apple Cider Vinegar Diet
Drinking apple cider before every meal seems like a terrible idea. But Megan Fox does it as a metabolism booster, which helps to rid the body of excess water weight and burn calories faster. Apparently.
Getty
12/16 The Hard Boiled Eggs Diet
Nicole Kidman was asked to shed as much weight as possible for her role in Cold Mountain, so she went on the Hard Boiled Eggs diet: That’s an egg for breakfast, and two or three for dinner. And that’s it.
13/16 The Seven-Day Colour Diet
This diet, apparently beloved by Christina Aguilera, at least has some nutritional merit. In order to get the correct balance of nutrients, eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables across the colour spectrum is a wise idea. But the Seven-Day Colour Diet says you should only eat one colour of food per day of the week. Monday = white food. Tuesday = red food. Wednesday = green food and so forth. Bonkers.
Getty
14/16 The Cabbage Soup Diet
Does what it says on the tin. You can apparently consume unlimited supplies of cabbage soup (lucky you), as well as some low calorie fruit and vegetables. Sarah Michelle Gellar is apparently an advocate.
Getty Images
15/16 The Grapefruit Oil Diet
Not to be confused with The Grapefruit Diet, this involves sniffing grapefruit oil in the vain hope that the aroma alone might trigger liver enzymes into calorie-burning, detoxifying gear. Jennifer Lopez is rumoured to partake in this lunacy.
Getty
16/16 The Macrobiotic Diet
Gwyneth Paltrow’s love of all things Macrobiotic is well documented. It involves a strict, mostly vegetarian plan with grains as the staple food, avoiding highly processed or refined foods and most animal products. She also has a 21-day GOOP cleanse, that involves eating just one meal a day and chewing each mouthful at least 13 times.
Getty
1/16 The Grapefruit Diet
This golden oldie has been around since the 1930s and was a favourite among classic Hollywood stars, like Marilyn Monroe. It involves eating half a grapefruit before every meal and is based on the idea that grapefruits contain a fat-burning enzyme that boosts the metabolism.
Rex
2/16 The Air Diet
Based on the French concept of breatharianism, the idea that air alone can keep our bodies active, the air diet involves sitting in front of food, placing a piece onto a fork, holding it up to your mouth… But not eating it. Instead, you are to subsist on water and salt soup only. Madonna is apparently a fan of pretend eating.
3/16 The ‘Liquids Only’ Master Cleanse Diet
She did look good in Dream Girls, didn’t she? But the lengths Beyoncé went to to achieve her svelte frame were a tad extreme. Instead of solid foods, she survived on liquids – famously a mixture of lemon juice, maple syrup, cayenne pepper and water – for 14 days. Apparently, this helps to detoxify the body (a process it actually does every day, naturally and unaided by weird diets) and stimulates tissue growth. The dieter is also encouraged to drink laxative tea twice a day. Glamorously.
Reuters
4/16 The Ice Diet
Renee Zellweger apparently fills up on ice to stop her piling on the pounds from non-water based foods. Which is, of course, totally ridiculous.
Getty
5/16 The Watercress Soup Diet
Liz Hurley once revealed that she regularly subsists on a six-cup-a-day diet of watercress soup when she wants to lose weight for a role. The low-calorie leafy green is also a diuretic, helping to combat water retention. It’s also a completely mental thing to do.
Getty
6/16 Placenta Pill Diet
When January Jones gave birth to her son Xander, she had her placenta dried and crushed and stuffed into pills, that she then took as a supplement to lose weight. No idea if it worked or not, but it successfully made us feel queasy reading about it.
Getty
7/16 The Victoria’s Secret Angel Diet
If you’re crazy – and, you know, called Adriana Lima or something – then this diet, usually undertaken nine days before a runway show, is for you. It involves omitting all solid foods entirely and subsisting only on protein shakes, supplements and vitamins. You also have to work out twice a day, consult a nutritionist, and, 12 hours before a show, stop drinking liquids entirely to drain the excess fluids from your body and dehydrate as much as possible.
Getty
8/16 The Five Hands Diet
Victoria Beckham apparently adopted the Five Hands Diet technique after she gave birth to baby Harper. That means eating only five handfuls of high energy and protein foods a day. So, nuts then.
Getty
9/16 The Baby Food Diet
Yep. No real food. Just baby food. And 14 jars of the pap a day at that. Jennifer Aniston loves it. Allegedly. As (also allegedly) does Reese Witherspoon.
BANG
10/16 The Drunk Diet
This was invented by Lady Gaga, who once eschewed her evening meals for a swig of whiskey – but adhered to a strict exercise plan, even when hung over.
Getty
11/16 The Apple Cider Vinegar Diet
Drinking apple cider before every meal seems like a terrible idea. But Megan Fox does it as a metabolism booster, which helps to rid the body of excess water weight and burn calories faster. Apparently.
Getty
12/16 The Hard Boiled Eggs Diet
Nicole Kidman was asked to shed as much weight as possible for her role in Cold Mountain, so she went on the Hard Boiled Eggs diet: That’s an egg for breakfast, and two or three for dinner. And that’s it.
13/16 The Seven-Day Colour Diet
This diet, apparently beloved by Christina Aguilera, at least has some nutritional merit. In order to get the correct balance of nutrients, eating a wide variety of fruits and vegetables across the colour spectrum is a wise idea. But the Seven-Day Colour Diet says you should only eat one colour of food per day of the week. Monday = white food. Tuesday = red food. Wednesday = green food and so forth. Bonkers.
Getty
14/16 The Cabbage Soup Diet
Does what it says on the tin. You can apparently consume unlimited supplies of cabbage soup (lucky you), as well as some low calorie fruit and vegetables. Sarah Michelle Gellar is apparently an advocate.
Getty Images
15/16 The Grapefruit Oil Diet
Not to be confused with The Grapefruit Diet, this involves sniffing grapefruit oil in the vain hope that the aroma alone might trigger liver enzymes into calorie-burning, detoxifying gear. Jennifer Lopez is rumoured to partake in this lunacy.
Getty
16/16 The Macrobiotic Diet
Gwyneth Paltrow’s love of all things Macrobiotic is well documented. It involves a strict, mostly vegetarian plan with grains as the staple food, avoiding highly processed or refined foods and most animal products. She also has a 21-day GOOP cleanse, that involves eating just one meal a day and chewing each mouthful at least 13 times.
Getty
“We know that it isn’t a sustainable or even healthy approach. Instead, nutritionists advise that we follow evidence-based nutritional advice and look for a well-balanced diet that does not cut out any food groups.”
When asked where they go to get their information, nearly half said that they turned to Google. Another 10 per cent also said they would research what their favourite celebrity did.
Social media and self-help books are referred to by 15 per cent of people, but only 27 per cent say they would consider consulting a GP.
Worryingly, a significant amount of people said they would try more extreme dieting methods. At least 16 per cent admitted they would consider drinking up to 12 glasses of lemon juice a day to lose weight quickly.
One in twenty would even be happy to intentionally ingest a tapeworm to burn calories.
Other drastic — and unhealthy — methods respondents would consider trying include eating ice every day, drinking olive oil between meals and consuming jars of baby food.
Even though research suggests that the elimination of certain foods is not sustainable for any period of time, many are opting to cut essential food groups, believing this will encourage faster weight loss.
Loving food topped the poll of reasons why dieters found these plans impossible to stick to while a quarter said food and drink were integral to their social life.
The poll also found that some had to abandon their diet after it clearly affected their health, with fatigue (21 per cent), weakness (29 per cent) and headaches (26 per cent) putting an end to quick weight loss plans.
Confusion about whether fruit should be eaten a limited amount, with 45 per cent believing sugar content in these items are too high.
“Concerns about sugars and carbohydrates are largely unfounded,” said Dr Emma Derbyshire, a nutritionist speaking on behalf of Love Fresh Berries. “The benefits that fruits bring in terms of micro and phytonutrients far outweigh any potential sugar concerns.”
She continued: “Such confusions are worrying and clearly further myth busting is needed to help correct these misconceptions.”
SWNS
